Dominik360-Blog

What is the Dominican dream all about? Is there one? Has any one of our leaders given a speech that outlines a dream and motivate the citizens of Dominica to seek it ?  I do believe that any current leader of Dominica who is optimistic about the country and its people, should he or she give such a speech, will indeed become very popular overnight. It’s a psychological tactic to boost the population’s morale which in turn will increase Dominica’s economy, patriotism, honor, pride, family and even the standard of living.

In my own mind, the Dominican dream should be a set of goals directed primarily to the school children and young adults who often find that there is limited opportunity in Dominica after graduating from school. Secondarily, it can be directed to career minded adults who are seeking more than just a paycheck from their employers. Last but not least, the Dominican dream can be directed to the leaders of Dominica who can be compromised by the highest briber (lobbyist).

The Dominican dream in my opinion starts with the individual citizen. Someone’s perception of themself; their ability to do the unthinkable and succeed at it, the belief in oneself to overcome the odds and be the best of the best in whatever endeavor one undertakes, maintaining a good character which is one of the core values of the Dominican dream. Another awesome value of the Dominican dream is one’s attitude on giving. I personally have strong feelings towards giving, not just monetarily but also your skills, time and ideas to contribute in the development of your community. Giving is likened to sowing seeds into a cause or someone that you believe in and reaping the harvest of that investment. The next value of the Dominican dream is self confidence and dignity. Be confident in yourself and others will in turn be confident in you especially when you’re trying to attract a potential buyer in business. Your confidence shows off the degree of competence that you possess on a paticular matter. Complimenting confidence is dignity because it’s all about how you carry yourself. Who you associate yourself with and the places you circulate is very important to achieving your goals in life. Not everyone in your life is good for you so when you reach some milestones in life, you’re gonna have to let go some people in order to go higher. A good example of this is a space shuttle launch.  

With those individual values out the way, the most powerful part of the Dominican dream is ownership. This concept in most cases requires money. What do you think about money? Do you like money or do you think its not important? The bible say that money answers ALL things. Whatever part of the world you might find yourself in, this statement can be proven to be true. If you have lots of money, your words and influence is much stronger than a broke person seeking the same thing. I believe that money has a spirit behind it and that spirit will reside where it is wanted. Possessing money is the key to ownership. What are some good things to own? This seems like a great investment question. The number one investment that should be on your list of ownership is Land. From the beginning of time, land has always been the best investment and location is the key factor in land ownership.

Have you ever thought of owning your business where you answer to no one? Think of something that people need or something that you are good at doing and this could very well be the beginning of a new level in your life. Of course business ownership involves risks but the independence and profits you get to enjoy is sweet indeed.  Own you home and stop renting because you’re just helping your landlord fulfill his dream. Houses appreciate over time so this investment like land is good for your net worth. A reliable car is a good investment but all vehicles depreciate so being conservative when buying a car is an asset. The basic rules of staying on top of you money is buy low, sell high; spend less than you earn; give at least 10 percent to God, save at least 10 percent and spend the rest according to your priorities.

Finally, the Dominican dream requires all able body citizens to stop looking up to the government for anything and practice self reliance. The government can be a slow moving machine even when there is an urgence involved. Make yourself independent from government programs because they are not designed to enrich you but to keep you at the level that they desire. These programs tend to impose control over the citizens who use them thus freedom is hindered. Yes, you do want to be free and independent from your government because when that’s the case you will have its respect. That’s the Dominican Dream.

K. Roberts

Hey

 I love the new website!  Big ups to the Editor in Chief and Web Master.  Let the students of MSU know about it. Their website is csoweb.org.

Tasha

One would think or I had come to believe that the Art Form (calypso) had grown and improved since the early years in Dominica. In truth it has many things have changed from the styles of calypsonians to their presentations to even who sings calypso. However sometimes it seems like the more things change the more they remain the same, yes I’m take about reunion 2008 calypso finals being out of the country and only listen its difficult to have an opinion on the presentations but its easy to have one the songs and which ones can be called calypso and the ones which are closer to soca.

If crowd participation and favorites only makes for 10% of vote for a performer at the calypso finals why then are the finals judged in the same manner as soca monarch? I know and everyone who knows calypso including the judges know who sang calypso at the ‘08 finals and who sang something else. Not that there was anything wrong with their song except they weren’t calypso and belonged in a soca or road match competition. It seems judges make up there minds before finals night based on the most popular song/artists public opinion seems to play a bigger role than we realize in who gets the crown regardless of whether they actually sing calypso or not. Maybe it’s time for one more change like placing outsiders (i.e. Mighty Sparrow) in the judges chairs; people who’s minds have not been poisoned by the popularity of a song or performer but would rather listen to the presentation before them and say without bias that what is been presented is in fact pure social or political commentary which we all know calypso stands for. We’d like the popularity contest style of judging to be reserved for the soca monarch and road march king competition because these should be based on public opinion air play and by extension popularity. Calypso cannot be judged the same way.