Are we the change we want to see in the world?

 I didn’t really intend to discuss politics in this blog, but in light of the recent by-election I couldn’t help but have some of my own thoughts.

My Facebook page was rampant with all sorts of political analyses from every extreme. People either supported Jack Warner, supported the People’s Partnership, supported the People’s National Movement (PNM) and predicted the present government’s downfall, or none of the above: it doesn’t matter who is in charge, we’re all screwed anyway.

There was a point in my life when I fell into the category “None of the above: It Doesn’t Matter who’s in Charge, We’re All Screwed Anyway.” That changed when I attended university and grew interested in politics. I even considered changing my BA to an LLB.

Since then I’ve returned to “None of the above: It Doesn’t Matter who’s in Charge, We’re All Screwed Anyway” status.

Why? It’s because I’ve come to realise is that we blame the politicians for the failings of the country. Every time a politician fails us we point our fingers and curse them. To be sure, politicians are not without liability. Yet when we consider their repeated failures; when we consider the continued division of race, class and culture and when we consider the rampant corruption that persists regardless of every turning tide of government, isn’t it time to ask ourselves whether or not something is intrinsically wrong?

Our political system follows that of the Westminster system, a vestige of our colonial heritage. Its detractors believe that it merely imitates British parliament, and as such cannot serve and function in the Caribbean at its best capacity. It’s been criticised that its two-party system does not bode well for a country with a conflicting racial undertow. This coupled with the prejudiced legacy left by our former colonists it is hardly any wonder that our national and civic progress is being hindered. 

If the system is indeed failing us, then why aren’t we doing anything about it? All that exists is discussion of Constitutional Reform; something that I don’t trust will come into fruition in the near future. Even if proper research needs to be completed for successful constitutional reform, in a country where we place bandages on our wounds without treating them for future infection, a country of quick fixes how can we expect to exact any kind of change?

Nota bene: I’m not talking about the type of change we were promised three years ago.

We have to look at the Black Power riots of the 1970s to show that our country isn’t incapable of tenacity, but now it seems that our determination for fair play has been reduced to paltry marches for higher wages. When we also see the one-man stands of Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh and Tony Leavitt we can deduce that the grit the country once had is dwindling away. And sometimes in the face of such resolution we as Trinidadians scoff and ridicule. Perhaps V.S. Naipaul is right to say that we deny ourselves heroes.  

There are those who condemn such undertakings of activism, those who believe that peaceful discourse is the only way. Maybe they’re right.

But how can we just talk when it seems that no one is listening?

We can look maybe to the poet Martin Carter (1927-1997) who not merely wrote about social injustice in Guyana but acted – fought for his people and his communist beliefs. Maybe it’s about balance, not being rash, thinking before acting.

I imagine we can only measure how effective this is if we were to systematically measure his successes.

Yet I too am guilty of just talking, just writing, not acting enough.

Perhaps because like so many others in this country, I am merely trying to get by.

Whining alone gets us nowhere.

References:

 Trinidad in the Middle Passage
Martin Carter: The Poems Man
Corruption and Development
The Westminster Model
Westminster in the Caribbean: History, Legacies, Challenges
The Revolutionary Seventies