While citizens are being killed like fowls, the PNM continues to enjoy silent support from a large section of the population. Had it been otherwise there would have been mass protests on the streets. This is so because a large section of the population wants to maintain the status quo to enjoy the plums of office.
The bourgeoisie class that overthrew the monarchy in France in 1789 was a class that had strived independently of the monarchs and the aristocrats. They were the new merchants, planters and bankers that had pioneered trade and investments with the colonies with great risks.
Unfortunately, in this country we don’t have such a class. What we have is an oligarchy that is tied to the ruling party in a parasitic relationship. In this case the host is the State which is manipulated and exploited to their advantage with the connivance of the government.
The trappings of this aristocratic lifestyle were demonstrated in the support for the recently concluded FIFA World Cup- you don’t have to belong to a football club offering coaching to kids and raising funds to promote the sport. It was very simple -go to the closest bar that provides a 60-inch television and bingo…you are in Qatar viewing football!
I had the privilege of viewing cricket from the TSTT stand at the Queen’s Park Oval and I was flooded with foods and drinks with no black hens serving the aristocrats but mulatto girls with supple bodies and fine features. That was a glimpse by me of the ancien regime in action! It is this culture that is preserved and modified a little in the Caribbean that everyone is striving after.
So, the crime spree continues as we merrily and busily go about shopping for Christmas. Who dead burry and who live merry! That is the way things are in this country. Citizens are murdered in their homes, and still no outrage! We have not only gone numb and immune to murders but appear to have murdered our conscience!
The death of Pandit Robin of Endeavour should have been a good opportunity for Hindu leaders to put aside their egos for one day but, unfortunately, that was too much for them to do. Hindu Sangatan – Hindu Unity – are words parroted without passion. Sadly, our leaders have reduced the community to a series of cults, each looking crossed eyed at the others. For the yeoman services Pt Robin had rendered to the community across organizational barriers. I expected all the Hindu leaders to be standing on a common platform to demonstrate solidarity with a pandit who has served humanity.
The onus on this society is to build a striving middle class, not a ‘never see come see class.’ This ravenous post indenture culture is destroying the moral fabrics of the society. Success is judged not by material comforts but by character, learning and commitment to service. No wonder we indulge in sharing our travel destinations and very little on political strategies to win the next general election except the refrain ‘Kamla Must Go.’
The criminal activities that besiege the nation must be confronted and not be left to the FBI and Scotland Yard! We need to take responsibility for our society and not leave it in the hands of incompetent fools. If today crime is a runaway donkey, it is because this government has been feeding criminals instead of yoking them and putting them to work round the clock. So long as we can live idly and drive the best cars and eat in the finest restaurants, crime will continue to devastate the society, eventually striking every home.
