Most humans are decent, many are not visionary

Aug 28, 2016 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

I do accept most of the philosophical points of Arthur Koestler on the congenital flaws of Homo sapiens that will forever endanger civilization. I think the arguments of the role of genetic determinism in the shaping of Homo sapiens as adumbrated by the Harvard scientist, E. O. Wilson, are compellingly attractive. While I do not share the argument of higher intelligence for the Caucasian race over all other species of race, I do believe the non-white races have serious psychological deficits which may be attributed to the psychic destruction colonialism brought.
Despite all the flaws and weaknesses of Homo sapiens, I honestly accept that humans are redemptive and that the role of nurture over nature holds the key to preserving the goodness of the soul. Too many times, I have seen the phenomenal effects of nurture over nature, the influences which changed the world in unimaginable and fantastic ways. The fastest man on Earth came from a working class Jamaican family. The troubled, poor society of Jamaica didn’t imprison him.
Chris Gayle has written his name in cricketing history, but the working class conditions he grew up under in Jamaica didn’t imprison him. Yesu Persaud of Guyana was born into a poor family. Today, he is a Guyanese hero. The first Black President of the US remains the least moneyed president the US ever produced. Venus and Serena Williams grew up in a crime-infested district.
It would fill volumes and volumes if one was to document the incredibly attractive achievements of people who came from adverse circumstances, poor economic conditions and depressed living conditions and turned themselves into virtual intellectual, scientific, financial, philanthropic and social giants. We should at least let Guyanese readers know that to date, the greatest brain in law Guyana ever produced, J. O. F. Haynes, did not attend high school.
I would say all these are examples of nurture over nature. Humans are animal species, but we do not have to be permanent prisoners of human bestiality. For this reason, despite the powerful writings of Koestler, Wilson and Sigmund Freud, I still have faith in Homo sapiens. The problem with Homo sapiens is that decency and redemption are not related to visionary thinking. A human can be impeccably decent and caring, but may remain such a nice person without doing anything special to change the world around them. Remember, the point is not to live forever, but to leave something that will.
Visionary people change our lives. Surely, Steve Jobs was no ordinary person. Look what his inventive mind has done for the 21st century. Most of the Presidents that have gone by in the US tried their hand at creating a public health care system. Barack Obama did it because he was special. If it wasn’t for Mikhail Gorbachev, East Germany may still be killing its citizens who attempt to flee over the Berlin Wall. Visionary endowments gave us Shakespeare, Leonardo De Vinci, Martin Luther, Nelson Mandela, Bob Marley, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa. The list is endless.
When people decide they want to lead a country, then they have to possess visionary qualities, because our lives can stagnate, regress or become superb and sublime, depending on if a country has transformational minds at work. The name Obama is simply inescapable. Countless ordinary people died in the US because their ailments were left unattended because they did not have access to affordable health care. Lives will be saved today in the poorer parts of America because of Obamacare.
Leaders should not be contented just to lead with the mundane exercise of power of which mediocrity, banality, and ordinariness are the salient characteristics. Leaders should strive to be transformational innovators. They must strive for higher ground in which their people can rise to higher levels of achievement. Sadly, the Caribbean has not produced transformational leaders.
Sadly, Guyana keeps limping along. I will not be indecent and dishonest and ignore the uniqueness of Forbes Burnham. But I would refuse to put the labels of visionary and transformational on him, because I know and accept that visionary thinking must involve pathways to greater freedoms and deeper justice. On these two levels, Burnham fell down badly. It is one thing to seek to transform a society from poor to great, but it is another story altogether when in doing so you deny your citizens liberty and justice.
I think few would be that indecent to say that under Burnham, flowers of freedom blossomed. If they did, I didn’t see them; and I was there all the time watching.

1 thoughts on “Most humans are decent, many are not visionary”

Parbudin Mackanlall August 28, 2016 at 3:23 am

Very good comrade Freddy. I think you are referring to a recent occurrence in the political sphere. I read you loud and clear and I endorse your submission.