Dear Editor,
I hear that a one-time apology for a leader on the campaign trail in Lusignan told listeners not to worry about the small things like potholes and garbage, but to focus on the big beneficial things done. How to address this politely?
I remember the poor once being proud of their surroundings; they had to be clean and sparkling, even if cow dung was the paint, and a piece of wood was the bridge. Now there are exhortations towards new models and new levels. If certain things were insignificant before, they are more insignificant now. How about the detritus from the gutters and drains in the yard? Not a problem to take that in the house or school or public places. Absolutely none. As for the multitude of roadhogs cavorting in the streets, jamming the traffic lights, and spreading their own (so-called new) ethical standards, I suppose these are all negligible, meaningless things too amongst the endless litany of small things.
The same can be said for the young impressionable minds absorbing the crude vulgarities from the top, which can be traced to the small limited upbringing of the latter. It is no big deal; just another blip in the chaos that is life in these parts. Last, the Maths and English numbers are also small; to keep things consistent, no one should have a problem on this score.
Now for a fleeting look at the big things that have lifted all to celestial heights. There should be thanks for the narcotics and money-laundering industries. Where would this nation be without them? Praise is due for the benefits of pseudo-economic activity masquerading under the banners of construction and real estate and multiple other false fronts. Progress and development, is what is shamelessly claimed. In all my travels and readings, I have never come across leaders ‒ any leader ‒ extolling the virtues of dirty money as is done here in Guyana. Must be the heat of the Equator. Or the trickle down multiplier effect.
Finally, ordinary citizens should be extremely happy for the financially larger-than-life politicians, public servants, and business people. Here they are in penthouses snorting about projections, returns, and benefits to the nation. Is this not what is being bandied about today? Yeah –don’t worry about the dirtiness of garbage and mud in the house; just register awe at the prime beneficiaries of the bigger things in Guyanese life: dirty business. There is so much on which to focus and be thankful. If these fellows are not sick, then I don’t know who is.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall