Dear Editor,
I have always held Dennis Wiggins in high regard because I am of the view that when he enters a debate he will be pushed by arguments and evidence, rather than by a pre-analytic politicized disposition. It appears that I might have been wrong.
In a letter in defence of GHK Lall (SN October 29) Mr. Wiggins throws caution to the wind and simply repeats a long list of customary charges against the PPP and the current administration in Guyana. Moreover, Mr. Wiggins accuses me of being too ‘partisan’ in response to GHK Lall, whose letter he calls ‘brilliant.’
Apparently, my partisanship is to be found in my comparison of Guyana with some aspects of American life. Wiggins is of the view that I unfairly brought in this comparison in response to Lall. He does not see where in Lall’s letter there was any opening for such a comparison. I will help Mr. Wiggins with this.
Here is GHK Lall in his own words –“Of course, it is conveniently ignored that some of the other societies can afford the ill effects of some corruption and failures, that there are safety nets in place; that the official poverty measurement represent a manageable livable standard for our fleeting countrymen; that justice is served most of the time; that the playing field, while not always level, admits others; and that even at its most deplorable, those societies are repositories of hope, inspire confidence, and which their citizens will not exchange for anywhere else” (SN October 23).
I wonder if Mr. Wiggins read this paragraph in Lall’s letter. Lall is the one who asked Guyanese to forgive whatever ills might be in those ‘other societies’. He is the one who says foreign suffering is bearable. The sad thing for Lall, and for Wiggins, is that I know those societies. I know that life in many parts of the U.S. is so unbearable that no poetic letter from GHK Lall can help them. No matter how many letter writers like Mr. Wiggins might come to the assistance of Lall, the situation on the ground over there for the poor and downtrodden will not be alleviated.
Wiggins talks about permanent suffering in Guyana. Simply put, that is bad social science. Guyana just topped the entire Caribbean in the CSEC Exams. Our students did better than any other Caribbean country. Over 30% of our students got five subjects with grades 1-3. In Barbados the comparable figure is 13% Mr. Wiggins. In Jamaica it is 17% Mr. Wiggins. 400 of our students passed ten subjects at one sitting. We got the best overall result – 14 grade ones, Mr. Wiggins. We got the prize for the best science student. We got the prize for the best business student. No other Caribbean country comes close to that.
There is much more to this. Look at Guyana’s ranking for press freedom and for gender equality. I’ll write about these accomplishments soon. No doubt Wiggins and Lall will find faults. Lall, of course, will couch his narrative quite poetically. It won’t help. The fact is Guyana has a growing middle class and no letter writer can erase that.
Yours faithfully,
Randy Persaud
