Pride is not a budget line

Some government officials say money is tight, then turn around and spend it anyway, usually to the detriment of some other program, some other payment, or some other initiative. Minister Melissa Gumbs took a different route. She said it plainly: we do not have it, so we are not doing it the same way. St. Maarten needs more of this kind of communication from government, not less.

So when she says the Flag Day program has to be scaled back this year, people may not like it, but they should respect that she came straight with them. Too often, government tries to please everybody by taking from Peter to pay Paul, then ends up ruining other Peters down the line. We want to get praise today, then cry tomorrow when the decision you took for a few applause doubles back with severe consequences.

We cannot call for truth, transparency and responsible leadership, then when we get it, find a convenient spin to dismiss it. There is no courage in spending money you do not have just to avoid criticism. There is no patriotism in putting another unpaid bill on the backs of local businesses and then calling it national pride.

The Minister is right. National pride is not government’s job alone. Government can organize a ceremony, raise a flag and make speeches. But government cannot love the country for us.

Other communities on the island do this well. People with roots in other countries come together, buy their flags, organize their events and show their pride. Their governments are not here doing it for them. They do it because they care. That should not make us vex. It should make us think. Why should St. Maarten people need a big government program (which they don't attend) before we show pride in St. Maarten?

The Minister’s comparison was blunt, but the point was fair. We show up in large numbers when something captures our attention. We show up for entertainment. We show up for parties. We show up for trends. So why can we not show up for the flag? Why can we not decorate a storefront, put a flag on a car, speak to children about what the colors mean, wear the colors proudly, or make the day visible without waiting for government to spend tens of thousands of guilders? A people serious about nation-building must understand that heritage is not a spectator sport, it is something to be practiced. If the flag means something, then the people must help carry it.

Government, of course, still has a role. It must protect national symbols, teach history, support culture and organize national moments where possible. But government also has a responsibility to tell people what they need to hear, not only what they want to hear. That is where Minister Gumbs deserves credit. She did not pretend. She did not promise what she could not responsibly deliver. She told the public the situation and asked the community to do its part.

National pride is not a budget line. If pride in the flag depends only on what government can afford this year, then the problem is bigger than the ceremony. A flag is not made powerful by how much money is spent around it. It is made powerful by the people who fly it, teach it, explain it, respect it and pass its meaning on to the next generation. That is the point many should not miss.

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