By Michael De Gale
January 09, 2008
Though some may beg to differ, there is ample evidence to conclude that human beings are fundamentally evil. For any number of reasons, we almost instinctively oppress each other in the most brutal fashion. History is replete with genocide, slavery, ethnic cleansing, religious persecution, gender discrimination, economic and political oppression and the list goes on. Far from being exhausted, this does not even begin to scratch the surface of human savagery. According to Columbus’ own account, he received an enthusiastic welcome by native people who came bearing gifts. In response, he unleashed a reign of terror including rape, murder, pillage and enslavement.
In the scramble for Africa, European countries most notably the British, Dutch, Portuguese, Belgians and French divided the continent among themselves raping the land of its resources, turning neighbours into deadly enemies and implementing brutal systems of domination. The noxious influence of those parasites is so entrenched in the African fabric that even as independent nations, the essence of Africa’s liberation is yet to be experienced. Collusion between an increasing African elite and their European counterparts, leave the great majority of Africans living on the fringes of society -virtual unwelcome strangers in their fathers land and the land of their birth.
Multiple similar examples can be found everywhere around the globe. In attempting to impose his will no one is exempt including friends, relations and nature itself. Essentially, civilization was built on the backs of others but only a relative few enjoy its full benefits. It is painfully evident that the great majority of the world’s population is becoming increasingly poor. Corporations and private individuals control most of the world’s resources as nature is threatening to reap havoc on all of us. Progress, a relative term, is no relative to nature nor the vast majority of the world’s population.
Recognizing our common humanity and having the vision to see that the traditional way of doing business is not sustainable in the long run, we should become increasing aware that man cannot live by bread alone. A number of groups and individuals are waging an uphill battle to stop the destruction and reduce oppressive behaviour. Courageous people the world over have raised their individual and collective voices on all fronts, often at great peril and personal expense. History shows that power never relents without a struggle and we have ample evidence which proves that eventually the people triumph. However, the cost in pain and human suffering on both sides should give us reason to pause and consider other options.
In a bold and unprecedented move, His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan voluntarily abdicated his throne and opted for a system of democratic government much to the chagrin of the majority of Bhutanese. He opined that Gross National Happiness – a term he coined in 1972, is as important as the Gross National Product. The four pillars of GNH he pointed out are the promotion of equitable and sustainable socio-economic development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment, and establishment of good governance.
Bhutan is far from being a Utopia and undoubtedly, a number of criticisms can be raised regarding subjective interpretation of happiness, culture, population, religion, global economics to mention a few. However, the very concept of GNH stands in stark contrast to the narrowly defined Classical Liberal Economic theory where happiness is measured through consumption and profits.
It is foolish to believe that after hundreds of years of oppression and privilege, a ruling class will voluntarily surrender its position in favour of redistribution of wealth and power sharing. It will be even more foolhardy to expect most governments to consider the GNH of their respective countries in the same manner that is being advocated in Bhutan. Hundreds of years of oppression and gross opportunism cannot be washed away so easily. The increasing lust for wealth, power and prestige would never voluntarily give way to a concept that embraces GNH to measure the overall health of a country. Under the present political system, they would receive only a failing grade. However, a step in that direction could ease the tensions in a society that is under siege by criminal elements, plagued by increasing poverty, social dysfunction and environmental concerns.
As politicians continue to invoke race in their quest for power, it is only a matter of time before the fragile democracy enjoyed by the people of T&T degenerate into violence and increased aggression. The disparity in wealth will add yet another layer of tension as many will feel the negative effects of political alienation. Given such a scenario, the land we refer to as sweet T&T would become increasingly inhospitable for every class and race, making it virtually impossible to enjoy the benefits of the much sort after wealth and power. It is therefore incumbent upon any progressive government to foresee the troubles that lie ahead and to take corrective action to prevent the social breakdown that at the present time seems almost inevitable.
