Stuart Jack

Responding to readers' comments

A comment posted on this blog asked why I am doing the blog. A recent editorial in one of Cayman’s newspapers also seemed to question the purpose – a paper which has criticised me in the past for not saying enough publicly. 

As I said in the very first blog entry in May the purpose is to communicate better with people, primarily in the Cayman Islands – to let them know what their governor thinks, to explain what a governor actually does (and doesn’t do), and to get feedback. I am gratified that a lot of people are now visiting the site and several are leaving comments or speaking directly to me about what I have written (every word is written by me personally and not dictated to me by anyone else). 

Two criticisms that have appeared in posted comments are that, first, my blog is full of generalities, and, second, that my recent piece on Cayman’s media was trying to stop people from expressing their views. 

The first point was in the context of the debate around Cayman’s public finances and possible taxation. My answer: it is not for a governor to prescribe exactly what Cayman should do in this respect – that’s what voters here elect their leaders to decide. But it is not unreasonable to explain why in my view something new has to be done to broaden the government’s revenue base so that this country can not only service its debt but also handle any problems in the future. 

The second criticism, which was also aired on one of the talk shows, is not fair. I state clearly that I am against censorship and for the ability of people to set out their views. Government, including governors, need to hear people’s frustrations as well as their suggestions how we can improve things. What I do not like is when divisive or even abusive or libellous comments are made on talk shows and especially other blogs hiding behind anonymity. 

While I understand why it happens I find it sad that so many people want to remain anonymous. But I suppose that is better than saying nothing at all, provided the callers and posters avoid offensive remarks. One of the things I really like about Caymanians is that they are straight talkers but also courteous – why not be the same on the blogs? 

On another blog I found a further criticism that my blog had not carried a comment they had posted. I am not aware that our webmaster has ever binned any critical comments as such. But we do not upload offensive remarks, spam or – for reasons of space – excessively long comments.

Posted at 18:38 06 October 2009 by Stuart Jack  |  Comments[2]