At the time of writing this particular article, a development company is about to commence work on a huge project on the western end of the island of New Providence. The multi-million dollar project involves the building of an upscale hotel, a world class golf course, and many multi-million dollar homes. The development will provide a whole lot of jobs which are vitally needed for Bahamians, and will also provide considerable income for the government. Now, as with all developments of this kind, wherever in the world they are, some inevitable changes will need to be made, which may indeed inconvenience some people. However, as I said, this is inevitable and is always factored into the equation where growth is anticipated. But My Friend as we all know only too well, people the world over are inclined to resist change, even though the change is going to usher in progress. Now, the recently formed new government of The Bahamas and the developers of the project called a ‘Town Meeting’ to allow the local residents of the area, and everyone else for that matter, to voice any concerns they may have relative to the proposed development. Now some of the people at the meeting really behaved in a disgusting manner, and at least one person had to be escorted out of the meeting by the police. This in my estimation, really is ridiculous Now, let’s get one thing straight, I’m in no way advocating here today, that people should not voice their opinions about their genuine concerns on matters like this; after all, this is surely what real democracy is all about, that is getting the input of all the citizens, and then having the parties to the agreement acting in the overall best interests of ALL. However, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do everything. Being rowdy, boisterous, angry, and excessively aggressive is in my opinion, not the best way to get your opinion over. Yes indeed, there is of course a time for all of us to voice our opinion, particularly when we perceive either a company or government who are not operating in the overall best interests of ALL the people. However, the way in which to do this, is to do it in a calm, orderly ,and indeed intelligent manner. In other words, what I’m advocating here today is what I refer to as ‘Creative Intolerance’. Don’t just oppose something for no apparent reason, but make sure that you have all of the relevant information at hand. Then, rather than just opposing something, think it through using your God-given intelligence and thus come up with some creative concepts and ideas, which will in fact assist everyone to perhaps slightly modify the previous plans, which you object to. Don’t just criticize for the sake of criticizing but be objective and ‘Creatively Intolerant’. THINK ABOUT IT! E-mail: dpr@humanri.com Less