Dear Editor,
As I read the media reports and listen to reactions from various sources on the current budget debates, there is this vast emptiness, this terrible resignation over what is so shamelessly unapologetically exhibited. There should be disgust and scorn; there is only continuing heaviness of the spirit.
It is easy to condemn and excoriate; after all, this budget is an inviting target for both through the many openings offered. Any leader, any simpleton, any among the large army of the severely limited has opportunity to rush forward and fill printed page and atmosphere with automatic intrinsic vapidity. This has been done. It is easy; it requires no effort. And no effort is what has been reported and manifested: there is neither comprehensive research nor impressive familiarity with subject portfolio nor powerful energy that speaks toward commitment to responsibility and representation of those trusting. There are these mere going-through-the-motions exercises that are insulting to the Guyanese public and degrading to the deliverers.
If these are the deliverers assembled nationally as an alternative, then this country is way better off with what it has at present. The budget debaters just do not care, and are arrogant enough to bring revealing crassness to the highest forum in the land. Lacklustre is not the word; there are those other intangibles, such as pride in presence, pride in work, and pride in presentation and representation. In these ways citizens (voters and hopers all) are justified for their faith and confidence.
Then again, who cares? Why care? As in business, this is what follows from possessing a monopoly on beliefs and passions: it fosters disdain and recklessness. I suppose that parliamentary agents can cavort naked in those hallowed halls as an integral aspect of their budget debate contributions and such could be perceived as Shakespearean, à la the frolicking in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It is that the calibre and thrusts of debate do not matter in the least for many satisfied Guyanese, and their parliamentary members know so. Thus, they feel assured in sharing the half-baked, half-assed, and half-witted. As matters stand, these are stellar indications of the dreadful lack of any scintilla of self-respect by those who engage in these obvious farces.
Editor, forget about corruption in the Guyanese wilds. What has occurred in parliament up to this point is corruption, impersonating, falsification, and conversion of intelligence and character in full view, and with neither interest nor attempt at concealment. This kind of service and conduct ought to be made a felony. Now if that is thought too harsh, then I am willing to temper things somewhat and recommend a public lashing. Of course, this means bringing back the cat. One hundred lashes for a start should be enough to instil some modicum of discipline and standards, even some level of work ethic in these national slackers.
Talking about discipline and standards, if these numb, listless legislative apparitions are representative of the best of Guyanese education, then this society is in for one long hard road and many harrowing times. If these are the role models for tomorrow, then it would be infinitely better if tomorrow does not come. And if these budget debaters are supposed to project shafts of piercing illumination, then clearly their internal power plants are operating near zero. Yes, I know OPEC has restricted supply. But even if it had not I believe that the desultory darkness preponderant in the National Assembly would still be there in thick impenetrability. This is what a country gets when it entrusts stature and faith in, shall we say, vaudevillian performers. All things considered, better make that circus ones.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
