The Clifton Review

The Clifton Review is a bi-weekly column that examines the question of the Clifton project along with the evolution of the war between two billionaires, the links to unsavory characters, the use of the courts for personal agendas, the involvement of a political party, and the attacks on the Government of The Bahamas.

We covered the start of this war with articles describing the battle over easement rights, the mysterious burning of a home, the blocks to rebuilding, and countless questionable court filings. This series of articles asks the needed questions and presents the arguments in full.

By P.J. Malone

Like Nelson Mandela once said we each have a limited time on earth. So the question is, what are we doing with that time?

When we look around the southern Bahamas and Caribbean at the massive devastation caused by Hurricane Irma, our hearts go out to our brothers and sisters. Imagine having to pick up the very few pieces of what’s left of your life after such destruction as they now have to. While several of our southeastern islands have sadly suffered significant damage, Bahamians can’t help but be grateful that Hurricane Irma has not devastated the entire chain of Bahama Islands.

However, a few days before, a number of individuals were in near panic mode, wondering what such a monstrosity as Irma would do to us. A look at Ragged Island and Inagua tells us.

In such times when one’s life feels threatened, it is only natural to reflect on the lives that we’ve lived and ponder if it was truly a life well lived.

This storm may be over for us, but we should not allow this opportunity to be wasted. In this time of crisis for our Bahamian and Caribbean brothers and sisters, we still have an opportunity for inner reflection; we must ask ourselves the all too important questions, answers to which can reshape our lives for the better.

Am I living a life of which my kids can be proud?

Am I treating others the way I wish to be treated?

What kind of legacy am I leaving?

How have I contributed to making the world a better place?

What will they say about who I am and have been after I am gone?

One of the biggest challenges we as human beings seem to have is the ability to put ourselves in another person’s shoes, when we don’t like that individual. It is all too easy to do when we have no issues with that individual. Even now, it is easy to feel the pain that our brothers and sisters must be feeling after such a horrific experience with Hurricane Irma.

But how about being able to put ourselves in the individual’s shoes who we don’t like, or who we disagree with? It appears that once we have a disagreement with someone, all we want to do is attack them and get back at them at all cost. Instead of being reasonable and considerate, it becomes more about being right and winning the argument.

But why? How does that further your cause? How does that help you to live a better life? A more meaningful life?

People who become so obsessed with attacking their enemy and visiting all manner of evil on them are not viewed as very good people.

What these people don’t understand is their terrible actions are more a reflection on them than anything else. And no matter what good they do, they’ll be remembered for the evil they did. That’s the legacy that will be left behind. That’s what they’ll be remembered for most.

When an olive branch is extended to such an individual and not accepted, it confirms that that individual is not a ‘good’ person: It says that he doesn’t value living a life of peace and joy. It says that he doesn’t value the connectedness of all human kind and the brotherhood that we must feel with each other to all live fulfilling lives in community with each other.

Quite frankly, it says that your ego is so huge, your sense of self so weak that you need to live a life attacking others to feel better about yourself.

And that is how you will be defined.

The opportunity exists right now to rethink your life and your actions, to take corrective action, and to work toward a legacy of being ‘a bigger man’, a better man—a man that gets that we each have a limited time on earth and that that we are all interconnected and should focus on being the best selves we can be instead of being a menace to others.