Dear Editor,
I read with interest the letter titled, “Jagan’s model of Marxism/Leninism was distinguished from failed Eastern European type socialism,” written by Donald Ramotar, Stabroek News, March 21, 2024. I agree with his analysis and in general terms support his historical resume and he should be congratulated for his effort. But Editor, as this debate continues I am reminded that Forbes Burnham cautioned young political aspirants that Marxism, Leninism, Socialism, Communism and Capitalism have become chameleon terms, meaning different things to different people. Politicians, intellectuals and academics have capitalized upon the above facts for the past several generations.
Be recalled that when the Great Sir Winston Churchill lost the elections in Great Britain to the Labour Party, led by the socialist Clement Atlee, it had to do not so much with tags or labels, but the desire of the British Electors for change. A few months later at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, Churchill, introduced by the new US President, Harry S. Truman, talked about an iron-curtain referring to the spread of socialist, communist ideas in every corner of the globe.
In Guyana today, we must persuade our political leaders to be concerned with programmes that enliven and make a reality of our Independence and to ensure that we are not being recolonized. Our University should take up this issue to give graduates of every subject the stimulant to justify and honour those who struggled to challenge slavery, indentureship and the tricks of imperial domination.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Green
Elder