Selling us forced-ripe figs and rotten peewas

I continue to write about issues related to moral authority, morality and ethics—all born out of a sense of rightness which is based on notions of fair play and justice, honesty and integrity informing our actions—for such are the cornerstone of civilised living. But so much has been happening in this country in violation of these cardinal pillars of civilization, that one must wonder as to where we are headed as a society. The now infamous Clause 34 carries with it an insinuation by many, and often downright condemnation, that the government has been less than honest in its hurried proclamation to facilitate party financiers who have been accused of crimes against the state and  the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) is now threatening to black list T&T for its failure to bring money launderers to justice which inevitably invites the speculation as to whether the system is facilitating the rich and powerful. 

 

Moving from the public to the private domain, some doctors and lawyers would not hesitate to charge poor people exorbitant fees nor would hired workers flinch in conning you out a fair day’s work! In lesser matters too, you will be sold artificially ripened figs that would rot in a day and the peewas you buy at a huge price would look pretty, pretty on the outside but are often rotten on the inside. This cross-section of our society, whether professional or layman, rich or poor, big or small, reveals one common denominator: we as a people would not allow one iota of a sense of what is right or wrong to impede us from advancing our interests. And for many this is no big deal for you can’t take a moral and ethical sense to the pharmacy or the grocery, or can such an ethic buy you passage within the corridors of power. But for the knowledgeable and people who really care for the true development of this country, this absence of a natural propensity to be conscionable about what we do makes us no different from the beasts of the field and in the long term “…humanity will prey upon itself /As monsters of the deep” (Shakespeare’s King Lear Act 4).

 

Dr Errol Benjamin  

via e-mail