Leaders have a decision to make

Dear Editor,

Re: Invest in our people

Thank you Editor. From my observation and analysis of what the PM is trying to do is he is trying to invite western palagi economics into Samoa but is hoping to rely on fa’asamoa and Christian charity to take care of the social calamities that capitalism brings to society.

This is where the markets and a trickle down theory of economics are relied on for the people’s well being instead of being a government who provides a helping hand to make the playing field more equal.

What the PM is failing to recognize is the very palagi capitalistic system he is welcoming into Samoa is the very thing that is weakening the traditional social safety nets of faasamoa and the church that have served the Samoan people socially for centuries. 

As I have said before you cannot have it both ways and until the PM accepts this reality and start to take responsibility as a government to address the growing gap between the rich and the poor with meaningful and costly social aid for the people who cannot survive properly to compete, Samoa is in big trouble.

 This is because of poverty and the violence and alcoholism that poverty brings to a society. 

Finally and as sad as this is the only thing that Samoa really has to trade that the big winners in this global model want is land and maybe athletes to compete in the coliseum for the elites who can afford to watch them perform. That’s it. 

The PM is really going to have to start spending some big money on some real worthy agricultural production and big initiatives in farming education and big money getting the product to market so that when all the retail businesses have lost to Chinese competition that the people have real jobs to go to or the future for Samoa looks pretty bleak. 

How about getting more of those tilapia farms going. 

Maybe the women in development have some good ideas. 

Maybe the PM should have a meeting with them or he can just keep on in the direction he’s going and Samoans can say bye, bye land, hello Monsanto. ‘

Do you have a 1 tala per hour job for me on what used to be my family land because I wasn’t good enough to play professional rugby? 

At least if I was American Samoan I could be a soldier and take my chances at not being killed trying to secure the wealth for my palagi masters. 

The way I see it is the PM has two choices he can do something meaningful to help the Samoan people develop the agriculture industry on the land, which belongs to the Samoan people, or he can leave things in the hands of the markets and risk losing the Samoan land to foreigners like Monsanto and others. 

It’s a hard choice for the PM because he may have to fire all his cronies that are associate ministers if he chooses to help all his people.

 

Wendy Wonder


Samoa Observer

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