Dear Editor,
This world is indeed a strange place, where everything appears to be topsy turvy, and is easily accepted without question as normal. “A bank is a place that would lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it” – Bob Hope.
It was this obvious contradictory quote of the day which I saw in Stabroek News on March 22, that gave some endorsement to my idea that we are indeed in a topsy turvy world; that a bank which is primarily a holding and lending institution will only lend you money if you can prove to them that you have lots of money; that you are well off and not ‘deh bad.’ But this weird apparent policy on the part of banks that Bob Hope recognized is not confined to banks alone; this inconsistent behaviour can be found in many other institutions – the blueprint by which societies are governed. What is brilliantly written in constitutions about human rights and equality is generally a façade, which pales into insignificance when we take a good look at our world and our laws. Yet we carry on with business as usual, heads held high feeling so intelligent and proud. Examine this crazy, insincere law: A man who is going out of his mind because he can’t find a job, makes an attempt to exit the country by some ingenious means to seek a livelihood. Unfortunately he is caught in the process, tried and found guilty for trying to survive by decent means. The system puts him in jail and after serving his time is released; free to roam once more without a job. Let’s take as another example: the US embassy here at home with the exception of special cases, will not give you a visa until they are fully convinced that you are not that enthusiastic, desirous or fussy about going to their country.
Yet another example: our schools. Once it used to be the case – and logically so – that the slow learners and the plodders were singled out for extra lessons so as to keep abreast, but not now. The order has been reversed. Low performers are unceremoniously shunned, abandoned and forgotten, while the quick and smart ones are embraced, cuddled and lavishly treated to extra lessons. Wasn’t it Christ who said he came not for the righteous but for the sinners? Well, even one wearing wooden spectacles could see that this world now has been turned back to front. We treat the healthy and forsake the sick; the strong trample upon and bully those with infirmities; the poor are starved while the rich are glutted; then we propagate the preposterous theory that we need wars to correct this imbalance. Then there are those odd people who desire the best of everything for nothing but refuse to give others what is rightfully theirs. People who have been elected/selected and paid to serve – public servants, servants of the people – are being served by the people instead, demanding gifts, bribes and favours which they shamelessly delight in receiving. Invariably it is the low income earners who must pay more for less, but then again is it not the good book which says “Whosoever hath to him shall be given and whosoever hath not from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have”?
These are some of the glaring everyday happenings in this present-day, new world order of stupendous technological advancement. Some clever unknown has written: “It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stock room; more knowledge but less judgment, more medicine but less wellness, a time when technology can bring a letter to you in seconds and you can choose to make a difference or just press ‘delete.’”
Surely some of Stabroek News quotes of the day/week are really refreshing, as is this one by Mark Twain on the gentleman banker: “A banker is a fellow who lends his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain.”
Yours faithfully,
Frank Fyffe
