– Some positives from the Pandemic
This working-class, man-in-the street column has survived virtually twenty-seven (27) years. In around year three the late founder and Editor-in-Chief of this newspaper, Mr David de Caires, used courteous, father-like courtesy to explain to me when he felt some contributions to his Op-Ed pages constituted mere waffle. That’s when the piece tended to be vague, incoherent, not too well structured, “wandering around”; “but quite readable” sometimes.
Guess what? This piece today might have to plead guilty to the above. Because my near-retired mind will merely express some “rambling” observations emanating from our “new” Parliament. I make bold to state, however, that they are brief but “readable”. Here goes.
The few televised sessions of the 2020 Emergency Budget sessions I endured interested me a bit and troubled me a lot. My self-imposed “troubles” had to do with standards of parliamentary decorum, delivering of contributions, even perceived character integrity of the members – especially the newcomers; the “veterans” too.
You see, even before I had an office in the Public Buildings, directly under the National Assembly – described as “The House – I would sometimes attend sessions to hear and see our esteemed legislators at work. After the voting, election results and entry into Parliament’s Assembly, we voters should check our representatives’ performance(s), should we not? Our Party Leaders “put them there” on our behalf, right? So I listened to our new Parliament. And I wondered.
***********
The Oath, what God? What Honour?
As you listen to the members taking their oaths you reflect on their past, their present their recent behaviours outside the House. You tend to speculate about whether those folks could really exemplify integrity – some code of high values, morals, incorruptibility – or honour – some superior standing of respect, purity, good name and so on. You know some of them and you wonder.
Even their oath speaks of “true faith and allegiance” and hold some Holy Book, supposedly evidence of some faith reverence for some God. (After being sworn in as MP’s they must be referred to as “honourable”.
It’s challenging for the best of us to be “honourable” is it not? Then you experience the newer members flaunt status, authority, disrespect for those who elected them; “superiority” and entitlements and you wonder. But you know what? Let’s hope.
The actual contributions to the Budget were mixed – some memorable, most easily forgotten. But they’re “new”? I kept wondering: since many of the new Parliamentarians belong to a party which obviously embraced electoral thievery, but have made themselves believe in extremely false righteousness, what can be expected of them in an “Honourable House”? They have to be loyal and thankful to their Party, right? Oppose! Expose! Depose!
And if the contributions from the PPP minister/members exposing the recent government’s almost-criminal excesses, are verifiably accurate they, the new members heading ministries and so on must now be of unimpeachable integrity, right? Ho ho ho.
Another attempt at Parliamentary democracy is underway in our big beautiful blighted Green Land. Hope springs eternal…
“Adults teaching children to hate”
In some letter-to-the–editor, some article or column in the print media last week, the writer used the sentiment: “Adults teaching children to hate.” I might add “and to lie.”
I forget his/her wider topic or issue but it occurred to me that our children, our youth have been at home since the March 02 Elections. They would have had all the time in the world to observe the post-polling day five-month mischief.
The older ones know which adults supported what. Their own parents? Teachers? Which party?
Older students with objective analytical minds might have been able to separate reason from race, truth from fiction but most are susceptible. They’ll follow daddy’s Party (?) Then they would have experienced the West Coast Berbice protest-turned-race riots. Hatred of the other group, even though instigated and manufactured, was on sale. Still I cling to a major hope – that this new generation will not be “polarized”. As some adults want?
Pandemic Positives?
More than 200,000 American lives taken by COVID-19 as of this past Tuesday, Economies under siege, health-care facilities inundated, lives and livelihoods disrupted. The consequences of a cross-border global plague now in its sixth/seventh month. What possible “positives” can emerge?
A few, however dubious: fathers at home because of lockdowns; families move together more often; learning/teaching by technology being perfected and here to stay; home kitchen gardens to rescue slim domestic budgets; preparation and use of more organic nutrition to bolster our immune systems; more mastery of the cyber world. Now you name ten more “positives.”
It makes us wonder…
1) I’m no real fan of Bharrat Jagdeo. However is he not darn accurate when he said: “Mr Speaker, there is no honest interlocutor on the other side…”
2) What does it tell you of underdeveloped Third World Guyana, when a new international Airport takes 10 years to be not completed?
3) Minister Robeson Benn surely inherited significant chaos in terms of “deadmeat” Ramjattan’s Prisons – 17 deaths, Camp Street burnt flat and Lusignan woefully inadequate. Hurry up Mazaruni! With space and personnel!
’Til next week
