Last Sunday I closed on the image of our Ship of State having sunk like the Titanic while we all danced. And I suggested that the survivors would need to rebuild our country, starting without the curse of oil which is probably the main reason we are unable to live up to our potential.
But the truth is, we do not have to go down with the ship. Indeed, the ship does not even have to sink.
But the truth is, we do not have to go down with the ship. Indeed, the ship does not even have to sink.
Even as we sail these dangerous waters, the international economic hazards and local disasters of our own making can still be avoided. But only if we want to and will spend serious time on watch to identify and then avoid them.
And that is where we will fail, as we always fail. Why bother to keep watch and sail carefully? God is a Trini, we will find more oil, buy more bling and sail on, until we crash eventually into the icebergs and sink, while the fete continues.
That is how we have always managed, ent? So, why worry?
Because we are running out of luck (we ran out of common sense years ago), and as the hazards keep increasing in numbers and severity, we are going to crash soon if we stay on this course.
That is how we have always managed, ent? So, why worry?
Because we are running out of luck (we ran out of common sense years ago), and as the hazards keep increasing in numbers and severity, we are going to crash soon if we stay on this course.
And we all know this, but we will not really accept it, and do something about it. Leave that to someone else, for that is not my responsibility!
And how can we ever change course if we do not accept that we need to? We change the crew, and tell ourselves that “things change”. But we should have learned by now that over the fifty years of our independence we have sailed the same direction, ongoing to inevitable destruction, without a single attempt to change the course.
And how can we ever change course if we do not accept that we need to? We change the crew, and tell ourselves that “things change”. But we should have learned by now that over the fifty years of our independence we have sailed the same direction, ongoing to inevitable destruction, without a single attempt to change the course.
Oh, yes! We changed the captain and the crew several times, but they have all stayed true to the course first set: Leaders and politicians first; family and friends next; everybody takes, nobody gives; “we turn now”, and “fix me first”. Bandits and gangsters get rich, especially those in white collars and silk ties.
Any change that will ever come to T&T, folks, will have to come from the ground up. No change will ever come from our politicians or other leaders. They are all too content with the situation as it is.
So when there is a cabinet reshuffle, and a person like Verna St. Rose Greaves is dumped, we have to understand that no one as enlightened as that good lady will never be allowed to speak or act from a position of authority in this country—not under any political party or prime minister we have known or who may appear in the near future.
Any change that will ever come to T&T, folks, will have to come from the ground up. No change will ever come from our politicians or other leaders. They are all too content with the situation as it is.
So when there is a cabinet reshuffle, and a person like Verna St. Rose Greaves is dumped, we have to understand that no one as enlightened as that good lady will never be allowed to speak or act from a position of authority in this country—not under any political party or prime minister we have known or who may appear in the near future.
Her dismissal from cabinet is the clearest indication that we still dwell in the Dark Ages, and we intend to stay right there—talking about popping the necks of people we cannot convict, keeping abortions septic, torturing our children, and hounding homosexuals into hiding.
People of conscience will not be allowed to influence us in the foreseeable future. Not by the politicians, not by the business elites, not by the criminals, and certainly not by the churches. So a genuine voice of conscience is dismissed from cabinet, to cry to us from the wilderness, but thankfully not from Costa Rica, to where she was intended for exile.
But the current captain tells us that by re-assigning crew and adding a couple of hands on deck, she believes she is changing course. Most of us still see the icebergs ahead, and all but the sycophant support wing of the current crew should be worried by what we see. For it is not clear sailing ahead.
Transferring Jack Warner from Works (the physical task of keeping the ship in working condition) to National Security (the suppression of mutiny and attacks from pirates) has been both hailed and criticized. Hailed because people believe that he may finally suppress the huge wave of crime threatening the ship, and criticized because of the alleged baggage he brings on board from a ship called FIFA.
But it is time to acknowledge that “suppression of crime” is but a short-term solution to this problem. Welling up from the bowels of the ghettoes is the oncoming stream of bandits, the unwanted, fatherless, abused and uneducated children who will be attacking us in the years ahead.
People of conscience will not be allowed to influence us in the foreseeable future. Not by the politicians, not by the business elites, not by the criminals, and certainly not by the churches. So a genuine voice of conscience is dismissed from cabinet, to cry to us from the wilderness, but thankfully not from Costa Rica, to where she was intended for exile.
But the current captain tells us that by re-assigning crew and adding a couple of hands on deck, she believes she is changing course. Most of us still see the icebergs ahead, and all but the sycophant support wing of the current crew should be worried by what we see. For it is not clear sailing ahead.
Transferring Jack Warner from Works (the physical task of keeping the ship in working condition) to National Security (the suppression of mutiny and attacks from pirates) has been both hailed and criticized. Hailed because people believe that he may finally suppress the huge wave of crime threatening the ship, and criticized because of the alleged baggage he brings on board from a ship called FIFA.
But it is time to acknowledge that “suppression of crime” is but a short-term solution to this problem. Welling up from the bowels of the ghettoes is the oncoming stream of bandits, the unwanted, fatherless, abused and uneducated children who will be attacking us in the years ahead.
Until we understand that the only “crime plan” with a sustainable future is the mission to bring these children back to civilization, we are doomed to the Flying Squad and the popping of necks.
Verna’s Mission was to deal with that aspect of our failure. And unless and until we find someone to speak on behalf the children we have abandoned, we cannot change course.
Sail on!
Verna’s Mission was to deal with that aspect of our failure. And unless and until we find someone to speak on behalf the children we have abandoned, we cannot change course.
Sail on!
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