Becoming uncivilized - the Peter O'Connor column

Here we are in T&T, in the year 2012, our fiftieth year of Independence, and just eight years from “Vision 2020”, and what is the topic we are currently debating?

It has been stated, and people are discussing this quite seriously, that we, as a society, are becoming uncivilized. 

Is this for real, you might well ask? 

We are the wealthiest island in the Caribbean, blessed with natural resources which give us a higher standard of living that any of our neighbours; we have tremendous creative talent, scientific and entrepreneurial skills, and a level of racial and religious tolerance which other societies would do well to emulate; our people have gone out in the world and risen to leadership positions in several fields, and at this point in our development, we, not the outside world, are wondering whether we are becoming uncivilized.

And strangely, rather than recoiling in horror that such a suggestion can be made about us, we - trying so hard to “Bling” ourselves into the 21st Century with that façade of glass-faced buildings downtown—are discussing this reversal seriously. As of Thursday morning, in the Newsday on-line poll, 75 % of respondents agreed that T&T is “becoming uncivilized”.

But I am trying to see all this in a positive light. Can it be that we are arriving at some catharsis, where we are finally acknowledging, like some addict or alcoholic, that we actually have a problem? 

Before we can solve a problem—individually or collectively-, we need to acknowledge that the problem exists, and truth be told, we have been living in denial regarding our state, our “condition”.

But what does this now accepted loss of our civilization really mean? To some, and certainly in the previous government, our standard of civilization is measured by those buildings on the waterfront, and the big ugly “toad” that sits on the old Princes’ Building grounds. 

But, notwithstanding that many societies have measured their great civilizations by their architecture and their art, I prefer to gauge our standard of our civilization by how we feel about each other and how we treat with each other

Civilized people understand and practice love, compassion, loyalty, trust, standards , responsibility and discipline-- individually and collectively. And if you accept these tenets, then you must agree that we are becoming uncivilized. 

While the Western world is rapidly discarding most of these, we in T&T appear to have already dumped them all, and as more of us begin to acknowledge this, we are faced with two choices—no more. 

One: we continue as we are, living with fewer “societal rules” than most animal species, and oversee our own destruction within a generation or two. Or, Two: We take the hard decision (hard in the short term only) to immediately stop the collapse of all of our values, and seriously begin rebuilding families, communities and a society based upon the values which once made us “civilized”.

And before the rich and the righteous begin to nod their heads in agreement, let me assure you all that the rich and the righteous—the powerful among us, are the ones leading the collapse of our civilization. 

While the poor make the news with their violent protests, banditry, petty fraud, and their ongoing challenges on the law and order to which we would like to see them conform, the rich and the powerful also break our laws, steal millions, take advantage of the poor, and generally tear apart our society from the top down.

You think this is harsh and revolutionary? 

I give you four documents to study: The Musthill Inquiry, the Uff Inquiry, and the ongoing Coleman CLICO/HCU and Simmonds 1990 Inquiries. I wonder how many of us are appalled at what these Inquiries have said about us, and with two still ongoing, will say about us? 

Lord Musthill dealt with our judiciary and the government, Uff with government and procurement, Coleman is exposing the pinnacles of local business ethics—at the good-old boy level, and at the new “pirate/plunderer” level. Sir David Simmonds must be wondering what kind of people we are, as the revelations of betrayal and incompetence regarding the 1990 coup unfold before him and his wry smile.

We must acknowledge that at every level, and through every age group, ethics, decency, loyalty and honesty have been abandoned. 

Parents, teachers, policemen, lawyers and the government set no example for anyone. Bankers, bandits, judges, jokers, lawyers, liars, physicians and frauds---we are all in the same mix, seeking to promote “me” first and to cheat whenever we can. The only standard is not to be caught - and this applies from chairman to children.

So the question is: Can we save ourselves, and return to civilization; or more poignantly, do we even want to?