I usually think about what I want to write for a while before I sit down to type. I had decided that this, my last column of the year, to be published on Boxing Day, should be softer than usual. I wanted to write about the importance of family. I would be nothing without mine and I wanted to explain how and why. As I walked in to work on Wednesday morning all of that changed. One of my employees told me that she had been robbed. She seemed to have come out of it relatively unscathed (physically) except for a nasty bruise on her forearm. "What happened," I asked. "When I left work yesterday I got stuck in traffic on the Beetham and this guy pulled my (gold) band off of my arm. And I only wore it yesterday because I knew I had nowhere to go!" she blurted out clearly fighting back the tears. We then went on to talk about the incident, step by step. The young lady fought with the guy. No he didn't have a gun. Yes the struggle went on for a while. No there were no other people with him. Yes she fought back. No she didn't think she should play it safe and just let him go with the band. No, no one helped. They didn't even honk their horns. We reach. T&T we reach. She tried to go after the thief. Yes, run behind him. Yes, into the Beetham Estate. She couldn't get the door open. No she's not mad. The bracelet is hers. No one should be allowed to take it from her. No this is not primary school.
Hire Purchase
Her brother bought it for her. He bought it on hire purchase. He worked and paid for it little by little because he wanted his sister to know how much she means to him. She appreciated that. The bracelet cannot be easily replaced. They cannot afford it. It was hers. Someone took it and there was nobody to protect her. This is a "small crime." It pales, one might argue, in comparison to the murder of a husband and wife which the police refused to take seriously and which the family, in hushed tones, would tell a few select people was probably related to a case before the courts involving a crime against one of the woman's children. No the murderers have never been caught. Yes the other case has fallen apart. In both cases, the violation is the same but the loss is different. We reach. All crime strikes at the heart of a state. Man was not born with an inherent desire to be governed. The primary reason for the creation of a state is to provide security for its citizens. If that cannot be done, something is wrong with the state. No country will ever reach its full potential if people are not free to be and do as they like, as long as what they do does not infringe on the rights of others.
Democracy is Superior
Yes that means I think democracy is superior to any form of authoritarian government. Yes I think it means that the government has to do more about crime. In addition to having police in uniform and in marked cars on the Beetham during peak traffic hours, sometimes plainclothes officers in unmarked cars should be in the traffic to deal with incidents such as the one highlighted earlier. This is not rocket science. Tens of thousands of people use that route-the main one into and out of the Capital city-every day. Doing so should not be at risk of life and limb! On the other hand, we, the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago cannot become so scared and so numb that we allow the criminals to take over our country. Whether it is corruption or assault, we too have to start fighting back. We don't need to do the job of the police but in many ways we may be able to do more. The talk about development and economic recovery will all be hot air unless people feel safe and want to live here. We must confront that reality. As this is my last column for 2010, I want to wish you all the best for the rest of the holidays.
Thanks to everyone who provided feedback. I hope 2011 is a better year for us all as individuals, a country, a region and the world. God bless.