Dear Editor,
As we welcome and celebrate a landmark event ‒ our 50th year of Independence ‒ I wish we could strive for a different style of leadership, a kind of new orientation in reinitiating the march towards a more uplifting political approach. Notwithstanding whatever positives the coalition maybe credited with, I still think that the present scheme of things is not state of the art, and that the focus on everyday people has never been quite authentic. Tell me, how often these days do we hear the term ‘working class’ – the labouring muscles directly linked to material production? It’s all more now about the ‘middle class’.
We need a certain brand of leadership which of necessity requires a new orientation to transport us to a higher level as attempted before by one of our finest souls, Walter Rodney. Very few would disagree that we
are plenty short on quality, exemplary leaders at a political level. As is often seen, most aspiring political leaders are young intellectuals ‒ understandably so ‒ and since as mentioned above we are plenty short of genuine
ones, then we have a problem. I have been in town long enough to know what many so-called intellectuals
are: jokers and frauds who are overrated. These are some of the labels they go by, and some are classic examples of how education rather than improve has destroyed. Often the masses placing their faith in them are left betwixt
and between, if not totally broken-hearted; the mask the politicians wear sooner or later falls off to reveal
their self-serving nature. As servile hangers-on to the powers that be, they soon become weak-minded sycophants ‒ both the mediocre and professional alike – a sorry bunch of hopeless poltroons who like sheep
blindly follow; the desire to be favoured is all that matters regardless the price.
The danger inherent in such a state of affairs is that they assume a sense of false authority as they mimic those in command. Like little Caesars they become pompous and overbearing throwing their weight around making life uncomfortable for the common folks. Editor, the general mindset that has been guiding this nation for decades has become the template followed by all aspiring political leaders. Inherent in it is an unwritten opportunistic theory: self-aggrandisement and glorification of the ego; an obsession with power which in turn sabotages the role of those elected to serve. Thus instead of being servants of the people, they become masters. Let’s keep in mind that often times we produce the leaders of this calibre; they are of our own kind and many have been bad examples. Hence the reason why for so long we have had planted on us some brazen, arrogant and deceitful ones who have rarely been faithful to the working-class.
This has had a negative effect on us leaving us with a bitter taste. We can duck our heads to our hearts’ desire, the above represents the general behaviour of our leaders over the years and in almost every sphere of our society – except for a tiny number of outstanding individuals. The leadership template as practised over the years has shaped the mentality and behaviour of many young aspiring intellectual leaders in ways that have not been best for society, since their paramount interest has always been the elevation of the personality above all else. They crave to be like those they idolize and mimic. They strive to become petty tyrants, while deluding themselves that they are awesome and on top of their game, dragging and suffocating the people along their warped and deranged path.
And this is what a new orientation must seek to do: fashion leaders with a bold imagination who are not afraid to step beyond the horizon. We are the poorer for lacking genuine full-blooded leaders who can really inspire, motivate, generate self-confidence and assurance; leaders who can make people feel and believe in a movement or a cause; leaders who feel and can empathise with people, make them feel rather than only hear them.
Observe the behaviour, the thinking and outlook of the great majority of our young folks, up-and-coming professionals, entrepreneurs, etc. It is not comforting; whatever it is they venture into, before they start they want to be billionaires. Many of our upcoming leaders have no scruples – the end justifies the means, which reminds me of two of Gandhi’s seven blunders of the world: “Education without character” and “Commerce without morality.”
The term “giving back to society” is empty, except it sounds good – just another threadworn cliché bandied about to give a false impression. The mentality of the young entrepreneurs and professionals is the same as that of the hustlers in the streets. They have a common objective, the difference lying in their status, which allows one the legitimacy to function in their preferred area as against the other whose area is outlawed.
Editor, in any society where it is a case of survival of the fittest, there can hardly be any room for genuine patriotic behaviour. This is why a new orientation beckons, as the problems we have “cannot be solved by employing the same thinking that created them”. Sling Shot’s motivating creation ‘Wake-up Guyana’ which has become a fixture on the Breakfast Show is most appropriate; I hope politicians see beyond the up-tempo beat.
Yours faithfully,
Frank Fyffe