There will be those who will resist progressive change if it threatens to disrupt their exalted status or negatively impact their sources of income. The transition to a just and fair society, therefore, would require moral fortitude and is not a task for the politically feeble or the narrow-minded. The world is changing around us and petty tribal politics could only divide us further. It will not effectively push forward a progressive national agenda to serve the greater good. If we want to create a society that is fair and just unlike the present structure, we must begin by rethinking the current first past the post system and choose one that allows diverse interest and voices to be represented. The present system works in favour of those who have prestige, political power and their financial supporters. It leaves great numbers still crying in the wilderness. It is now time to consider the possibility of the more progressive and inclusive system of Proportional Representation. For many years different versions of PR have been working well in Australia and many Scandinavian countries. This issue is currently gaining momentum among progressive forces in Canadian politics. Local politicians interested in making a difference may be well advised to seriously consider revising the current electoral system.
Sir,I can empathize with your frustration with the evil and the wickedness in the world but to say that people will chose to be ” evil ” over bieng good is kind of eh,” wacky!”…like the Gieco fellow will say ,” WHAT!”
You said Quote ,” Though some may beg to differ, there is ample evidence to conclude that human beings are fundamentally evil. For any number of reasons, we almost instinctively oppress each other in the most brutal fashion. History is replete with genocide, slavery, ethnic cleansing, religious persecution, gender discrimination, economic and political oppression and the list goes on. ”
Unquote
Sir,to very evil deed which some humans commit I cann find ten or more deeds of pure and simple kindness which some human beings did.
It is my very own personal experience.
If the media reported acts of random kindness and compassion with the same intensity with which it reported acts of wickedness you will find that acts of kindness far out paces acts of wickedness.
maybe if you started a Blog where people can only report great acts of kindness you will see what i am speaking of.
Take some of the very Politicians which are accused of wickedness and extreme selfishness and I bet you can find quite a lot of people who will tell you that they have received kindness from them and not given for their vote…
As for Africa….the Continent seems to be a place where the wickedness of mankind seems to flow freely but search and you will find the kindness of so many people flowing like a river also….did you ever look at the tool of war called RAPE used by nurders in Africa ?
They rape the women and then disfigure them leaving them incontinent?
Did you then read about the Doctor who spends his days doing what he could with very limited resources to fix these people up as best he can and give them a safe haven?
Just as the gun runners and the makers of killing machines and weapons sell them to the Africans to kill each other so there are people giving weapons against hunger and illness and poverty to the Africans and not for profit!
Mankind is not all evil and not all good but there is enough good people around to make a difference.
Like it or not the American Goverment must be good because with the push of a buttenn they could wipe Iran and Iraq off the face of the earth and still get oil but why don’t they ?
Who is to stop them ?
Fact is the American people have many who will not stand for that!
So does many European Countries….
The Emperor Patos could gived the order today to the Military and Police to wipe out all drug dealers and know criminals in and out of jail and all who out on bail too…
Who is to stop him ?
Again it is because so many people in TNT are kind of heart and not murders…so chill a bit and have HOPE for it is still a beautiful world!
This is going to be a great year…the best one ever!
I remain,The Fearless TNT Republican.
I would have said that human beings are fundamentally selfish, fundamentally self absorbed, rather than they are fundamentally evil. And when they come together around other more visible shared characteristics, the combined results of such selfishness and self absortion can become inherently evil.
The same argument that if Europeans and Americans were fundamentally evil they would use nuclear weapons to wipe out a nation like Iran, can be presented as proof of the contrary. Because if they were fundamentally good, then how come the US prefers to subsidize the agricultural produce of Millionaires at the expense of poor farmers in Africa. If France was fundamentally good, how come they continue to collect an indemnity from a nation as poor as Haiti, as a cost for property lost during Haiti’s revolution. How come they continue to feast off the largesses from Uranium mines in Niger, while the locals face famine and other poverty associated conditions. A coin has two sides. Invariably we tend to promote the side we find more favourable to our ideology.
