Politics and emotions

Jan 12, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor,
I strongly believe that Guyanese are very near if not arrived at, that crucial intersection of power, politics and emotions which often times confuse the less perceptive mind and result in poor decision making and sometimes severe irresponsible actions.
There is the saying that politics is a dirty game. Whether or not there is truth in that statement remains a highly contested subject that itself brings out very emotionally charged reasoning. However, one thing is certain: Politics is an emotional sport. Try discussing politics with others and emotions will surely flare. But, regardless of the capricious traits that politics and politicians manifest in the ‘game’ of politics, the most important players will always remain the electorate, the masses, the people.
In many progressive democratic societies, people focus on governance. Economic development, human development, health care and human rights issues are key indicators by which a party remains in office or gains office.
The people vote on these issues and others that address their needs and are not particularly preoccupied with race voting. Sadly in ‘modern’ Guyana a very large section of the population is still to see clearly that race voting has absolutely no place in our society.
During election periods many emotions run high. We must never underestimate the role of emotions in politics. Emotions play an essential role in politics especially when a general election is imminent.
It enables past experiences to be encoded with its evaluative history and also facilitates the evaluation of contemporary circumstances. However, the ability to reason through emotions is what must prevail in order for sound judgment to occur.
Many of the local political actors will try to evoke various emotional states as part of their persuasive strategies. Freeing oneself from emotions and comprehensively evaluating the pros and cons of a particular manifesto, and by critically analyzing the current track record of the incumbent government, Guyanese should be able to decide whether or not they will vote for change.
The single emotional state that has proved to be a consistent winner in some large section of the Guyanese society is fear.
Driving fear into the hearts and minds of the Guyanese people will certainly affect the way they process information and respond to situations. Based on the benefactors of fear, it will most likely be consistently supplied to achieve its desired response.
Guyanese must solve the simultaneous equation of who most likely effect fear and benefit from it. When the true solution to that equation is achieved, then the maturity of the electorate will hopefully begin to emerge.
I have written it before; there is no opposition party in Guyana that stands to gain anything from instigating fear, violence and terror. Conversely, they have everything to lose should fear be cultivated in the society as Election 2011 looms.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Francois
Dubai, UAE

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