Dear Editor,
This is not about any chairmanship, and yet it is; it cannot help being so, whether indirectly or remotely. I table a few thoughts, and let them lead wherever they do.
Harmony and unity can be shouted from the rooftops (and they have been); but if the national objectives are neither formed nor powered by supporting individual visions, then it is a downward escalator with no bottom for this society. If there are merely perfunctory soundbites and associated photo ops (there have been more than a few of those too), and the routine posturing for the crowded gallery of unbelievers and the critical, then this nation is consigned to running in place endlessly, the same old dismal place. If this thing (whatever it is) about harmony and unity is not from the heart, then the mind remains the same at the collective and individual levels. That is, one grand exhibition of ultra-hypocrisy by uber-hypocrites. There is no going anywhere; regardless of who is chair; and what is discovered or how much.
Editor, to repeat the tiring, unless leaders and stalwarts first ready themselves and commit themselves, there is only the same ugly story that grows sadder and more grotesque by the day. In the heaving urban thoroughfares and desolate village outposts, this could be by the hour with each suspicious simmering situation. Cumulatively, this society mocks itself.
When political leaders ready themselves, go against the grain, and turning back is not an option, then the initial steps would have been taken to condition the psyches and souls of rank and file followers. The problem is to attempt at conditioning by reversing those who have been pulverized with the monstrous and crippling; with the fears and animosities; and with all that is greedy and self-serving. Conditioning means that the inner circles, the senior circles, and the secret circles all have to be prepared to sacrifice and deliver reciprocal concessions. Or this nation will not stand. It will stand, but perpetually on one foot only and with all the hobbling and stumbling that that represents. In aggregate, the demands of such a mindset and conditioning could be greater than all the labours of Hercules combined, and endeavouring to reverse the mighty tides in full relentless surge. This is the extent of the visceral and cerebral poisoning inflicted, most of which have been self-administered.
It is reconditioning self and constituents-breathless and now resistant-beyond insincere words and superficial positions. It is the bluntness of sharing that this party, whichever one it is (and its people) cannot get all the plums; that some of the plums will have to be given up; and that some of the residual plums must be found acceptable by the faithful, even though they are a far cry from the mesmerizing calculations of old, and which have taken the equivalent of pit bull hold on expectant followers. When such contexts and realities are heaped upon supporters, then the issue of who is chair of Gecom is no longer a life-and-death development. It is no longer a last will and testament with potentially rich bequests dancing on the brain.
Currently, every Guyanese is talking, dreaming, snoring, and living oil. Already! The interest and energy, the fascination and self-indoctrination permeate this land across almost every square inch. This is admirable; though sometimes a little too much so. Now if the same unflagging, coalescing, rallying, binding tendrils can be intertwined into the political fabric first, and then the all-encircling social tapestries, I daresay that some tentative baby crawls would have been embarked upon to knit this nation in harmony and unity.
But someone, high or low, and everywhere must be willing to give something, to give ground, and to give a chance to another approach. All or none has translated to all for some, and none for some at the very same time. The actual, emotional, and psychological wealth gaps become more pronounced; and to much harsher and acrimonious degrees. Once again, it is reiterated that the ascendancies of today obscure the disasters of yesterday, even as they pave the way for the tragedies of tomorrow. Errors repeated remain errors, be they in either calculation, or judgment, or vision.
Everyone, including functional illiterates, knows this. And still there is persistence with what has failed, harmed, and horrified. The nation can continue; its peoples can contribute to the usual. Therein glares the condemnation and damnation of the purgatory that is Guyana. It does not have to be eternal. It does not even have to be. But then again, why not, since it is so beloved….?
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
