-Pandemic humour …
I believe that it’s the United Nations Organisation – the UN – which determines how far out or how much of a sea or ocean belongs to some country that is contiguous to that mighty body of water. (Hope I’m accurate about that International “Law of the Sea.”)
So I remain intrigued that all those miles away from our Seawalls and Coast, way out in that Atlantic, that off-shore water is Guyana. Yes think about it citizens: the Co-operative Republic of Guyana is also on and in and under the Atlantic waters. And the centuries-old hydrogen and carbon – hydrocarbons – compounds that become oil in that body of water belong to us – mainly poor Guyanese.
After Janet Jagan and Donald Rabindranath Ramotar, the Brigadier President’s reps concluded a lop-sided Agreement whereby Americans now bring up that precious international commodity oil – as well as associated gas – for export. Of course, the current eight-month old government now has the mighty responsibility to ensure the American Oil Companies share the wealth with us Guyanese, still the owners of that wealth. Is this government really up to that task?
Vice-President Jagdeo now has his portfolio securely targeted on the production and sale of our oil. With stated intentions to utilize the gas later. Ignore the role, status or “responsibility” of the other (junior) ministers. After the fiasco of the Brigadier-President’s brilliant minds, I keep wondering whether this lot can turn out to be much better managers and trustees of all the nation’s resource. The numerous reports and analyses being churned out by both local and international experts and observers, so far, seem to suggest current and continuous failures as the companies call the shots. How long more should we, the citizen-owners, wait to see?
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The owners’ mindset(s)
Consider the tons and tons of gold, diamonds and bauxite – just those three – this one-time colony and independent “State” has produced and exported over past decades.
Who benefited from those resources? Only the owner-producers? What did our “State” do with whatever they received on the people’s behalf? What now do you see our oil and gas being made to do for all of us?
All the foregoing is to set a scenario whereby the masses develop a national mindset to understand and monitor how the various legislation and management structures being put in place will reward us – the real beneficiaries – to be. The small working-class man is normally too busy existing to show deep interest in what can or should improve that existence. Public education continuously is necessary. Whatever its motives one newspaper is relentless in this regard. That must be commendable.
Frankly speaking, it is my strongly-held belief that even when and-or if the Atlantic oil wealth filters down to all Guyanese, there still will be no real transformation of mentalities, attitudes and national character desirable in a country made comfortable financially.
This under-forty generation is now generally too gross, indisciplined and unhinged to produce an oil-rich society of necessary values and top-shelf morality. This over-75 writing this knows that this generation of Guyanese citizens has inherited many ills passed on by older generations who themselves had lost their compass of excellence in all things.
As an old-timer now, I see few desirable role-models, fake, artificial “religion” and the absence of parenting. Even oil wealth distribution might lead to more corruption. What say you? Prove me wrong!
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Big, beautiful, but blighted
Continuing my negativity today briefly I ponder upon the following. The other morning one of our hundreds of radio stations took to playing many of our beautiful, well-composed national (patriotic) songs.
Their version of “Oh beautiful Guyana” still managed to move me. Despite knowing it for decades. Then alas, my remorse, regrets entered my psyche. Those songs still describe a beautiful, still pristine land of my birth but the negative realities of a national blight tend to overwhelm.
Right now Beautiful, Blighted Guyana knows daily, nightly crimes of murder, home-invasions, kidnappings and traffic fatalities. Youthful defiance of authority long before COVID restrictions was born of political and immoral influences. Oil money along cannot engender change of attitudes to spawn national standards of behavioural excellence.
Those who believe in prayers to a more mighty Eternal Force, should not stop doing so.
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Pandemic humour?
In most societies most inhabitants know that the Corona Virus Disease 2019 -COVID19 – is no joke. (I hope.)
But humour is spawned by the most serious, even deadly situations. (Past Afro-Americans relied on “survival humour” to help them through daily societal challenges.) So spare a moment to smile at a few COVID scenarios.
● If you attempted to enter any bank wearing a mask early last year (2020) the police would be summoned. Now that same bank demands that you don a mask before entry. ● In Boston USA, a mother took home the wrong masked-up child from kindergarten for the second time! ● There are now cardboard people and sound-effects at football games.
In Guyana our curfew enforcement can make enforcers much richer. ● At a wake in Beterverwagting recently, boxes of cook-up rice were offered to Police to “ease up” after eleven o’clock one night. ● And of course some inebriated ladies when arrested after midnight continued to “backball” in the bus taking them to the Station.
‘Til next week!
