Independence & the price for Freedom
Who’s willing to pay the price for Freedom? This article written by Dr. Rhoda Arrindell not only raises the question as to who is willing to sacrifice and even die for the freedom of a people, but seem to answer it as well, with, too few to make anything happen now, unless there’s unity. Dr. Arrindell writes:
Many St. Martiners will tell you that they know that Independence is the solution to St. Martiners taking full control of their destiny as a people, with all the ramifications thereof. Yet, just a few are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices for this to happen. I’m not talking about the perceived material sacrifices that so many attribute to being a politically independent territory in this region. I am referring to sacrifices in terms of comfort zones and especially false notions of “power,” when in reality our people remain powerless in shaping our destiny.
Colonialism—whether by the USA, Dutch, French, British, or whomever—is evil and unjust. No matter how it is dressed up or whatever euphemisms are used to conceal it, it always works to the detriment of the colonized people and their way of life. The fact is St. Martin is a colony, and the contrived colonial domination that is currently taking place (on both sides of the island) is not in the interest of the St. Martin people, no matter what politicians tell you.
At this point in our development, my dear St. Martiners, the right thing for all of us to do at this time, regardless of age, political colors, passports, etc. is to unite and take a strong stand against colonialism and the continued use of our island nation and people as pawns to satisfy an evil agenda. We must do this not just for the common good today, but also in the interest of our children and future generations. We as St. Martiners, too, need to be honest with ourselves, that if we want our freedom and to preserve our island for the future generations, we must be willing to make sacrifices today, now.
I am calling on all St. Martiners to talk to your representatives, on both sides of the island, and urge them to put down their campaigning weapons and get together to fight this evil noose of colonialism around our collective necks. Those of us who know that independence is the way to save St. Martin cannot afford to sit idly by or remain complicit in the annihilation of our people and our values.
For those aspiring to get into Heaven, know that you cannot get in there while you’re still alive. W. Somerset Maugham once said: “If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too.”
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