The week began badly for Americans. A gunman killed six people and wounded 14 others, including a US Congresswoman who was shot in the head.As the 24-hour news media followed the story and, as the news unfolded, investigators discovered that Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford's politics had so enraged the murderer that he decided to try to get rid of her and anybody else who supported her views.
Whilst nothing can take away from the fact that this is a terrible tragedy, by the middle of the week, some rays of light began to appear. Since the Clinton Presidency, the United States has been a divided country. Fiercely divided.During the course of the week, something began to happen. Congresswoman Gifford exceeded her doctors' expectations from the start. By the end of the week, she was moving limbs and responding. The symbolism in what most would hope will be a full recovery, could not be more profound.
If there were a winner in the midst of the tragedy though, it is President Obama. As he seems to always do, he rose to the occasion on Thursday and pulled his country together.Noting that Republicans, Democrats and Independents were affected by the attack, he said, in part:"But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized... it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.
"But what we can't do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another. As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together."
These are profound words and can be adapted to the local discourse. Over the years, the discussion in T&T has gotten increasingly cantankerous. Too often people ignore the real issues, focusing on peripheral, inconsequential things or on the messenger as opposed to the message.Parliament is a particular disgrace. For the past decade every debate has come down to who has stolen more than whom. Is this what the society wants? What it needs?
Our society is reflected in our football. When a player is clinical but lacks flare, he isn't very popular. If he makes an incisive pass which opens up a scoring opportunity, he is mentioned but not celebrated. But when a player demonstrates skill and confuses a member of the other team, even if he goes nowhere, the crowd is ecstatic. The mob cheers him on. When he loses the ball though, because for all his talent showmanship, not progress is the only concern, the mob steupses. Curses.
The tipping point in favour of the People's Partnership government was not the high-handedness, arrogance or alleged corruption of the previous government. In that regard, there was no fundamental difference between 2007 and 2010.What made the difference was the perception that several interest groups were represented in the Partnership and that these groups would, collectively, ensure wider consultation and input. In order for the society to progress, to develop, this must happen effectively.
The country, or more precisely, the citizens, we, must find a way to have more meaningful and constructive dialogue. To talk to one another, with another, about one another, in a manner that leads to solutions and action in the collective good.When the Tucson shootings took place on Sunday, nobody questioned the stability of the state. Concerns were raised about a possible rise in attacks which would be similarly motivated but not whether the viability of the entire country were in jeopardy. Systems and institutions stand between the citizens and the government or anarchy.
In our small society, a similar incident would have probably required a State of Emergency. Our country would have been under threat. We cannot afford to get to that place.The time is ripe to enter a new era of development. A period where geography and race mean less than issues and behaviour and performance. For that to happen, the senior politicians have to demonstrate that the country has grown up by demanding more of citizens. We in turn, must demand more of our leaders. Let us determine not to just tolerate our neighbour but to walk side by side into a new period of T&T's development.