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It is a serious mistake to dismiss the youths

Dec 21, 2011 Letters

 

 

Dear Editor,
It is obvious that it is Christmas time in the city, as evidenced by the traffic jams, crowded sidewalks, the lights and the sounds of the season. What is different, however, is the surly undercurrent of unrest among the youth of this nation as we enter this season of peace on Earth, and goodwill towards all men.
For the last two Fridays I have attended their meetings at the Stabroek Market Square, and I was not only impressed by the ability of the various speakers to articulate their grievances, but more importantly the passion and urgency of their message. Those who dismiss this group of Guyanese will be making a serious mistake that may have far reaching consequences that are frightening in scope and scale.
For years many of us have called for the youth of this nation to be more engaged and be more active in the affairs of national life that directly affect them. Year after year they disappointed and instead choose Hits and Jams; the Wine Downs, back balling and throwing back a few Premiums over advocacy.
However, something happened late in this year’s election cycle that changed all that, and now this once dormant sector of our populace is flexing its muscle, and not surprisingly some of the same people who once called them lazy and shiftless are now complaining.
I read Gerry Gouveia’s letter expressing his discomfort and perceived disrespect, but I could not shed a tear for Gerry, for as the song says; “he who feels it knows it”. People like Gerry are far removed from the pain and disappointment of the protesters.
For years we neglected them and pretty much left them to raise themselves.
We did nothing as the best teachers left, and the regular public schools failed them; we took away the community centers and the extra-curricular activities that are essential for positive human growth and development.
We taught them that greed was good and bad behaviour would be handsomely rewarded. We replaced civics, logics and morals with a heavy diet of lewd and misogynistic lyrics, promiscuity, and general lawlessness. We provided them with role models/leaders that were corrupt, weak and selfish and then questioned their integrity when they failed to step up, or emulated the examples we set for them. In short we created an underclass that is not only ill prepared but maladjusted to societal etiquette.
That some of them have broken through and have the credentials and training necessary to advocate for the mass that  have been left behind is not only complimentary, but in Guyana, downright heroic.
Every society that created and then ignored a large underclass has been toppled by violent revolution. We all witnessed the Arab Spring on our television screens; we have seen over the years the unrest in Gaza and the West Bank; from the slums of the American south and North to Poland and the former Soviet Republics; oppressed sections of a population, left unattended and economically bankrupt,  have risen up and toppled entrenched regimes.
Here in Guyana we have a new government and a new parliament and can create a new dispensation for our underclass. Failing to do so will have severe consequences that will benefit no one.
The Private Sector Commission (PSC) and its rich and well connected membership are targets because they have failed to empathize with this segment of the society. They have not listened to what the youth of this nation (that comprise 46% of the electorate) screamed on the 28th November; that they want a government of national unity; they want and end to one party rule and they want to be heard; they want their needs addressed; they want and are prepared to advocate for and if necessary agitate for a better life.
So as we celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ, a man born of humble parentage, but who rose to be a champion of the poor and a symbolic figure-head of a revolutionary religious movement, let us reflect on the poor and dispossessed of this nation and the word of God in the book of Mathew where it is written; “truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me…”
Mark Archer

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