Dear Editor,
I am not sure how much has changed in Guyana over the last thirty years. It appears that the people have been stuck back in time. As I look around I hear the some of same music from years ago, and I don’t mean the oldies. I mean funk and disco music.
The consumption of alcohol has remained prevalent. The only change is that more and more women and younger people are drinking more alcohol than before. It’s no longer a shame to see a woman drinking hard alcohol or getting drunk.
The sophisticated, lower and upper class women are no longer drinking shandy or Malta. They are drinking more of the hard stuff like Red Square vodka and Guinness. They are no longer drinking from a glass or using a straw. They are drinking straight from the bottle. They have become one of the guys.
Drinking alcohol is now cool in this country. Everybody is doing it, so it must be right. People no longer go out to dinner. Dinner must include music and alcohol. No one can have a good time without drinking alcohol. And if you don’t drink, you are seen as weird and people avoid you.
Drinking alcohol makes people feel as if they are having a good time. What a sad life we have in Guyana when we have to have alcohol to have a good time.
Editor, I don’t believe much have changed in the past years when it comes to the power industry. Blackouts are still a frequent occurrence. It is not something that bothers people any more. It has become a way of life now.
Car accidents continue. No changes there. Criminals continue to make people feel unsafe. No changes there too. People who are feeling fearful continue to migrate. Then there’s the naive, dumb and blind who are still holding on to their beliefs that “things” will get better.
Editor, when President Burnham died, these people believed that things will get better. When Dr Jagan became president, these people believed that things will get better. When Bharrat Jagdeo became president, these people believed that things will get better. When APNU+AFC came into government, these people believed things will get better. When all of these political leaders didn’t make things better, these people are now saying that when the oil comes, things will get better. Things haven’t gotten better in 50 years, so why will it get better now?
Of course there have been some changes, but nothing big. We have several shopping malls such as Giftland, which is an absolutely amazing mall. And yes, several people have become billionaires. Some people have become ridiculously wealthy by selling illegal drugs and others by ‘legal’ corruption. Of course a few people have earned their money honestly, but they are the exception.
Editor, our country has not changed much in the last 30 years, and I am not sure that it will change much in the next 30 years, which is so sad and depressing. I don’t mean to be pessimistic, but it is so hard to see things changing when few changes have come about in the last 30 years.
Yours faithfully,
Anthony Pantlitz