Gates thinks beyond the narrow parameters of the self absorbed. His thoughts are a bit utopian, but it is such utopian reaching that has helped mankind to develop a tolerance for the rules and regulations that make human nestings habitable. Martin Luther King best illustrates this in his dream that quote, “my four children will be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin”, end quote. One can advance an argument that the current social evolution that has taken place in the US since he uttered those words represent evidence that people are not fundamentally evil. But one can also make the argument that if people were not fundamentally evil, that would not have been just a dream close to 300 years after emancipation. Choose your side of the coin.
mr.Daniels….One could surely agree with you on so many ofd the things which you have said about Africa but the problem I have with the facts which you point out is this:
THE AFRICAN COUNTRIES ARE SELF GGOVERNING AND THEY ARE THE ONES ALBEIT WHO ARE PULLING THE TRIGGERS ON GUNS WHICH THEY TOOK THE WEALTH OF THEIR NATIONS TO BUY FROM TGHE CHINESE,EASTERN EUROPEANS,AMERICANS,AND EUROPEANS ETC.
So one could in essencce ask the question?
Is it better for Haiti to give France the Money or to buy more guns and ammunition with it to shoot Hatians ?
Cruise ships are now visiting Haiti but not Trinidad and Tobago which I do not give a tinker’s back wind about but the significance is that they now consider Haiti a place where Tourist can be safe because less guns are in the hands of criminals than in TNT….You also forget that Africans ( sorry to burst your bubble) are racking up records for killing blacks by blacks in Africa( of course they have not reached the Cambodian level yet ) and we here in the caribbean ( in TNT ) are not doing to badly either as “blacks kill blacks) and then blacks try to defend the murderous dogs who kill each other and blame other races …please,Mr.Daniels a murderer is a darn murderer and a rapist whoo rapes women and then disfiugres them is a darn beast who should be shot dead and fed to the sharks around Carrera Convict Prison….so get up off the African horse and face uo to the facts that like it or not some white people are showing more love by their actions in Africa than many so called” liberated Afrocentric ” people because I have yet to see any evidnce of them heading to South Africa ( like the Cubans did ) to liberate that country when it needed help and I have yet to see any voluonteering to go to Darfur to deal with the Janjaweed…
Sorry,sir,but I cannot keep my mouth shut on this one because I am the Fearless TNT Republican.
Harry, I one can not be totally unbiased when considering this issue. An individual’s racial background, life experiences, and world history would undoubtedly colour our views. The challenge here is really trying to maintain a balance between subjectivity and objectivity.
I agree with facets of both your views. We can not change the future if we are unable to accept and learn from the past. Ruel’s underlying reference to past colonial powers’ undoubted two-faced-ness (excuse my non-eloquence) definitely holds much water. However, in the same breath, current governments of past colonies have to put money where their mouths are, and try and address sovereign and regional problems without crying about past injustices, or playing the underdog. As Harry laments, This is definitely not happening at a sufficient level in most.
We should not blame the Americans and Europeans for all the woes afflicting our modern day existence, but are not wrong in wanting them to face up to past attrocities done in the name of religion and morality.In that vein, although I don’t think we should excuse current Governments (of post colonial countries) for today’s penury, I do totally support the issue of repatriation to peoples once subjected
to state-enforced slavery and subjugation.
Is it better for Haiti to give France the Money or to buy more guns and ammunition with it to shoot Hatians ?
This question would have utility if there was evidence of Hatians using scarce resources to buy arms and ammmunitions. It also simplistically ignores the illogical situation of people who fought to remove themselves from forced bondage being compelled to pay compensation to those who were holding them in bondage. But then again, assuming that the self bestowed handle of “Fearless TNT Republican” triggers anything other than amusement from the compos mentis probably explains it all.
Europeans killed one another for decades in Ireland and all over Bosnia and Serbia. Groups killing off each other is not unique to Africans. It becomes unique to those with blinders whose automation always take them in one direction.
It was not Africans who kidnapped and killed Patrice Lumumba after his declaration that the riches of Africa should go the education of African Children. Africa died when outsiders with their polluted minds and bodis ventured there and were welcomed as civilized beings. Africa died when the hordes that had languished under ice for thousands of years were suddenly freed by the thaw to wander the earth, and were accepted into houses of Africans.
Yes, much criticism can be laid at the feet of African Leaders for being in bed with the pimps and harlots who feed off the resources of Africa. But that does not make them any less pimps and harlots. And certainly your ludicrous and intelligible rant is far from a balanced appraisal of reality. If that is an example of what you can offer to T&T, you had better confine yourself to the acrobatical back patting uncouth braying about being a fearles crusader. Fearless Republican. My God! Do you wear a cape or something?
