Before expanding on the title presented, some background explanation is warranted. I have the advantage of living in two different cultures and political systems. I was born and I live in the United States of America and have lived and have also maintained a home in T&T for many years. So not only is it interesting, and sometimes challenging, for me to live in these very different cultures but, I also thus live under two very different political systems. This situation has given me the opportunity to see how these different systems work (or do not work) and to make observations and comparisons between the two.
Let me further explain:
Under the US constitution (a document well worth reading), all rights and responsibilities under this participatory democracy are well-defined with conflicts settled by a Supreme Court (an anomaly in that it is an appointed, unelected body). It has a government elected directly by the people, its representatives are granted power by the people and are directly responsible to the people. The important concept to understand here is that power flows from the people upward; it is a bottom up command and control system.
T&T is governed under a Parliamentary system of government that concentrates power at the top and that power is directed downward; it is a top down command and control system. It may well be that the Parliamentary system was an outgrowth of the Magna Carta when power was transferred from a king to a powerful group of his barons. These barons were a concentration of power at the top which was ultimately transferred to a Parliament which, in the case of the UK, still retains vestiges of the old system in the House of Lords.
This top down command system is, and has been for centuries, reinforced here in T&T by what I will call the quadruple whammy. This quadruple whammy has four historical legs to it, the sum total effect of which is that there is little or no real history of democratic power flowing from the people to those elected to govern them. All four historical roots of power were top down command and control systems and bottom up directed democratic principles were never instilled in the people's way of thinking or acting.
The four legs of this quadruple whammy and their effects on participatory democracy are as follows:
1. Colonialism, both Spanish and British, is and was an absolute power concentrated at the top without even any representative input of power from those ruled. Such actions were neither allowed or even tolerated; a complete top down command and control system, however later ameliorated by the British. Those ruled were not only not taught to think and express themselves but their educational systems did not even teach it; one was taught to obey.
2. The Church, and in particular, the Catholic Church, was and still is another form of a top down command and control system. Adherents, especially before the advent of the printing press by Gutenberg and Martin Luther, were told what to believe and how to act. Since the advent of public education, the spread of the printing press, electronic and all forms of social media, this absolute power is being continually challenged; however, the effects of this top down command and control system still pervades the actions of current and former adherents as there is no history of having been taught to think, and more importantly, to act for themselves.
3. Slavery is another ultimate form of all power and control at the top. Again, any deviations from this absolute power was not only not allowed but severely punished. While Africans were not the only people subjected to slavery, they are prime examples of an absolute power system with absolute power concentrated at the top; an absolute top down command and control system. Not only was this power absolute but, even if slaves were allowed to form family units, power was still at the top.
4. Parliamentary government is the last leg of the quadruple whammy top down command and control system. In this system decisions are made at the top, usually through a cabinet system, and decisions are made often with outside input, but basically, decisions are made and orders given from the top down; another top down command and control system. Granted many reforms of the system have been made but the essence is still that power does not flow from the people up to those representing them. And there is no model or history of such a power flow and it never really developed to the extent of producing a change in thinking and action.
A corollary to the Parliamentary system is the educational system. As inherited from the British it was an extension of top down control, a "chalk and talk" regime. Learning was by rote, discipline was strict and there was no interaction or feedback from students allowed; questioning and independent thought was definitely not encouraged. Since then, the education system in the UK has been thoroughly reformed and no longer resembles its former self. Unfortunately, here in T&T, the "chalk and talk" system still persists.
So now, with this history of the quadruple whammy, how does this play out in the attitudes and actions of T&T citizens? For reference, another look at the USA provides some answers. It has been said that in T&T you cannot get students to speak up while in the USA you cannot get them to shut up. US Children are expected to participate in class and from that you get adults who vocalise and participate in society, with participate being the key word.
In T&T, you will hear people vocalising, mostly complaining and mostly groups of men, but with no action emanating from that point. There is nothing, as the result of the quadruple whammy, that has "trained" people to carry thought over into action.
Action here may often result in demonstrations but demonstrations are a too amorphous, specifically undirected action against those in decision-making power. It does not translate to action directed directly at those in power as in the USA where concentrated direct action by individuals or by organised, and the key word here is organised, groups of people to bring specific pressure directly to their elected officials with the implicit warning that if you don't respond you may be voted out of office.
Here, individuals and groups, again mostly men, are often heard complaining about this and that and expressing opinions, unfortunately only to one another, that the government, that amorphous entity, should pursue the action(s) they are espousing. They seem to expect that once they articulate the words, the ether will somehow magically carry their directives to those decision-makers. When it doesn't happen, they continue to complain and then, when something they have articulated perchance does happen, they claim that was what they said should be done.
Given this quadruple whammy effect in T&T, how and what can be done about it? The answer is not rocket science but does encompass a change in thinking and a change from non-action to action. Okay, what kind of action? A number of possible actions, better even more than one at once.
1. Make calls and/or write letters directly to your MP and others in voting offices about your concerns and calls for action.
2. Make appointments to go see and talk to your MPs and other officials.
3. Have organisations, clubs, NGOs, organisations, school groups, PTAs and the like send letters to your MPs and others in power.
4. Circulate petitions with your specific grievances laid out and then sent, or better personally presented, to your MPs and others in power.
5. Given the power and pervasiveness of the modern electronic media, harness that power to send barrages of messages to those in power.
In other words, get some grass roots democratic movement started and, once started, keep up the pressure by following up. This system works in the USA and variations of it also work in the UK.
But first, there has to be an understanding of how the forces of history, and the effects of the quadruple whammy, have tailored the body politic here in T&T. The political pressure systems work elsewhere, why not also here? Go for it!
Leonard bernstein
DMD, MPH, BS