Dear Editor,
My friend and member and City Councillor of the Georgetown City Council, Mr. Kyle Solomon was murdered in Durban Backlands by a young man alleged to be about 16 years old. There is another instance where a man was feeding his dogs and was ordered into his house, tied up and robbed of all his earthly possessions.
These two recent incidents, plus fatal accidents involving five young men, the most recent, a cyclist involved in an accident with a truck, in addition to reports meeting me of forms of violence, not reported to the police. Then there is the unfolding saga of what appears to be the sequestering and disposition of prime state lands by the CH&PA. The above is a small sample of happenings in Guyana, signs of a decay.
Some of us feel that President Dr. Irfan Ali and all our experienced political leaders may very well have good intentions. However, the present structure and history of our society suggests that no one person can redeem us from the torn fabric of our society, as a consequence of crime, corruption, incompetence and a generation who fear neither man nor God.
The problem in Guyana is neither new nor unique and requires serious attention. It exists in different ways, in every corner of the globe. However, in our case, with an abundance of natural resources, no debilitating natural disasters, there is no reason why we cannot be as they say heaven on earth, a haven of peace and plenty.
From my perspective, we need as a matter of urgency to do the following:-
1) Retool our education system. The purpose of education in our context
should be
To assemble the accumulated wisdom of our forebears.
To keep abreast with a world of rapidly advancing science and technology.
The classrooms and playing fields must help create an environment of togetherness.
Help us to think and be creative.
The above contributes to producing a generation with an attachment to the earth, waters and air.
In other words, a cadre of Guyanese willing and able to face the rest of the world, whose confidence are able to overcome the consequences of the torture of imperialism and the divisiveness of our colonial experience. Our teaching of history must be to make us strong and to overcome the factors that earlier and still divide us. That education should be free from kindergarten to University.
2) As a corollary, introduce a retooled National Service and People’s Militia.
These two, would allow us as a people to embrace a concept articulated fifty years ago of Defence in Depth where Guyanese will occupy land along our borders. They say you lose what you don’t use.
Dear Editor, to make these ideas mentioned above flourish, we need a Parliament constituted of Guyanese on both sides who are true nationalists and unafraid to admit mistakes, particularly in dealing with the mighty transnationals who have come to harvest our natural resources, and because of its emotional interpretation, I did not say those who have come to exploit our natural resources.
At this crucial stage of our history, let us remember the wisdom of the old adage – United we Stand, Divided we Fall. If the Government and the Opposition feel that there is any merit in the above, they need to harmonize their thoughts in a structured way to produce a working document that would take us to the glorious mountain peak. If we observe what is happening in the Middle East, Europe, India, the orient and the Americas and just about everywhere else, we will know that time is not on our side.
I end with this question posed by Barbara W. Tuchman in her book ‘The March of Folly,’ (1984), when she observed that, I quote “A phenomenon noticeable throughout history regardless of place or period is the pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interests. Mankind, it seems, makes a poorer performance of government than of almost any other human activity. In this sphere, wisdom, which may be defined as the exercise of judgment acting on experience, common sense and available information, is less operative and more frustrated than it should be. Why do holders of high office so often act contrary to the way reason points and enlightened self-interest suggests? Why does intelligent mental process seem so often not to function?” – End of quote.
Guyana, my Dear Guyana Quo Vadis.
Yours truly,
Hamilton Green
Elder