Kerry says “We should not blame the Americans and Europeans for our … problems” I read this just after getting off the phone with a friend who does volunteer work abroad, with missionaries. She was asking my advice on going to a particular country, because The US State Department has it on its “No GO ” list. She mentioned that Trinidad and Tobago was on the list also.
My Response: The State Department must be reading the daily papers, one in particular, where crime is always front page news, and most of the commentators on its blogs are trying to redo the results of the election just won by the PNM.” This friend was in TnT with me in July for three weeks, taking maxis all up and down the east-west corridor. We were perfectly safe. We walked past that place/bar on the Eastern Main Road in St. Augustine, where a few weeks later there were multile murders. We were on the other side of the street.
Would the US State Department have told us not to go? We did not ask. We simply got on planes and flew to my homeland to work with the childre of St. Mary’s Children’s Home.
So the Europeans and Americans are still trying daily to call the shots, they way they try unceasingly in Zimbabwe, in Venezuela, in Brazil and other non-white countries.
What we have in TnT is a fairly unsophisticated populace, who have never looked in depth at the manuipulative powers of the governments of the northern countries.
When the US was, defacto, without a president in 2000, due to the debacle of hanging chads in Florida, the country continued to function. No one commented on whether the murder rate was better or worse during that period. Eventually, calm returned when the Supreme Court chose the president and gave the world George Bush 11.This same Bush tried to pressure us to repudiate the Treaty of Rome which set up the ICC. he then cut military aid because we stuck with Robbie’s proposal. Under Clinton, the United Fruit Company successfully sued Britain and Europe to remove preerrential tariffs on EC bananas. They are deep into our stuff, and will not let go, nor will they let China, the new superpower, make major inroads into their Caribbean lake.
World Press, which is monitoring this, will probably not let it go through, as they do so many times, but the letters I am supposed to type in, have been verified three times. This too is part of outside control of our affairs.
Nope, Linda..I said, “all the woes afflicting our modern day existence”. That is a totally different from “all our problems”. Please don’t interpret one to mean the other. I know that the European and Americans are not boy scouts..I recognise that they do have tons of historical blood on their hands, but my point was really that we should seek to move on with the future in the best possible way that we can, while remembering, and trying to learn from the past. I am fully cognisant of the ethnic and power bias of the politics and politicians from those countries, but I am just saying that we shouldn’t allow it to consume us. Like Ruel mentioned, there are the good and there are the bad and we just have to try and recognize each for what it is, and should not broad-brush all governments, situations, decisions, intentions, and most of all…..people.
That’s all, no offense meant at all..I do understand that my opinions and points of view, might be just that…mine. If they differ from yours, that’s cool. I am not a historian, writer, politician academic or anything alike. I am just a geologist, who just likes to observe, learn and comment where possible. So I stand corrected if my facts are off, but I remain firm in my outlook, be it relatively simple and liberal.
Mr. Williams, your knowledge of history may be wide but it is sorely lacking in depth. I do not doubt for a moment that there are many good people in the world doing good things. That was clearly mentioned in my article. Like so many others, I too have tasted the milk of human kindness and have on many occasions reciprocated in kind. However, this does not blind me to the atrocities that are committed around the world on a daily basis. How many acts of kindness does it take to wipe out the effects of 400 years of slavery and insist that reparations are not an option? Why was it necessary to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki when it was general knowledge that the Japanese were getting ready to surrender? What about the Armenian genocide? The effects of Agent Orange on the Vietnamese is still being manifested today in severely deformed children and uninhabitable land.
Any country that possesses nuclear weapons is a threat to humanity. Based on your commentaries as a “Fearless Republican”, you are either stupid or cut from the same cloth as all those with false notions of superiority, endlessly willing to oppress others for personal gain – the basis of fundamental evil.
Kerry: Point noted. No offence taken. We literary types find stimulation in the dialogue, not in invective. Linda
“It is therefore incumbent upon any progressive government to foresee the troubles that lie ahead and to take corrective action to prevent the social breakdown that at the present time seems almost inevitable.”
