Dear Editor,
At his presentation at the university of Guyana in the early 1990s, Minister Louis Farrakhan advised Afro Guyanese to master mathematics and learn from Asians skills of economic empowerment, as a basis to be or remain competitive in the society and the world. He illustrated that Africans are still at the sentimental level of narrating that “the cow jump over the moon”, while others are trying to land on it. By mastering mathematics, he means mastering the foundation of logic, reasoning and rationality. To learn from Asians, is to understand and practice their attitudes and habits of frugality, collaboration, and investment.
Sri Aurobindo, one of India’s most celebrated thinkers, in discussing India’s caste problems and cultural deficiencies, admitted that even though India has been a major contributor of spirituality to the world, it was stagnating itself by sentimentality and traditionalism which cost it over 500 invasions of its territory. He argued that Europeans are ahead of the world, and might remain so because they mastered the scientific methods of thinking and doing things. Apparently India listened, for a few years from now, it may be classified as a competitive scientific power.
When we examine the history of Guyana we must admire and respect the Indo community for learning a substantial range of skills and knowledge from the Afro community, and commercialising those skills and knowledge to the extent of employing the very Afro Guyanese who taught them. Indians are now significantly placed in every area of the Guyanese society, and as they consolidate and expand in areas, even where Afro Guyanese once dominated, the Afro community feels increasingly marginalised and threatened. The fundamental problem is that while Afro Guyanese were teaching Indians they were not in turn learning enough from them. This disparity can be attributed to an element of arrogance in the creole culture of Afro Guyanese. He learnt through European Christian ideas, to his own detriment, to reject anything that was non-Christian in origin. On the other hand, the Hindu foundation of Indian creole culture teaches the value of learning from others for self empowerment. That the Afro community interprets the Indian persistence for wealth creation and accumulation as greed, rather than economic consolidation, and detests that, but keeps expecting economic development through the good will of god and or others, is a fundamental difference. But this expectation is seen in the Indo community as a parasitic and non-progressive psyche or thinking.
So as much as Mobido is a willing “African rights” martyr (see KN. Dec.06,07 “Let AFC leaders see the light”), in the real world, no set of rights comes into being, is conferred, or survives, in the absence of enlightened self interest, and or direct and indirect capacities to demand and or enforce them. Economic power and wisdom are examples of indirect capacities of enforcement. Economic power finances the requisite activism. Wisdom sharpens the ability to do so.
Wisdom derives from knowledge. Accurate knowledge generates better understanding, informed judgements, choices and applications. It is through intellectualism that we arrive at accurate knowledge and better understanding of things, rise above parochialism, and productively engage our intelligence. So, if Mobido dismisses, as “intellectual fantasy”, my awakening him to the wider Afro Guyanese reality, specifically, that the tendencies of Afro Guyanese leadership and the Afro community’s pattern of investment negligence, significantly contribute to the withering away of the Afro community’s capacity to secure its interests, I hope he is not trying to shelter from the cut and thrust of intellectual scrutiny.
A major problem of this country is that we do not intellectualise enough. This is evident in the conduct and performance of all institutions of this country and the quality of discussions we normally have, especially in context of analysis, forecasting, planning, implementation, and evaluation. We tend to be more driven by impressions, sentiments, prejudice, and pettiness. Thus creating more problems than we solve.
But I am accepting Mobibo’s invitation to engage him at “fleshing out our rights”. Permit me to add here that rights are not void of responsibilities. A primary responsibility of the Afro community is to ensure that its leaders are people of integrity. He who lacks integrity could never protect your rights. Secondly, by democratic principles, one’s rights should never be pursued at the expense of the rights of others. If he so does, the other must be compensated to the extent of the injury caused. Or in extreme cases, his rights become forfeited to the extent of the hurt caused. So, for instance, he who murders also forfeits his right to life. In a democracy, the State is responsible for protecting and regulating one’s rights and procedures to address grievances. The laws of Guyana are very clear on issues such as torture and police brutality, for instance. But none of that would persist without the complicity of Afro Guyanese leaders/administrators within the armed forces.
I worked there and I know. My suggestion to Mobido now, is that while it may be convenient to attack the PPP government he should never blind himself to the fact that no aberration in governance is possible without collaboration from Afro Guyanese within the state system. So let’s talk about the purification of the State according to democratic ideals.
Yours faithfully,
Lin-Jay Harry-Voglezon
