Dear Editor,
Democracy in Guyana is on the brink, and the utterances from our politicians, I am certain, will assist, in her leap into oblivion.
During the past week, there have been some strange utterances (three in fact) by our politicians. Those utterances and the manner in which they were done were rather pathetic. I will deal briefly with two of them, the other I will leave to the Catholic Standard, which has this proclivity to see only the negative side of the Government of Guyana.
I love Sir Winston Churchill, his use of the English language, was unique. I am certain some of you, who may have read a few of his speeches, may remember his famous response to Lady Astor, who had accused him of being drunk.
In the Guyana context, the late Forbes Burnham had this Churchillian knack of the correct use of the language; and he used it to good effect. Presently, I have to concede, that the Secretary to the Cabinet’s, command of the language, is good, but in a rather muted, and painful way.
Two statements (a) “I have lost all confidence in the (Guyana) Police Force”, and, (b) “Rohee is worthless”, both coming from our politicians struck me as rather insensitive.
Those negative and accusatory statements by our politicians, should be a cause of concern to all Guyanese. The first statement, allegedly sends a message to all and sundry, that the Guyana Police Force, is a useless organisation, and should be ignored. The words used were bad, and could have dire consequences on the Force’s ability to maintain law and order, and further demoralize its ranks.
I am certain that a person of his stature, could have used words that would have conveyed his concerns about the Force, without maligning the organisation or demoralizing its members.
Secondly (b), the word worthless, (according to Longman’s Dictionary of English Usage (1990)), means ‘of no value’, ‘of bad character, with no good qualities’, eg, a worthless member of society.
To use such a word to describe a fellow Parliamen-tarian, or even a non parliamentarian, is the ultimate insult, and further it debases the person who uttered such words. Our language, since the 2011 elections, has become more insensitive, and some politicians, latch on to them to create mayhem (Agricola, 2012?). No man is worthless. He may be incapable of carrying out some of his functions, as a result of circumstances beyond his control, but being worthless; he is Not.
Chivalry and respect are two areas that are not part of the makeup of some of our politicians, and this unfortunately has gushed down to the gullible in our Society. Our homes, our schools, our work places, and even our Churches have become victims of this malady.
I am certain that some members of the Guyanese society can remember LFSB’s ‘my steel is sharper‘ statement.
There was no burning of tyres, no assaults on passersby, no robberies, by the persons whom such statements were intended for.
Yours faithfully,
C S Vaughn, MSM
Major (Rt’d)