This to me seems to be the basic premise of Mr. De Gale’s article and it is my belief that the writer is offering excellent, prophetic advice.
The age old debate of the nature of man as being inherently good or evil will rage on forever. Also, the negative effects of European colonization will forever be used to rationalize the failures of “colonized” countries. Unfortunately, many post-colonial scholars dwell excessively on the “exploitation” theme. It is time to examine the failures of the neo-colonial despots who are presently leaders of many of these countries all over the world. Having learned well from the colonial masters, they now seek to imitate them, by exploiting their own people and by corruptly attempting to create their own empires.
Let us not allow our vision to be clouded by race and political bias, as is so often the case. The responses to articles by most of the contributors to this website are almost always predictable. Mr. De Gale makes a valid point, based on reliable evidence.Trinidad&Tobago needs to re-examine its political structure in a genuine attempt to cater to the needs of all its peoples or face disaster in the near future.
Carl,
Thanks for pointing out the premise of the article which lay in precisely the sentence you quoted and the point I was making is exactly what you identified, which as you stated was entirely missed. I read the comments as they were submitted and refrained from responding but Mr. Williams’ arrogance and ignorance pushed me to the brink.
It is not necessary for me to restate the point, for your synopsis of the article suggests a clear understanding and acknowledgement of the premise as if you had written the article yourself. Thanks for your sober and focused input.
Every single on of the so called ” intellectuals,Newspapers,Editors, the Media,The President,the Church,and surely Members of Parliament” have glaringly ignored the question of RACIALISM in TNT……
Why ? I can say with dead certainty that the Members of Parliament reason for ignoring the question and abject problem of Racialism is this:
WE ALL KNOW THAT EVERY SINGLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT WAS ELECTED TO THEIR SEAT BECAUSE OF RACIAL VOTING.
Maybe Jack Warner may try to claim he is the exception but please,give me a break…it is Panday who said to the Inidans to elect him.
I have said it again and again…TNT is robbed of its best people representing us in Government and as heads of department from the Police to the Prisons to every government instittution because of RACE AND RACIAL VOTING…..WHEN WILL IT END ??? WHEN WILL YOU ALL GET THE BACK BONE TO ATTACK RACE SERIOULSY AND WIPE OUT RACISLISM ? UNTIL THEN ALL YUH ONLY BLOWING SMOKE…
As a result it is not in their best interest to attack and destroy Racialism in TNT.
I say you shall never,ever,have a fair and just society in TNT until you eradicated all and every last vestige of racialism which is alive and well and kicking people’s behind in TNT.
You shall never,ever,make a dent in the massive increase in crime which afflicts the nation unless and until you declared War on racialism and defeat racialism….until you all stop beating around the bush and floundering on the rocks of hypocrisy and pretending that “TNT IS not a racially divided country” with seething racial hatred and envy and spite and abject maliciousness and distrust and deep racially inspired economic disenfranchisement and inequalities you are just another bunch of doltish dunderheads floundering around and unable to face and embrace the truth…..it is not the ” WAR ON CRIME WHCIH MATTERS ” BUT IT IS ” RACIALISM STUPID”!
The fearless TNT Republican
Kerry Mulchansingh…that is precisely the point I am making you ,as an Indian,(if I go by your name ) dare not speak of the sickos in Africa who are raping,pillaging,maiming and killing their very own people without being accused of racialism …you may well be seeking too comment on it hoping that people of African descent may seek to try to influence the world and all people to put a stop to this wickedness but you dare not because of RACIALISM.
In TNT you may want to point out to a particular race to stop killing each other and to stop crimes against Indians and against Africans but …you dare not because there will be some intellectual who will carve you up and deliver you as a racist….we all know that it is a vicious and roaming beast which roams at will and yet NO ONE WILL FACE THIS BEAST AND EXPOSED IT OR RATHER BRING IT OUT INTO THE OPEN….
HENCE I SAY,IT IS NOT THE PNM,THE UNC,THE UNCA ,THE COP,THE CRIMINALS,IT IS THE BEAST OF RACISLISM STUPID!
