Two sets of parties for two different worlds

Jan 05, 2014 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The New Year is still freshly minted. Before it loses its luster and its ability to inspire revivals and disappointments, it is worthwhile reflecting on what how we celebrate the New Year says about the state of affairs of our society.
Colorful, rich and glossy New Year’s Eve parties have always been a tradition in Guyana. There was always a great deal to eat, much to drink and plenty of noise. Nothing has really changed in that respect.
In the old days, grand Balls were a feature. The media would swoop down on these events as if they were the Oscars, eager to photograph those in attendance and to describe the various outfits that were worn.
It is said that if you totaled up the cost of the outfits that some famous movie stars wear to the Oscars, you could feed quite a few million hungry children for close to a year. But a person is entitled to what is theirs and no one should envy or deprive someone of spending lavishly on themselves, so long as they do not deprive others of what is due to them.
The media always used to line up outside of these grand Balls of yore to be part of the spectacle. The next day’s newspapers would be replete with photographs and coverage of the numerous pictures of the Who’s Who in Guyana.
Of course you had to be invited to go to one of these Balls. There is no way that you could have paid your way into admission. Invitation and attendance confirmed that you belonged to a reserved grouping in society. It made you feel special.
These elite Balls have now been replaced by high-priced parties in which anyone can be a star once one makes a spectacle of oneself or is able to attract the attention of the cameraman whose snapshots of the various commercial parties hosted by the major establishments make the news the next day. The identities of those in the picture are rarely given
The parties have become more egalitarian; the rich have lost their monopoly on making the headlines of the news the next day. They have been pushed to the fringes.
But in as much as this may seem to signal a new order, a moment for the poor to make their mark, nothing really has changed in terms of class relations. The young man who spends almost his entire month salary to equip himself and his partner for these parties remains anonymous. His moment in the limelight is caught on camera and published in the newspaper, but only those close to him know who he is and what he does, He goes back the next day to his normal eight-to-four work, that is if he has a steady job.
The rich may have faded from the spotlight of public attention. They have retreated to private parties where they parade their wealth and dine with those whose bankbooks can match theirs. These parties are selective affairs. The media is not allowed.
Those who attend, live in a world divorced from that of the common man. They remain invisible, except to those in their circle. They do not visit the supermarket. Much of what they eat comes from outside and if something from the market is needed there is always the hired help. Their clothing is bought overseas and they spend their vacations in the rich capitals of the world.
The super-rich in this country insulate themselves from the local scene. They do not read the local newspapers; that is filled with too much depressing news. They watch foreign news and could not care less about what happens on the local scene. They love in their own concocted world. They care very little as to who is stealing from the public treasury or monopolizing public contracts, so long as it does not stand in their way of making money. When they make that money, most of it is shuttled to foreign bank books.
There are two worlds in Guyana, mirroring the two sets of Christmas and New Year Eve’s parties. Only one set of parties, however, now make the headlines. And it creates a false sense of consciousness in those who attend, because they feel that they have arrived and belong to a select grouping.
The reality is that we live in a country of two worlds, of stark divisions in income, perpetuated by a system where the trickle-down to the poor comes at a trickle, while the super-rich enjoy a deluge which allows them to live here and not really be part of Guyana’s society.
Happy New Year to all those who had a good time in their own world on Old Year’s Night.

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Two sets of parties for two different worlds

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