"We are no more than decaying flatulent assemblages of phlegm and faecal matter, animated by lechery and self-delusion to commit acts of increasingly futile denial of the grisly fact that existence is innately...spoiled and that death is coming."
–William T Vollman, Afterword to Celine's Journey to the End of the Night
This chikungunya thing makes you ache and feel weak for weeks! Does it make you depressed too? ChikV have the country depressed?We seem to be approaching a point where almost nothing in the country is working. The "eat ah food" syndrome has taken over and in the search for attention, aggregate and agitation, standards have fallen terribly, people, especially young people, are confused and no one knows what is right or what is wrong.There has always been a strong element of "don't care" in our character. You heard this in 1977 on returning home, when the electricity or water or telephone would cut off at all sorts of inopportune times. My late uncle Carl used to say there must be a little devil who played with the national electricity switch and when he was vex, catch yourself.
You thought, yes, but it will be better in a generation. What quaint thinking! The useless, friendly, drunken Trini male, running from his wife and children to be with "the boys," full of piss and old-talk, is almost a local caricature, whether found around the pavilion bar at the Queen's Park Oval or the cheapest rumshop on Duke Street.We have always had "smartmen," running down money and women. Our name up the Islands is "Trickidadian." A real man's worth is measured not by his work ethic or the colour of his skin or the straightness of his hair, but by how much money he has to spend on his friends and how many children he fathers and abandons.
The country has always given the sensation of "drifting." A drift which accelerated in the last PNM administration is out of control with this UNC one. It used to be a monthly or bi-monthly occurrence. Now every Monday morning is a new scandal. We lurch from crisis to crisis in a state of chronic exhaustion.We have reached the point where there simply seem to be no standards of behaviour, in public or in private. Anything goes. Professional organisations are weak and have no say. Anyone can stand up and talk, say anything and no one criticises or cares, which in practice, is the same thing.Some weeks ago there was a free Ministry of Health Fair in the Savannah. Nestle, a self-proclaimed nutritional company which produces, advertises and sells junk foods that contribute to obesity and chronic disease, had a booth, with employees weighing and measuring babies and informing mothers whether their babies were growing correctly.
Since when is Nestle in the business of telling mothers that their children are healthy and growing well? Why were they allowed, then, to do this at a MoH-sponsored health fair? It becomes more bizarre because the MoH had its own booth, doing the same thing. MoH doctors were measuring children and informing mothers about their children's growth. No one seemed to see anything wrong with Nestle employees giving similar advice.It is common to see people on TV or the radio or in the newspapers speaking on topics about which they know little. The character who claims he has the cure for Ebola is the latest. Adult physicians address childhood diseases. GPs discuss mental illness. Nurses counsel mothers on infant nutrition. People with bachelor's degrees submit information about learning disabilities. "Dietitians" with amorphous credentials preach on supplements. "Social workers" pontificate on marriage. Worst of all, politicians advise on matters concerning health.
In the T&T Guardian of October 7, the Minister of Gender, Youth and Child Development gave a speech "analysing the frequency of child deaths" in T&T for 2014. He made statements about how most deaths occur in the 12 to 18 age group (56 per cent) and the zero to three year (32 per cent) for the first six months of 2014, and referring to the latter group, says "It appears that the developmental stage of this age range renders it a vulnerable group." Duh!
He also stated that the "escalation of child deaths" in this period has prompted his ministry "to strengthen its collaboration with the Ministry of Education to educate children about preventative measures to ensure their safety." One cannot declare on national child deaths over a six-month period. It's too short a time. At the very least, one would have to refer to child deaths over a comparable period for the last ten years before coming to any conclusion. Surely the minister's advisers would have told him this?Similarly, the emphasis on the zero to three-year age group is unnecessary. That is and always has been a major component of child deaths, here and in every country in the world. If it was analysed further, one would see that most of those deaths occur on the first day of life. So old-talk about measures to educate children is puerile. You going to educate babies on "preventative measures?"As usual, the press highlighted his words and everyone in the country is now convinced that "plenty chirren dying!" Self-delusion in a rage.These are some examples that struck me. You will have your favourites.