I remain the fearless TNT Republican.
In TNT you may want to point out to a particular race to stop killing each other and to stop crimes against Indians and against Africans but …you dare not because there will be some intellectual who will carve you up and deliver you as a racist….we all know that it is a vicious and roaming beast which roams at will and yet NO ONE WILL FACE THIS BEAST AND EXPOSED IT OR RATHER BRING IT OUT INTO THE OPEN….
HENCE I SAY,IT IS NOT THE PNM,THE UNC,THE UNCA ,THE COP,THE CRIMINALS,IT IS THE BEAST OF RACISLISM STUPID!
It is crazy bigotted thinking like yours that Africans must take note of and be constantly on their guard against. Because it sees wrong in only one direction. And even more dangerous than that is the obvious reality that that it is so deceased with stereotypical prejudice that skewed reasoning has become the norm rather than the exception.
Your fearlessnes comes from the comfort of knowing that your inuendos and cues will be picked up on by like and sympathetic mindsets. You are a dime a dozen in cyberspace, and the fact that you still believe the facade you lay out here renders your mindset unrecognizable is testament to the hallucinatory mental environment you exist in. Who the hell do you think you are fooling.
Look Mr “Fearless TNT Republican”, you and Panday are obviously cut from the same narrow minded fabric. Your views and conclusions are products of a structured nurturing as ancient as time. You carry on a masquerade in here about wishing good for Trinidad and Tobago, but like I suggested heretofore, the automatism with which your negative examples select Africa and Africans should alert all but the most deliberate obtuse, about your mental direction.
Beat sense into my head! Man your illusions are as hopeful as your optimism that you are fooling everyone with the crazy rhetoric you are laying out here. I would bitch slap your narrow ass ten ways from Sundown if you were ever to confront me face to face with that crap. Fearless TNT Republican my ass. You are nothing but a little fart making noise to compensate for other failings.
When does a discussion on crime in TnT descend into a rcial diatribe, one against the other? What are the idiots who write this nonsense thinking? Years ago, my sister was a nurse at the hospital when the grimaced frothing bodies of the Poolool brothers were brought in. They were al El Socorro crime wave that gave Gramoxone its fame. The largest group hanging in the history of the free world outside of war, was in 1999 when the Panday government hanged the Chadee Nine, another crime wave whose octopus like tentacles continued to reel in the money lent and not paid back through kidnappings, including, apparently, paying the “brothers” to do the dirty work.Poor Africans would accept $30,000. to clear out the wife of a well known doctor, and he can get away with it, despite the shooter’s confession. Is that Indian or African crime?
We have to stop looking at crime by race, since the last two generations have been quite mixed. An Edwards could be an Indian, and Bubbles Mohammed, currently held without bail, could be more African than Indian looking.What we need to look at are aspects of criminal behaviour that are based on poverty- muggings, petty theft and so on, the crimes of tough young teenage boys, and the crimes of those higher up the food chain- drug cartels, gun running , importing prostitutes, kickbacks for contracts,and their financiers, who are not the young boys committing street crimes, but businessmen in suits who could hire high priced lawyers. At the top level, the head of CLFinancing, Ish, Bas,Carlos, and Brian reflect the mixed bag of well dressed, well financed, well lawyered criminals who are fleecing the country, and get away with it through many court delays, and attempts to destroy the character of the chief magistrate who presides over the airport hearing.(Who is a mixed race man of Williamsville,who was married to an Indian)
Note that those involved in the US side have been convicted and are already sentenced. The high criminals of TnT are playing footsie with the justice system, right upto the very top.
If you cannot see this as clearly as I see it, you may be suffering from diminished mental capacity, in which case you should not be writing to this blog, because whatever you say could not make sense in a thousand years.Crime is crime. It has no colour but green, and opportunity.
Yo yo…Harry, please do not put word into my mouth!! As far as I am concerned, we are killing one another randomly, and no one race is responsible !!!!! In T&T the crime issue is totally economics and drug-fulled, and is clouded, by what I perceive (and this is my opinion only) to be a management problem on the part of the police hierarchy and the Government. From the Gov’t down, we are having real issues grappling with lawlessness, pure and simple. Why the hell can’t we just live together and face our problems together, Harry? Why do you need to bring this race crap in? Please, please do not involve me in YOUR biases and fairy tails!
