“A house divided against itself, cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved – I do not expect the house to fall – but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other ” – Abraham Lincoln (June 16, 1858).
As we approach the cusp of our Diamond Jubilee of Independence, the deeply sown divisions within our society show no signs of abating. In fact, with the passage of time, one may argue that the tribal nature of our politics continues to mushroom, no doubt the product of the deep-seated orientation of the political leadership class. The long-term consequences of this myopic mentality have started to come home to roost in front of very eyes, whilst we are busy bickering among ourselves.
Another chasm – it was always there, a fault line waiting to expand – is widening. It involves those who migrated years ago to greener pastures, and some factions of the local business community. The successful immigrant, who might have departed reluctantly, and now wishes to invest back home (and, perhaps also remigrate), is now confronted by a new barrier. Initially, there was the political one, (the water jump, to borrow an apt term from the world of show jumping), which, seems to have been around forever and is firmly rooted in place, will probably remain steadfast for at least another generation, based on current trends. Both sides of the divide can be accused of selectively culling the chosen few, whilst stymieing other non–aligned potential entrepreneurs with a barrage of red tape requirements and a series of delaying tactics.
Added to this volatile cocktail for the potential remigrant investor is the battle with some factions of the local business community who view their fellow citizens with suspicious eyes. This development has acquired an “us-versus-them” mentality, which, unfortunately, only exposes the myopia of an insecure mindset. One argument pitchforked for this reluctant return welcome is; “we stayed throughout the tough times, keeping the lights on whilst they enjoyed greener pastures, so why should they return now and reap the benefits our sacrifices?” Often bypassed are the contributions of remittances of hard currency during those times, or supplying critical material input to keep those very lights on, or other contributions to development. Over the last eight decades the foundations of this layer of mistrust have been cast deeply into our psyche by the rhetorical utterances of political fearmongers.
Whilst, this trivial battle is waged, rather than the formation of alliances, the path is cleared for the expat investor, whose expertise might very well could have been matched by the Guyanese investor, to enter the fray. Ironically, these voices objecting to the return of their fellow citizens remain silent when the expat corporations arrive to trample on the rights of non-union local workers. Nary a month passes without media releases announcing the advent of new investors, such as another airline offering flights to Guyana, or the posting of advertisements for staff vacancies at yet another new foreign firm, and notices requesting bids for government contracts, which cannot be fulfilled by the local populace for one reason or another. Thus, we surrender to the dictates of foreign entities, who create their own terms and conditions.
Abraham Lincoln’s famous quotation is taken from a speech he gave at the then Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, after accepting the Illinois Republican Party’s nomination as that state’s senator. His speech, the launch of an unsuccessful campaign for a senatorial seat, highlighted the danger of slavery- based disunion. The future president of the United States of America, further noted, “Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new – North as well as South.”
One hundred and sixty odd years later, Lincoln’s wise words resonate with our current plight, a divided society, needlessly quibbling with itself. While Emperor Nero played his fiddle, Rome burned. The flood gates of Guyana, the Magnificent Province, have been flung open to the world. As El Dorado gushes from the ocean into the eager hands of the modern privateer, we continue to bicker. In the next century, when the plundering is complete, our descendants will still be bickering as to whose fault it was.
