Dear Editor,
It seems that everywhere there is suffering there is a call for a change of political power and control. Seldom is there an organized and sustained call and process for reallocating economic power; especially a call accompanied by specific plans and actions to empower citizens to move towards autonomous economic success. And so, the question becomes whether political power brings economic power for supporters of the party in question, or whether economic power should be the real priority of all citizens.
During the civil rights struggles in the 1960s, Black Americans were advised that political power would bring them economic power. The same could be said of the Suffragette movement of the late 1800s and the twentieth century. While political power brought economic power to the political elite, it never brought the promised economic success to the masses.
Similarly, supporters of the PPP/C were advised that political power would bring them economic power. Still, after twenty years of PPP government, the lines for passports and immigrant visas remain long, more people than ever are still leaving or planning to leave Guyana, and Indian Guyanese make up an ever increasing number of those in queue, desperate to flee the country governed by a party many Indian Guy-anese support.
Economic power implies a better standard of living. The ability of families to afford a home, to send children to better private schools, or to pay for extra lessons so that students might benefit from a quality education at one of the elite public schools, to afford three or four nutritious meals daily, to afford to pay for the bars on the window and doors, to pay for the overhead tanks and pumps to get water to the home, to afford a computer and other necessary home electronics, maybe an automobile and most importantly, the security of having enough savings to take advantage of a business opportunity or to deal with an emergency.
The question remains whether political power assumes economic power for any group other than the ruling political elite. In Guyana, citizens are aware of the rampant corruption, the impunity with which people steal from the state, the poor quality of schools, disrepair of roads, poor water, medical, and other services and one wonders whether Indian political power has translated into economic power for Indian citizens, or any other citizens who have voted for the PPPC government. The answer is unquestionably no.
While political power has brought gains to the ruling elite, the cabal, it is economic independence that moves citizens from lives of poverty and hopelessness to prosperity. It is economic power that frees citizens from the shackles of beggardom to the freedom of giving and sharing excess. It is economic power that allows families to educate their children, to afford basic comforts, to provide for the family and community and to live with peace of mind and dignity.
A friend of mine recently reminded me that in the United States, Chinese, Japanese and Indian immigrants and their descendants rarely agitate for political power. Even though these groups are small, they still represent the ethnic groups with the highest average incomes in the United States. They still represent the ethnic groups with the highest level of education in the United States, and they represent the ethnic groups with the highest levels of economic independence or small business ownership in the United States.
They are economically independent, they are insulated or can more easily relocate away from the whims of the state, and they are able to focus on educating their children to attain positions which will assure dominance and success for many generations to come.
Clearly, the strong central government model has not worked in Guyana. Waiting for the PPP/C government to take action to increase investment in Guyana, which should lead to more and better paying jobs and the creation of a thriving middle class, is pure insanity.
By house, by street, by village, by region, citizens of Guyana must gain more economic power through education, training and entrepreneurship. While political power gives economic power to the ruling elite; economic power for the masses is the only route to true and lasting liberation.
Yours faithfully,
Karen Abrams
