YorickBrown
03-12-04, - 06:20 PM
This one is for all the CARICOM leaders and their political peers. I call it “Politician Pity”
So you have finally reached the apex of your birthright as a citizen of a Caribbean country. How does it feel? Honestly, how does it make you feel knowing that when you’ve reached the top levels of power among your own, that you are considered a “bottom feeder” in terms of overall political power within the world?
While you think about that…No wait, you don’t have time to think about that since your country is struggling to maintain a steady stance - intellectually, economically, emotionally, socially, politically and yes, even spiritually. You had better think about it though, since you seem to be keen on playing the “game”, particularly as long as you and yours get “yours”. Of course, denial of the disillusion caused by your hemispheric displacement leads you to attempt to make up for it by masking your environment with material and worldly pleasures. Go ahead. These temporary distractions only serve to whet your appetite for the scraps which are contemptuously thrown at you by those with more power and influence.
Think about it. What is the best way to make sure that a pack of animals remains loyal to their owner, yet distrustful and wary of each other? Keep them “hungry” and make them fight each other for the “remains” of what the owner is prepared to give away. Better yet is making sure to reward those in the pack which are more loyal and obedient. On the other hand would be the ongoing punishment of those who dare to stand up against the hidden exploitation of their situation. Eventually the process will automate itself and each pack will maintain its control over its own domain in a similar manner among its members. And because habit is a hard thing to break, this same type of behaviour would then rehash itself in pack-to-pack communication.
Do you see it? Can you see through the fog of green and the ghostly images of dead men, who thought nothing in their time of cracking a whip across the backs of your people? Or has your mind been dulled to the point where you would rather not think about the psychological symbolization of the way in which these “ghosts” currently control your life. (And that’s not a pun. I call that reality)
I hope you do see the bigger picture. Actually, I guess not – especially since self-sufficiency does not seem to fit your agenda (and not even as an active and ongoing BACKUP plan). No wonder manipulation of your political “kingdom” is so easy. A kingdom without a firm foundation on which to feed, learn, heal, build, clothe, defend and organize itself is one that will always bow to “greater” world power.
Even when I converse with the elders of your political arena, they claim that the people are too set in their ways to accept major change. Let me tell you something: When citizens are presented with and fully understand a clear, concise and complete plan of action for themselves and their offspring, they will naturally follow the leader(s) who will honestly and authoritatively make that existence a reality. Right now, take a look at your people. Who are they following? Or perhaps they are just milling around, loosely organized, with no clear vision of what they are supposed to do. Many of you politicians, “insulted” by the previous remark, would probably retort, “No matter, as long as they get a paycheck and can live comfortably, they do not really seem to care too much about anything else that goes on in the world.” Seemingly true, but it is amazing how apathetic some of you can be about the very country that you are ultimately responsible for!
Within me there is a deep sense of pity - not because I feel sorry for you or anything, but rather for the feeling that you felt the first time you bumped your head on the glass ceiling of the arena of global politics. Now it is up to you and others of your kind to decide collectively whether you break through the glass for future generations of our citizens (as painful as it will be) or whether you feel content in keeping both you and the rest of us helplessly trapped in our psychological and mental glass prison. Will CARICOM sit back on its haunches waiting for the next “bone” to be thrown amongst our various nations, or will moves be made to prepare properly our Caribbean people for the impact that is bound to come, one way or another? The clock is ticking.
So you have finally reached the apex of your birthright as a citizen of a Caribbean country. How does it feel? Honestly, how does it make you feel knowing that when you’ve reached the top levels of power among your own, that you are considered a “bottom feeder” in terms of overall political power within the world?
While you think about that…No wait, you don’t have time to think about that since your country is struggling to maintain a steady stance - intellectually, economically, emotionally, socially, politically and yes, even spiritually. You had better think about it though, since you seem to be keen on playing the “game”, particularly as long as you and yours get “yours”. Of course, denial of the disillusion caused by your hemispheric displacement leads you to attempt to make up for it by masking your environment with material and worldly pleasures. Go ahead. These temporary distractions only serve to whet your appetite for the scraps which are contemptuously thrown at you by those with more power and influence.
Think about it. What is the best way to make sure that a pack of animals remains loyal to their owner, yet distrustful and wary of each other? Keep them “hungry” and make them fight each other for the “remains” of what the owner is prepared to give away. Better yet is making sure to reward those in the pack which are more loyal and obedient. On the other hand would be the ongoing punishment of those who dare to stand up against the hidden exploitation of their situation. Eventually the process will automate itself and each pack will maintain its control over its own domain in a similar manner among its members. And because habit is a hard thing to break, this same type of behaviour would then rehash itself in pack-to-pack communication.
Do you see it? Can you see through the fog of green and the ghostly images of dead men, who thought nothing in their time of cracking a whip across the backs of your people? Or has your mind been dulled to the point where you would rather not think about the psychological symbolization of the way in which these “ghosts” currently control your life. (And that’s not a pun. I call that reality)
I hope you do see the bigger picture. Actually, I guess not – especially since self-sufficiency does not seem to fit your agenda (and not even as an active and ongoing BACKUP plan). No wonder manipulation of your political “kingdom” is so easy. A kingdom without a firm foundation on which to feed, learn, heal, build, clothe, defend and organize itself is one that will always bow to “greater” world power.
Even when I converse with the elders of your political arena, they claim that the people are too set in their ways to accept major change. Let me tell you something: When citizens are presented with and fully understand a clear, concise and complete plan of action for themselves and their offspring, they will naturally follow the leader(s) who will honestly and authoritatively make that existence a reality. Right now, take a look at your people. Who are they following? Or perhaps they are just milling around, loosely organized, with no clear vision of what they are supposed to do. Many of you politicians, “insulted” by the previous remark, would probably retort, “No matter, as long as they get a paycheck and can live comfortably, they do not really seem to care too much about anything else that goes on in the world.” Seemingly true, but it is amazing how apathetic some of you can be about the very country that you are ultimately responsible for!
Within me there is a deep sense of pity - not because I feel sorry for you or anything, but rather for the feeling that you felt the first time you bumped your head on the glass ceiling of the arena of global politics. Now it is up to you and others of your kind to decide collectively whether you break through the glass for future generations of our citizens (as painful as it will be) or whether you feel content in keeping both you and the rest of us helplessly trapped in our psychological and mental glass prison. Will CARICOM sit back on its haunches waiting for the next “bone” to be thrown amongst our various nations, or will moves be made to prepare properly our Caribbean people for the impact that is bound to come, one way or another? The clock is ticking.