The dawn of May 2010 has been fully transformed into midnight. We are in our darkest hour. There is a sickness of the national spirit, a crisis of faith that has made effective governance almost impossible. A crisis of confidence strikes at the heart, soul and spirit of our national will and is threatening to destroy the social fabric. In many ways our country has lowered its head into the soft pillow of apathy.
In these vile times, concerned citizens must question how men can sleep while criminality abounds in high and low places. We question how men can sleep while people die and communities collapse. Perhaps sleep is the only time that prejudice and injustice, indifference and apathy recede from our collective consciousness.
And there's an insidious undertone in the very atmosphere that people are choosing to look the other way while others die. Albert Camus, refers to this condition as "an algebra of blood." T&T is living out a horror story. Is it that we've become indifferent to this reality? If we are, we would be robbing our children of the one infallible moral compass that can lead them to an honourable, satisfying adult life: a strong sense of right and wrong.
Where is the outrage? If we grow to accept the premise that all things are relative and that law and reason apply differently to different people, then we have broken faith with our forebears and we've ruined the future of civilised society.
Events over the last couple of years suggest to me that something is seriously wrong with the way we view our relationships with one another and with our concept of law and order. As more and more people become the victims of violent crime, fewer and fewer people seem willing to take responsibility for their individual acts.
A former US Secretary of Education, William Bennett, wrote The Death of Outrage. He defines it as the loss of willingness to stand up for what is right and to denounce what is wrong. In this, he sees the seeds of destruction of a free and fruitful society.
We know that evil, mean, dishonest and depraved individuals exist everywhere. But we condemn these wrongdoers because we have yardsticks to measure their behaviour and to define their misdeeds. We condemn and punish those who do wrong because we know that if we don't, they will flourish and others would be tempted to take the easy, evil way. Philosopher Edmund Burke warned us: "The best way for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." So can we do nothing?
But the good news is that we need not despair. If Wayne Kublalsingh's hunger strike teaches us anything, it is that it isn't good enough to simply stand up for what is right. He also vociferously condemns anything that he perceives to be wrong. Kublalsingh's lesson to us is that in each of us lies the power of one to revolt against the outrageous. Kublalsingh is clearly outraged.
Kublalsingh doesn't have to be a deep philosopher to know that he alone is responsible for his honour, dignity and happiness. By fulfilling his duty to himself, he is fulfilling his duty to those closest to him and to the society. He expects our governments and leaders to uphold basic fundamental principles. He knows that if we allow anybody to trample those rights, we would have forfeited our freedom.
In T&T, it is a long night indeed. But even as we live through the hell of this midnight, we all hope and pray that morning is near.
ROBERT A MAYERS
Petit Valley