Vexed Bermoothes

With its polarisations between UBP or PLP, and black or white, Bermuda is trapped in the classic “Prisoners’ Dilemma”.

The Prisoners’ Dilemma is used in game theory to illustrate the difficulties of cooperation. Two parties can choose between two moves, either “cooperate” or “betray”. The idea is that each player gains when both cooperate. But if one player betrays, he can gain more. If both betray, both lose but not as much as the “cheated” cooperator whose cooperation is not returned.

The name comes from the hypothetical situation where two people are arrested under the suspicion of having committed a crime together. However, the Police do not have the proof to secure a conviction. With the prisoners in isolation, the Police offer a deal: the prisoner who offers evidence against the other one will be freed.

• If none of them accepts the offer, they are in fact cooperating against the Police, and both of them will get only a small punishment because of lack of proof. They both gain.
• However, if one of them betrays the other by confessing to the Police, he will gain more, since he is freed.  The one who remained silent will receive the full punishment, since he did not help the Police, who now have the evidence they need to secure his conviction.
• If both betray, both will be punished, but less severely than if they had refused to talk.

The dilemma resides in the fact that each prisoner has a choice between only two options, but cannot make a good decision without knowing what the other one will do.

As long as party loyalty is the end-all of Bermudian political discussion, it will be hard for Bermuda to shake free of our unsatisfactory governance and political self-interest.  Our divided community means that our people are afraid to cooperate and break the self-destructive pattern.