TIME TO PUT ASIDE GREED AND IGNORANCE

Recent reports in the press and electronic media have revealed an escalating discontent among citizens of this nation. The focus has been on dissatisfaction with teachers and principals in schools, poor roads, frustration over employer responses to wage demands, and the unavailability of employment. Some activists went so far as to remind the Government that there is a 20-year cycle of revolution in T&T, discretely reminding of the consequences if protester demands are not met. Government seems to be oblivious to the changes which have swept across the world over the past decades. Unfortunately, we are now into the post-modern phase of a changing world. Perhaps this is why some writers argue that our present civilisation is headed for a crash, because of the repeated mistakes we have been making.

In T&T both Government and our people have been making mistakes. First of all, we all believe that God is a Trini; that what has been taking place in the rest of the world cannot happen here. As a result both Government and our people continue to spend money without regard for common sense and the basic laws of accounting and economics. As a society we blissfully disregard the dynamics of the emerging knowledge society and economy. No one is pausing to assess the implications of not paying attention to what awaits us ahead. It is my view that, unless we take stock of our current behaviour, T&T is headed for painful (if not disastrous) days. Indeed, Government has to start being proactive by educating and empowering our population to respond to the imperatives of the emerging civilisation.

As difficult as it may be, such steps include educating our trade union leaders and our population that the world has changed; that we have to use new strategies for coping with life and its hardships; that we now have to go back to biting the bullet to survive hard but disguised times. Without doubt, the time has come for us to put aside our greed and ignorance of what is taking place in the world. Our attention and energies must now be directed on how we and our future generations will survive a changing world. Am I sounding like Noah of Bible fame? If I am, remember the consequences to those who failed to respond to his pleas. Oh yes, a final point. Our Government should by now understand that true leadership lies in the ability of those who are in charge to blaze new trails.

Raymond S Hackett
St Augustine