Look, no one has to be clairvoyant to discern the direction of this guys posts. The “racist” he proposes to wage war on are Africans. Read the comments I reposted and highlighted. He is alleging that intellectuals of African descent would go after any Indian who comment about the criminality of blacks. According to his post, tt is blacks who are doing all the robbing and killing in Trinidad and Tobago. It is blacks who are the racial “beasts”. Those terms are too familiar to me, and I will get down and dirty with any mother with these kinds of views.
There is an ignorance in these islands and in this world that makes you wonder whether those with these kinds of mindsets should be allowed out of the asylums which should be their natural habitat. Because based on these arguments those other parts of this world where there are no blacks should be crime free and violence free.
Like I said, “Fearless TNT Republican” my ass. You are nothing more than a graduate from some Aryan supremacist academy applying the sidling modus operandi of your instructions to put people off guard. That self promotion crap you put out here to impress some don’t faze me none. Take it and shove it where the sun do not shine. I will be on your ass post after post as long as you continue down this road. That is my job.
People like Mr. Williams, if not operating with a hidden agenda are plain and simply ignorant. I do not know him from a hole in the wall so I could only speculate about his agenda. What I know for sure is that his views are indicative of a person with limited education, whose opinions are formed on the basis on sensational news headlines devoid of any substantial analysis or keen observation.
The article was not intended to raise a discussion about race in T&T which is secondary to the issue of class as far as I am concerned. If you have the means you could break bread with the most affluent in T&T regardless of race. One only has to look at any social gathering in T&T and this will become abundantly clear. Race, though a factor, in not the overriding issue. The most urgent issue is the increasing disparity between rich and poor. Herein lies the root of our social problems. Politicians and others aspiring to hold political office are dodging are capitalizing on social discontent by framing it as a race issue. The purpose of my paper was to identify the potential for social and political; unrest in the long run and to propose a reform of the electoral system.
If Mr. Williams chooses to narrowly focus on race as the major problem facing T&T and blame racism for the breakdown in social norms, it further emphasizes his severely compromised intellect and his inability to reason. It is therefore futile to encourage him in intelligent conversation since he is incapable of grasping the issues. Therefore, do not waste time arguing with this fool. As Dr. Williams once declared, “Let the jackass bray”.
Ruel and Mike, I don’t think that Harry could comprehend what you have said. Besides, the super grasp and usage of the English Language that you employ, it just a plain and simple fact that a racist will not and can not see nor comprehend a rational point of view. You guys are wasting your words and thoughts..save them for those more worthy. Thank God though,for the small mercy that the racial point of view that he subscribes to re: crime, and it seems evry other issue, is not the prevalent opinion in sweet T&T.
Mr.Michael,please,give me a break with your intellectual pretense because the SUBJECT STILL REMAINS TRUE UNTIL PROVED TO BE FALSE
THE CAUSE OF CRIME IN TNT HAS ITS DEEPEST ROOTS WELL FOUNDED IN RACIALISM LIKE A TAP ROOT DEEP DOWN INTO THE GROUND OF EACH AND EVERY RACIALLY BIASED PERSON IN TNT.
So it has nothing to do with ” arrogance” excpet the ” arrogance” of psuedo intellectuals masquerading with imaginary pomp and vanity on the web as you all flah you verbiage which at the nd of the day does not stop the idiot from pulling the trigger and ” waaaaaaaaaaaaaaH” another one done dead!
So put up something concrete or simply shut or more nicely put,” go qhietly into the dar night of cyber space without a sputter as your flame dies out!”
Oh,by the way,I am honoured to be compared to the great Basdeo Panday because what I have seen him do for his beliefs you dare not claim you have done for your beliefs
( whatever they are name yourself Odongo and Tshombe or Obofumi and you are suddenly the Pride of Africa ?)…I have seen Mr.Panday defy with his very life the PNM government under Dr.Eric Williams as he laid down in front of the Bus to block the scabs from breaking the bus strike and they were not ” an Indian Panchayat!” they were of both races Mr.Daniels….I have seen Panday sent to jail for rebellion against the Government with George Weeks,Kelshall and may others from the labour Movement what have you ever done but masquerade as this great African intellectual touting ” Africa” while TNT burns under racialism as you burry your head in the sand?
