The struggles are real—but so is progress

Live from Saipan By Zaldy Dandan

Saipan — It seems to be all gloom and doom here in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. As I write this, several areas on Saipan remain without power two months after Typhoon Sinlaku thrashed the island. We’re not even in typhoon season yet.

Meanwhile, the economy is gasping for air. Tourism numbers have plunged further. Utility rates have soared due to high global prices driven by conflicts abroad. The CNMI government is scrambling for funds to meet its obligations. More local residents are leaving for the states—or considering doing so.

Many blame their elected officials, past and present, for the current crisis, but no one seems to remember that these officials were elected by voters who supported and continue to support popular but ill-advised government spending policies.

Still, as Hans Rosling would put it in his brilliant book "Factfulness," we shouldn’t despair—not yet anyway. He said we should not focus on the unrelentingly bleak headlines, which can distort our reality and lead to a paralyzing sense of hopelessness. We should also remember that good news rarely makes the headlines, and bad news does not tell the whole story.

Rosling, a physician, drove home his point by comparing the world to a severely premature baby in an incubator. If the baby’s health is critical but steadily improving, her situation is still bad, but better than it was yesterday. Saying “things are improving” does not mean everything is fine; it simply means that progress is being made.

In the CNMI’s case, typhoons making landfall are truly devastating. But compared to decades past, the islands’ infrastructure and many homes are more durable and more resilient. Of course, there is still room for improvement, but few people today remember the time when typhoon information was usually eight hours old, and typhoon preparedness often meant seeking refuge in caves. (How severe were typhoons in the past? In 1815, Refaluwasch Chief Aghurubw and his people were forced to evacuate their typhoon-ravaged home islands and sail to Saipan.)

Rosling called it the negativity instinct, our hardwired tendency to notice the bad much more than the good. One way I deal with it is by reading news headlines from the past, which, for many of us, seems much better than the dreary present.

Here are some of the headlines from Marianas Variety in 1978, the first year of the Commonwealth government:

• 50% of Legislature’s Budget Paid for Staff: According to Variety, back then, “the workload is not large enough to keep the overstaffed legislature busy.” Today, smartphones and social media have solved that problem.

• Volunteers Clean Grotto Site: Their goal was to “eliminate the refuse allowed to collect at and distract from the natural beauty of one of Saipan’s most frequently visited spots: the Grotto.” Today, dumping at the Grotto is unthinkable.

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• Burglars Caught on Second Attempt: “Two Saipan juveniles have learned that if at first you succeed, you should not try again.” Police arrested a 12-year-old and a 16-year-old in connection with the burglary of the Micronesian Photo Service when the two tried to repeat the crime. Today’s burglars are much older, and with the widespread use of security cameras, many have been caught in the act. Getting them arrested, prosecuted and jailed is another story.

• Present System Encourages Youth to Burglarize: Juvenile delinquency will always be with us, but that headline is no longer true.

• Heavy Rain Floods Marianas: The culprit was not a typhoon plowing through the islands, but a “storm system located about 100 miles west of Saipan.” It caused continuous rain, resulting in flooding and extensive damage to some homes, many of which were made of tin and wood. There were also power outages and numerous driving hazards. Many families had to be evacuated.

• Cherry Left Saipan Without Notice: “Cherry, who looks nearer 27 than 21, is one of at least five women on Saipan engaged in prostitution, all of whom have a lucrative business operation… Unlike what is common in the United States, Cherry has no pimp on Saipan, so she says she must rely on her ‘common sense’ and her pistol for protection against potential attackers and disgruntled wives.” Today, a news story written in that manner would likely appear only on April Fool’s Day.

• Power Barge for Dry Docking: This refers to the Impedance, a 300-foot power barge commissioned in 1943 and lent to the Northern Marianas by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Saipan’s primary electricity source experienced frequent, prolonged outages due to poor maintenance and deterioration. It was scheduled to leave Saipan for dry docking and overhauling, which meant power rationing on the island.

• A full-page advertisement from the “Committee to Assist” regarding the “Financial Crisis of the Northern Marianas” declared that funds were needed for:

scholarships, medical referrals, higher minimum wage, better hospitals, better schools, better public services: water, electricity and roads.

All of which are now in existence.

Again, this is not a defense of the status quo. Far from it.

The incubator baby is still fragile. She is not out of danger. But if we look beyond the headlines and remember where we started, we may find that the Commonwealth, despite all its troubles, is stronger than we think.

Zaldy Dandan is the editor of the CNMI’s oldest — and only remaining — newspaper, Marianas Variety. His fourth book, “If He Isn’t Insane Then He Should Be: Stories & Poems from Saipan,” is available on amazon.com/.

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