You will have heard the expression: “Be careful what you wish for; you might not like the result.” You should always have a Plan A and a Plan B ready to put into operation.
Many of you will remember Canon Keith Gibson and his wife Alma, who served the Episcopal Church in the Virgin Islands, mostly in Virgin Gorda, for more than 50 years. They now live in a home for retired clergy in England. When I visited them last summer, Mr. Gibson said that he had formed the impression that most of the residents came there expecting to die, and most of them got their wish. I guess a Plan B would be no good there.
Similarly, in the United Kingdom, neither side in the referendum on European Union membership expected to win, and neither side had a Plan B. Hence the confused situation, where those who voted to stay in the union find themselves having to negotiate Brexit.
And in the United States everybody expected Hillary Clinton to win, and she lost, and had no Plan B ready for that eventuality. And I don’t think Donald Trump really expected to win, so he is scrabbling around trying to form an administration, having no Plan B. (Stick with me).
Back in the 1950s in the UK, there was the famous case of a lady who won the football pool lottery, and said she was going to “spend, spend, spend.” Which she did, and ended up a pauper, having no Plan B for when the money ran out.
Financial services
When the VI hit the jackpot with the offshore finance industry, back in the 1980s, the government and the populace began to spend, spend, spend, with no Plan B in hand in case it all fell through. Well, now it has to a large extent, as implied by the premier in his speech last week. He did not announce any specific plans to cut expenditure accordingly, such as reductions in capital projects, increased taxes, reduction in the civil service and so on. But he did say that any cuts would not affect the ordinary citizen. It is difficult to see how that can be. The forthcoming budget should be a harsh one, but do they have the nerve to carry it through?
If you take out a mortgage to build a property, and find you cannot service the loan repayments, and ask for more money, and are refused, how can you then afford a lawyer to sue the bank for not giving you more money, which you are going to have to pay back to the bank anyway? I am confused. One thing for sure: The lawyers won’t lose out! No Plan B, see.
At least First District Representative Andrew Fahie has a Plan B. If he ever leaves politics, he can get a job as a Heritage Dancer, the way he was strutting his stuff at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College Christmas Concert last week!
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