Dear Editor,
Every reasonable-minded Guyanese should appreciate the fact that the PPP/C has worked hard to safeguard a fundamental pillar for the advancement of their social and economic wellbeing; the right to elect a government of their choice. Securing this constitutional right did not come easily, older Guyanese would know this. The younger generation would have witnessed the 2020 elections debacle where the APNU+AFC, in an attempt to defraud the electorate, was laid bare before them. Paying a heavy price to secure free and fair elections was not peculiar solely to the 2020 election, an even higher price was paid in previous elections particularly in 1973 when lives were lost.
As 2024 comes to a close, Guyanese should take stock and consider whether the provision of monetary resources and the vastly improved social and physical infrastructure provided by government has helped lift them out of underdevelopment and poverty. In October, Guyanese were made an offer; $100,000 dollars for each person 18 years and over in possession of an ID card. Throughout history, from time to time, needs and wants of the common people have been fused together by administrations who had the uplifting of the populace at heart and the resources to do so and did so.
The opposition arguments against cash grants is like bad meat and poorly cooked vegetables unfit for human consumption. Any shred of plausibility of their argument quickly vanished when people across the political spectrum enthusiastically responded and welcomed the entitlement. Surely, it couldn’t be that Guyanese are so foolish and not smart enough to discern what is offered to them now bears no comparison whatsoever to what was promised to them in the past because of wrong economic diagnosis.
In a market economy, democracy cannot function effectively without citizens understanding of at least some economics. It is the State’s responsibility to do so. These days, with the dominance of market-oriented economics, even decisions about non-economic issues are dominated by economic logic .Economics has a direct and massive impact on our lives. Understood like this, economics affects us in many more fundamental ways than when it is narrowly defined – income, jobs and pensions. That is why it is vital that every Guyanese citizen needs to recognize politics as a concentrated form of economics. We should all get involved and become active economic citizens in our country where transformation is rapidly taking place, for example, by making it less cash-based.
The political opposition’s penchant for misjudging and to underestimating the PPP/C’s ability to grasp the mood of the Guyanese populace and to formulate and implement political, economic and social policy decisions at government level, has clearly demonstrated the fundamental difference between ability to fulfill manifesto promises when compared to the knee-jerk approach fraught with disastrous results and failure to meet the needs of the people. It must have been clear to reasonable-minded Guyanese that government’s policies are based primarily on rational assessments of the needs of the people and affordability on its part, while policy implementation is results- oriented aimed at maximizing the material well-being of Guyanese. Ultimately, the human beneficence such as; entitlement, kindness, generosity and cooperation between government and the populace is the glue that holds Guyanese society together.
Finally, a word of caution; as Guyanese across all walks of life enjoy their cash grant and ‘back pay’ and how to use it during the Christmas holiday season, as they prepare to welcome the New Year, they should avoid becoming intoxicated with their new spending power and not take into account their future endeavors and what is required of them for a ‘rainy day.’
Sincerely,
Clement J. Rohee
