Dear Source:
In a recent debate with local GOP leadership, it was suggested that if the local GOP wants to be successful, I, and others, must practice constant concessive behavior. Webster defines being concessive as going along, not making waves, to compromise, concede, give in or give up.
For years, studies have been conducted to understand why individuals go along or remain silent in cases when they know activities are wrong (Is Silent Killing Your Company, Harvard Business Review, May 2003, pg 53). Research studies have stated that fear is the major reasons individuals do not speak up, generally because most are consumed with keeping their jobs, paychecks or relationships in tact. So what can be attributed to why so many in leadership positions here in the territory are remaining silent on so many issues? Are these studies correct and right on point, and therefore answer the question of why we do not hear members of the Governor’s cabinet speaking about our financial crisis? Little is stated about how money is actually being managed or mismanaged.
As I read and watch the debates and solutions being presented to solve our current financial crisis one has to wonder why more individuals have not spoken out; are we all guilty of concessive behavior? The Administration’s method for finding a solution to such an enormous financial crisis is risky, but mostly goes unchallenged. I question how effective the current administration will be by using a suggestion-box approach to finding a quick solution. If these ideas are not analyzed to determine their long-term impact we may be positioning ourselves for larger problems down the line.
It is my hope that as these individuals sit around the room, thinking up ways to address our immediate needs, that they are also considering that every action causes a reaction, every choice has a consequence, and short-term solutions often have long-term impacts. Realistically, how can we expect those that created the problem to find a solution? One suggested approach would be to create a roundtable of individuals from private businesses and organizations, government employees of all levels, union representatives and concerned citizens.
Although, our governor is Democrat, the Senate majority is mostly Democrats, and the Congresswoman is a Democrat, to expect anything other than agreement down party lines would be unrealistic. Many are looking to blame someone. We should not, in all fairness, let the Democrats shoulder all the blame, nor the sole responsibility for finding a solution. At the federal level, we have a Republican House, Senate and a Republican president; thus, the local GOP should have positioned itself to be a more powerful group by using this rare balance of power to bring more assistance here to the territory.
Unfortunately, it has only been recently that the local GOP leadership has made a public statement about the deficit. I commend the State Chair (GOP) for finally speaking out; however, one might say that he is a day late and a dollar short. Like many others, the local GOP leadership is now eager to jump on the bandwagon of criticism; yet, it has offered little as viable solutions. We all know that we have a deficit that exceeds 100 million dollars, and restating that in an article does little to reduce our deficit.
What would have been helpful would have been to offer to partner and work together with the Administration to find ways to reduce the deficit.
We should all question why local GOP leadership has made it a practice of exhibiting a pattern of concessive behavior. One does not have to look far to see the results of what can take place when silence prevails; for example, Enron, Tyco, WorldCom and the Watergate and Iran/Contra affairs. Thus, the concessive behavior exhibited by the local GOP is not an option, especially when our government is overwhelmed by so many problems. The local GOP should be meeting with Democratic leaders to offer suggestions for working (together) to improve the territory’s fiscal crisis and other pressing issues like education, sewage, Tourism, crime and the high rate of unemployment on St. Croix. Sometime I wonder if I am the only one that notices the concessive behavior of the leadership of the local GOP and its resulting diminishing effectiveness.
More often than I care to count I have been labeled a troublemaker, hard to get along with or a hot head. Technically, I could be called a deviant. But, not in the sense once might think. According the many behavioral scientists, to act deviantly can be positive. In fact, studies have shown that deviance is a creative way of seeking out and inventing new ways of doing things. By challenging a group’s concessive behavior, the deviant can serve to change the group’s unchallenged concessive patterns.
The problems the VI is facing are of such magnitude that they require a gathering of all minds, not just a few. Clearly this is not the time for any of us to concede.
Lawrence Boschulte
St. Thomas
Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.
