TCI News Now!

By David Tapfer

Once upon a time a reporter was driving down the road in farm country and noticed he was being paced by a chicken. No matter how fast the reporter drove his car the chicken kept up with him... 50, 60 miles per hour. Then the chicken turned on real speed and easily passed the reporter’s car. As the bird sped off it was noted it had three legs.

David Tapfer is a retired, US-born engineer and management executive. He is the former chairman of the Middle Caicos Branch of the Peoples Democratic Movement

On reaching a farmhouse, the farmer explained to the reporter he was the one responsible for breeding three-legged chickens. He liked eating chicken drumsticks and so did his wife and small son. Therefore he chose to breed three-legged chickens.

“How do they taste,” asked the reporter?

“I don't know ... haven't been able to catch one yet!”

There is a lesson in this story. Be careful what you wish for. What seems to be bigger and better and unstoppable progress can easily get away from you, leaving you hungry!

Better to be careful and put your efforts into raising more regular two-legged chickens. Then you can roast two chickens at each meal and have four drum sticks. One to fight over! Don't fight, give it to the child.

Last week, Yvette and I passed 24 years together and we celebrated meeting the challenges of helping our children to productive lives, which we worked through together. Now we look forward to dealing with whatever comes our way. We often ate chicken, the regular kind, and only once in awhile we could afford a steak.

As we look at the situation in the USA where we met and in the TCI where we have lived for the last ten years, we see the results of politicians trying to breed bigger, better governments. The cost has gotten away from us and it looks like for awhile there may not be any drumsticks for anyone except those who got rich trying to fool us.

The time has come to change direction and get back to what works. Careful, responsible government with experienced people who have proven themselves either in private life, politics or both. People who can expand our regular economy and reduce the tax rates and burdens brought on by the breeders of fantasies.

Those ordinary British farm hands here to fix the farm think the solution to solving bigger better three-legged chickens is paying for more feed. I disagree. A bigger farm with more regular chickens and some cattle and sheep thrown in is a better plan.

Fact is the British farm hands may have caught some of the fast three-legged birds but have yet to figure out how pluck and roast them !

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