Raphael Trotman needs a course in existentialist philosophy. I need a car

Feb 15, 2011 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

I think that the leader of the AFC, Mr. Raphael Trotman, was engaging in realpolitik when on a tour of New York, he told a radio station that a Guyanese living abroad with a Guyanese passport should be allowed to vote. He suggested that we should not ask the Diaspora for money and not want to include them in decision making.
Mr. Trotman was engaged in pragmatic politics because he was in the presence of the Diaspora. As a political embrace, he would not find acceptance for it among Guyanese.
There are fundamental weaknesses in his approach to this kind of sociology. First, Guyanese nationality and the possession of a Guyanese passport are not criteria by which people should be given the vote. What about residency requirement? What about service to one’s country? I migrate to Italy, spend my time on a beach, serve the Italian educational system and give that government my tax dollars but I am Guyanese who still have a Guyanese passport and that should entitle me to vote in Guyana. Is that Mr. Trotman’s advocacy?
Secondly what about service to one’s homeland? If you are a Guyanese with a Guyanese passport why are you not in Guyana attempting to take us out of poverty and into a modern world? Why are you not at the Georgetown Public Hospital? Why are you not at the University of Guyana? Why are you not in the classroom of our secondary schools? Why are you not at Guysuco? Why are you not in the service of the magistracy?
You chose to leave and dedicate your energies to other territories; this is the choice you made. We are all existentialist creatures (so I believe) thus we must abide by the decisions we make on our lives.
Top class economist, Clive Thomas opted to live in Guyana. Many top class surgeons didn’t emulate him. Mr. Trotman is reversing the very foundation on which free will rests. When we make a philosophical judgement, we cannot ask for safety nets. Some decisions do not carry a bed of roses exit.
One such decision is the shape we give to our lives. If you want to have a say in who leads your country, then stay here and vote. If your ideals and goals take you to far away lands, then that is the life you chose. Things are lost when things are gained in living everyday. You lose the right to vote in your home but you gain the right to vote in another country.
I don’t know who Mr. Trotman mean by “we” when he declared that we cannot ask the Diaspora for money and not want to include them in having a say. Who or what is we? I never requested any help from overseas Guyanese in preserving my raison d’âtre. I give my entire life to public service and my salary was and is below international standards.
I have a ten-year-old car that gives me nightmares. Why doesn’t the Diaspora pay for a new car for any needy Guyanese? That person is entitled to it as a patriot. If they can live in post-modern countries and collect handsome salaries yet determine who governs my country then I demand some assistance in the purchase of a car.
If they want to vote in my country then as a dedicated public servant, my request is not unreasonable. They must do meaningful things for us who live here.
My two scholarships to MacMaster University and University of Toronto were provided by Canadians. I would demand Canadians be given the right to vote here because they provided money for my education. The logic is the same as that of Mr. Trotman. Mr. Trotman is getting in to murky waters that not even philosophical minds would venture into.
For example, my tax dollars pay the salary of the Commissioner of Police. Does that fact gives me the individual right as Frederick Kissoon to ask that he be changed for my preference? If the Ministry of Heath begs for money abroad why should that translate into the entire population of Guyana asking for overseas help thus the overseas giver must be handed the vote?
Where is the direct effect between remittances and development in Guyana that should cause the Diaspora to be given the vote? Poverty is on the increase. UG has collapsed. Our educational institutions lack furniture, modern facilities and teachers. Our human resource base is extremely thin. The capital city is incredibly stink and is one of the dirtiest cities in the world.
Where I live I get blackouts five days in a week. Where is the assistance of the Diaspora?

Latest News

Raphael Trotman needs a course in existentialist philosophy. I need a car

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | January, 24th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Guyanese boxers shine at T&T National Boxing Championships

Dottin, Matthews star as Windies Women crush...

Young Windies Women end U19 T20 World Cup...

Young Eagles, Pride lock up as 4-Day action gets...

GBF hails historic $8B sports budget

GCB bats for Government on sizable $8B Budget...

Features/Columnists

A warning to President Ali on U.S. Overtures

OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus

Trump – Part 2

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Raphael Trotman needs a course in existentialist philosophy. I need a car

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | January, 24th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]