Thus spoke Zarathustra

Jun 08, 2011 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

I have been admonished countless times by the ordinary folk that I use words and terms they cannot understand. I admit guilt. This happens and is bound to happen when you are an academic and you write popular commentary. Intellectual language will creep in. It would be wrong to leave the caption of this column unexplained and think that the working people who read my opinions would know who or what is Zarathustra.
The caption of this column is the title of one of philosophy’s most learned books written by one of philosophy’s most brilliant minds; perhaps, Friedrich Nietzsche was a genius. “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” is compulsory reading in any university course in philosophy and is also taught in high schools in the US.
Incidentally, another of philosophy’s great books was also written by Nietzsche titled “The Gay Science.” It has nothing to do with homosexuality. In the 19th century the word “gay” was synonymous with “poetic.” Modern civilization should try to recapture the original meaning of “gay.” It is only fair to do so.
Zarathustra isolated himself in the mountains for ten years then descended to speak words of wisdom to the people and to tell them of the Übermensch (superman). The Übermensch is the saviour of mankind and his coming marks the end of life’s tragedies and unhappiness.
It would appear that President Jagdeo had Nietzsche in mind (sadly had Mr. Jagdeo read Nietzsche he would have become a transformative leader rather than a jejune president) when he gave his last major, national address to Guyanese – Independence Day.
When I read it, immediately I thought of using the name of Nietzsche’s famous book as the essay’s title. Unfortunately, Zarathustra’s speech was full of wisdom. This is where Mr. Jagdeo fell down. Speaking longer than usual, Mr. Jagdeo delivered a Zarathustra-like sermon but unlike his mythical counterpart in Nietzsche’s imagination, the content of Mr. Jagdeo’s delivery was full of egregious deceptions and offensive fictions
We start with his attack on the private media. Here is Mr. Jagdeo in his own words; “The media should be the scourge of the corrupt, the lazy, and those who break the law.” This is shockingly incredible stuff and it appears that Mr. Jagdeo’s mind was driven by Freudian underpinnings when he addressed the nation for the last time.
Was the Freudian genie trying to get out of the bottle locked away in Mr. Jagdeo’s mind? In other words, was this the final Kafkaesque confession of Mr. Jagdeo that his regime during his hegemonic ride was characterized by unspeakable corruption, lazy, incestuous appointees and the untouchables that Mr. Jagdeo was happy to have in his midst who broke the law with impunity?
This nation has to be thankful to the media for exposing the corrupt, the lazy and the illegal in the Jagdeo regime.
Next, Mr. Jagdeo waxed lyrical on our economic achievements. He said, “We are now in the sixth consecutive year of strong economic growth and have been one of the fastest growing economies of CARICOM every year since 2006.”
The people listened to Zarathustra as he spoke. They didn’t to Bharrat Jagdeo. They knew it was fiction out of a bad novel. Where is the growth rate and who benefits from it? Dr. Tarron Khemraj explained that since the PPP came into power there has been no phenomenal foreign investment in Guyana.
In fact, Suriname and Jamaica attract far more Chinese money than Guyana can ever see. We are at the bottom of the CARICOM list in terms of the poverty index, except for Haiti, and have been like that throughout the twelve years of Mr. Jagdeo’s presidency.
The President promised US$70M this year from Norway. It is not going to happen. Norway knows about the politics of corruption and the politics of non-transparency in Mr. Jagdeo’s Government and that money will not come in this year.
Perhaps the Norwegians must be reading about the secrecy that has canopied the investments in the Marriott Hotel. Whose money is building this structure? Is it coming also from corrupt politicians?
The nation was told that Guyana is lessening its dependence on international aid. On the contrary, our government is more intense in its begging than the mendicants on the streets of Calcutta (Kolkata).
Guyanese were also sermonized with the fiction that Guyana’s standing on the international scene is rising. Strange! We have perhaps the highest rate, per capita, of American visa rejection among countries of the world.
Guyana’s Zarathustra is about to bow out leaving the capital city of Georgetown as the most foul-smelling and dirtiest in the entire world.

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Thus spoke Zarathustra

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