‘We must build up rather than tear down’

Dear Editor,I was delighted to read the letter from "Enua" in your September 5 issue. For those who don't know the circumstances, I'd written a short piece in the Herald wondering if we might not want to set aside party politics, individual egos, and narrow points of view to work together to tackle the problems our nation faces. A growing number of Cook Islanders believe many of the problems that were critical at our founding are still without satisfactory resolution after 50 years of self-government. The letter in the Herald was a call "to set aside our egos and, through vigorous and honest debate, arrive at a national consensus on a new path". Like many of your readers, I think we can do much, much better. Enua's letter to you was a response to that Herald piece.I confess that when I wrote my Herald letter I had wanted to put examples in it to show how opportunism, illogical attacks, big-man politics, irrational thinking and emotional appeals have impaired all of us. In the end, I decided not to do that: I didn't want the letter to be about any person or party or event, but rather to be a strictly-neutral call for collaboration and new energy. But I needn't have worried whether or not people could find an immediate example.You see, Enua's letter is perfect: a perfect example of the failure to rise above personalities, narrow interests, and political parties, and above all a failure to put the welfare of the people and nation first. If we are to meet to our potential as a people, we must do precisely the opposite of what Enua has written. Each of us must reach within for positive, logical contributions we can make. We must reach for ways to be creative, intelligent, collaborative problem-solvers. We must work together. We must build up rather than tear down. As I said, we owe Enua a debt of thanks. Every time we get all cocky and start to think we have our problems solved, let's ask him to write another letter.Yours with amusement, James Beer

Dear Editor,I was delighted to read the letter from "Enua" in your September 5 issue. For those who don't know the circumstances, I'd written a short piece in the Herald wondering if we might not want to set aside party politics, individual egos, and narrow points of view to work together to tackle the problems our nation faces. A growing number of Cook Islanders believe many of the problems that were critical at our founding are still without satisfactory resolution after 50 years of self-government. The letter in the Herald was a call "to set aside our egos and, through vigorous and honest debate, arrive at a national consensus on a new path". Like many of your readers, I think we can do much, much better. Enua's letter to you was a response to that Herald piece.I confess that when I wrote my Herald letter I had wanted to put examples in it to show how opportunism, illogical attacks, big-man politics, irrational thinking and emotional appeals have impaired all of us. In the end, I decided not to do that: I didn't want the letter to be about any person or party or event, but rather to be a strictly-neutral call for collaboration and new energy. But I needn't have worried whether or not people could find an immediate example.You see, Enua's letter is perfect: a perfect example of the failure to rise above personalities, narrow interests, and political parties, and above all a failure to put the welfare of the people and nation first. If we are to meet to our potential as a people, we must do precisely the opposite of what Enua has written. Each of us must reach within for positive, logical contributions we can make. We must reach for ways to be creative, intelligent, collaborative problem-solvers. We must work together. We must build up rather than tear down. As I said, we owe Enua a debt of thanks. Every time we get all cocky and start to think we have our problems solved, let's ask him to write another letter.Yours with amusement, James Beer