We need a vision of luxury for all
A SIGNIFICANT number of the interesting if not distinguished columnists in the pages of the Press nowadays, ranging from Richard Digard and Horace Camp to Lindsay de Sausmarez and Emilie Yerby, speak a lot of about the need to encompass vision, and be more careful and thoughtful regarding political language. But maybe the medium is the message with language itself shaping the vision, albeit perhaps a mix of auditory and visual concepts. Too often the vision is portrayed in austerity or management speak using abstract academic words that mean comparatively little. What does improving corporate governance really mean in terms of lifestyles? We have adopted the linguistics of the social scientist.
At the other end of the polarity is meaningless rhetoric like ‘Make Guernsey great again’, or even perhaps the philosophical search for the centre of happiness. One person’s happiness is another human’s misery from introversion to extroversion, noise to peace, rock to traditional. Is this happiness of the Stepford Wives kind or of the more traditional Ken Dodd or Morecambe and Wise kind?
Some gourmet slow-food buffs might prefer a wide range of organic or vegan bistros, others, international branded American-style fast food with coleslaw. In any case, happiness is arguably easier to attain if your basic needs are already provided for and actualised by being modestly well-off or comfortable. So what vision is the island seeking apart from surviving and just being there? Beyond the obvious of simplicity, delivery, health and wellness?
A rustic old-fashioned community in aspic might work for somewhere like Lundy, or even Sark, but can’t pay our bills or keep a mobile population from migration. A highly regulated community might just as well turn Scandinavian socialist and lose the cutting edge of offshore prosperity. High arts is an attractive addition and focal point but needs something more of the common touch to add value to the brand. Much as I support some green ideas, the pushback from perhaps half the population as well as the diseconomies of insular scale require caution; whether it be windmills or a mass conversion to Amsterdam-style bike riding, albeit up some steep cliffs and hills.
I almost hate to admit this, but when one looks at other micro communities and mini states from Bermuda to Liechtenstein, from the apes of Gibraltar to Monte Carlo or bust, or, even more controversially, the Vatican City in some Da Vinci eyes – the small community survives by being canny and buccaneering, a pleasant place of refuge and solace for the global community out there, especially within the confusion of Brexit.
What people want and need, or at least think they need and aspire towards, is lifestyle and comfort and leisure.
In a rich, succinct word, ‘luxury’.
We don’t need to have the pleasant but almost soporific vision of seeking out happiness. And the humanistic and worthy goals of equality, inclusivity, diversity are meaningful but should apply to every civilised community globally. They aren’t a unique selling point but a core base health-and-safety bedrock requirement. The rebranding that leading business organisations and visionaries such as Barrie Baxter, David Ummels, Stretch Kontelj and Martyn Dorey are seeking is the holy grail of delivering luxury.
Guernsey doesn’t have the luxury to waste time or engage in bitter Twitter wars, angry emails and misguided austerity drives.
We need to ensure the island embodies affluence and luxury, preferably for everybody. We need to seek the best, the highest quality, yes maybe Rolls Royce standards, and aspire towards a global level of first-class provision in specialist health, educational, arts and hospitality and indeed ecological habitat development and great architecture for planning. I want to see and nurture political leaders and a culture of leadership that has real 2020 vision and paints a better picture. A real goal and not just words that paper over the cracks like another Brexit compromise amendment.
We need that vision now with delivery, as setting our sights high has never been more important.
DEPUTY JOHN GOLLOP