We have had our Dr.Ryans and Lloyd Best and the Tapia…WE NEED TODAY WARRIORS WHO WILL IDENTIFY THE ENEMY OF TNT AND GET THE JOB OF DEFEATING THE ENEMY ,DONE.
That is why regardless of your attempts to degrade my ideas and reduce the ideas to nothing they remain solid and so the TARGET REMAINS STILL WITHOUT A DENT:
IT IS RACILISM STUPID!
The fearless TNT Republican
The problem with all of you ( like the politicians) is that you all are trying to avoid the subject of RACIALISM in TNT.
You all can write and write articles which ” scratch each other’s back” as you try to prove that you are not racially motivated and you are not “racial”.
You all seem to have one common goal here:TO PROVE THAT YOU ARE NOTT RACIALLY MOTIVATED AND THAT YOU ARE NOT RACIAL.
In your efforts( seems desperate to me except to a lesser extent Daniels) to prove to each other and perhaps your very own conscience that you are not racial seems kind of pathetic and nothing but a hapless series of “Freudian Slips!” to the careful observer.
Fact is you all begin to sound defensive and like a lot of bigoted and racially motivated and racial discriminating whites of the USA here them and compare yourselves as to how you sound,” Why,I have a lot of coloured friends…I have a coloured lady he has been in our family for years
( yeah right! Clearing and cooking and washing etc);some of my best friends are coloured;I have always been right by African Americans;I went to school with Indians;Creole people does come by us and eat;I have nothing against coloured people’ am a nurse and I do not see colour at all ….”
That is how you all sound but how in the world did every member of parliament get elected by racial voting ?
Intellectualize that away!
Nor shall ” ganging up on me either!”
I say it again racialism is the root of crime and if poverty be a large contributor then you know that racialism is the root of poverty in TNT and what is the root of racialism ?
I know ,do you ?
The fearless TNT Republican!
Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish! There are both major ethnicities in T&T commiting crimes and being put in prison! Why do people commit crimes? They are either hungry, on drugs, greedy, or just plain bad, period. Crime is not just a Trini thing…it occurs all over the world, for the very same reasons listed above, so the measures to deal with and resolve crime can therefore be applied universally. So please, just stop all this race talk and just think rationally for once. I enjoy reading the blogs and interacting (as do you, I am sure) with others, regardless of the differing points of view. So, I am really very open to different slants on the same argument, but I have to say, enough is enough, Harry. Oh, and stop this fearless republican stuff…what are you…six years old?
I have a coloured lady he has been in our family for years
( yeah right! Clearing and cooking and washing etc);some of my best friends are coloured;I have always been right by African Americans;I went to school with Indians;Creole people does come by us and eat;I have nothing against coloured people’ am a nurse and I do not see colour at all
Yeah you “have” a coloured lady serving you. Clearly in your mind she is a possession as opposed to an employee. Like I said, the worse racist are those whose minds are so diseased by the sickness that it is normal for them to think and behave that way. It is automatic. It overflows into their speech patterns and their description of others.
It probably would be wiser to just ignore your assinine postulations on the bases of “where prejudice is bliss, tis truly folly to engage”. At the same time, since this is cyberspace and your comments can be read by many and sundry, it is important for them to be broken down and analysed in order to illuminate the utter depravity of the psyche that formulated them. So in this context I have no choice but to engage.
Harry Williamn, if that is your real name, your utterings are reminiscent of the half naked frothing white men we see in clips of the civil rights era, hurling invectives and missiles at Martin Luther King’s protest marchers. But you are a dying breed. Your ideas, if they could be elevated to such description, are those of a dying breed. You lost when the third Reich went kaput. And no amount of conniving double entendre ramblings will support its re-emergence in our beautiful Caribbean. Put a sock in it you nut.