Dear Editor,
Long time when social ladders were steep and rungs treacherous, the shopkeeper was a man to reckon with, not only for rations. He was the man on the way up. He was carving his economic future. He was able to have ambitions for his children. In colonial times, the shopkeeper had power and position albeit in small communities. Eventually, he could achieve a business in a larger community. The biggest ones could buy property on Main Street and polish up and angle to mingle with the richer higher rungs. Check family history. I am actually Morukan by birth but Trini for a long time now. So I borrowed a cultural expression from here where colonial figures are presented in Carnival mas’. We have Bookman, Midnight Robber, Dame Lorraine, Bat and many others. The colonial experience is parodied for the entertainment of all to help the ghosts to rest. So I created a character for economic argument: Shopkeeper.
I suggest that Shopkeeper is alive and well in Guyana. He is not dead. He is active. Hamilton Green discerned his activity when he wrote about the ‘sale’ of Guyana’s resources. Shopkeeper sells and sells and sells in any quantity, to anyone. He is not discriminatory because he cannot be. He does not determine price. The puppet masters faraway do that. He accepts their price and sells from his warehouse. He is Shopkeeper. After all his reputation is measured in dollars, not necessarily in sense. Social costs, including environmental damage, are not numbers he plays. Sometimes we do not know we have this colonial jumbie. Shopkeeper is a master of camouflage. He can appear philanthropic. He can appear as a political figure which has the added weight of election results behind him. He can be a big talker and belligerent as he pleases. He does not see himself as Shopkeeper. He sees himself as involved and doing big business. He is a world changer.
He does not need to analyse the change. Not at all. That is too time consuming for a busy, busy man. What contextualizes the action of this jumbie called Shopkeeper? Opportunity is the main criterion. Goods the other. Have lumber, will sell. Have diamonds, will sell. Have bauxite, will sell. Have manganese, will sell. Sell, sell, sell. And so we repeat the colonial experience. We sell because we are perceived as a warehouse. No need to set limits. No need to exact re-afforestation for a lumber concession. Not at all. Strip it bare and count the dollars. No need to insist on funded social ‘give back’. Jumbies do not care about those things. Drag it all out and send it off. Those who object should shut their big non-jumbie mouths. Jumbieying is an art and Shopkeeper is good at this manoeuvre. Who can resist Shopkeeper? No one at all. All objectors should shut their big ‘farse mout’.
So the population is silent while the destruction is enacted. Many grieve for the next generation much as a mother grieves for her children if her man is stinking drunk each day and never considers the children in what he is doing. He is a big man after all. After all!!! The price for Shopkeeper’s madness is very high. It will be paid by the next generation and some of the payment will be in tears. If the wealth lasts, there may be some expensive corrections. But these can be avoided by putting Shopkeeper to rest. Know what this entity is as a colonial legacy. Shopkeeper can become a new master who does not and, will not, care about people except those closest. Caring and loving are embarrassments and can produce social concern. Done away with that! Social concern and morality do not mix.
Shopkeeper like any good economist is amoral. Demand, supply; demand, supply, tells the whole story. Guyana is a small country which needs a native population that loves each other. The First Nations’ brothers need total control including control of mineral and natural wealth of their lands. It is unjust to broker best deals for selling off mineral wealth to expatriates while the First Nations must beg for their small share of unencumbered mineral wealth on lands they have owned before colonial intruders told them otherwise. Guyanese need to know that their forests, rivers and creeks are protected as a sacred trust for generations to come. They need, as a nation, to hold their heads high without the niggling suspicion that others are sniggering at them behind their hands. That will happen if the ‘sell all’ approach gains momentum. Guyanese need to feel valuable. Governments are transient, even the most secure of them. All politicians are transient and need the humility to accept the mantle of mortality.
In fifty years from now the big daddies may well all be pushing up buck beads and burra-burra. So humble up! Love Guyana! Preserve Guyana! Let your stewardship be based on love. Keep sounding the bell. The ‘sell all’ philosophy belongs to colonial times when there was no choice. Guyana has myriad choices now. If Guyana understands its new identity as a strong world voice then she must know that great responsibility comes with this to lead in the region and internationally by example, and with courage. Congratulations to the powers that be for some really great decision making. That does not excuse ‘schupidness’. Know that! However, mistakes can have great positive worth so no need to be afraid. Fix them if you make them! And to quote a Trini saying: Who vex, los. And to quote two Guyana sayings: ‘Bird fly too fas’ he pass he nest’ AND ‘Han’ wash han’ mek han’ come clean’. So I say.
Sincerely,
Gabriella Rodriguez
