Dear Editor,
I am aware of Mr Charles Ramson Jr’s qualifications as a lawyer, but I am now of the belief that he may need to take a political science class. He stated that “it would mean that the child of a senior officer in a business/company would never be able to work in that business/company. The reality is quite the opposite: most parents who own businesses have at least some degree of expectation of their children assisting in that business” (Inews April 12). This suggests that the children of political leaders should be expected not only to be interested in politics but automatically ascend to positions of leadership as is done in business. This sets off two bells for me.
First Mr Ramson is implying that the PPP is synonymous with a private business, and thus is owned by a few people who expect their children to take over. This leaves little or no room for the layman who may be a supporter of the PPP to ascend to high office, as he would not have been born into the right family.
Secondly, I am struggling to wrap my head around the fact that anyone could even think of suggesting that this country is a family business. Might I remind Mr Ramson that being given the opportunity to serve the people of this great nation is not synonymous with being given a position as an officer of a private business, and further, the belief that space should be automatically made available to the children of the leaders in government has a name, and it is called oligarchy.
Let me see if I can spell it out better. According to the New World Encyclopedia the word oligarchy is derived from the Greek words for ‘few’ and ‘rule.’ Oligarchy, ‘rule by the few’ refers to limiting political power to only a small portion of the community, such as a few families or individuals (the oligarchs).
On the other hand I am of the firm belief that Mr Ramson did not get this idea from thin air, but that it represents the belief of the leadership of the PPP. This therefore contradicts the advertisements on which massive sums of money have been spent, that try to convince the population that we are living under a thriving democracy. Mr Ramson Jr’s oligarchy and democracy are two different types of control of power. And just in case he wasn’t aware, the people of this country do not wish to be governed by an oligarchy.
Yours faithfully,
Tabitha Sarabo-Halley