APNU+AFC in 2016: The Metaphysics of Presence

Dec 28, 2016 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Simply put, the philosophical approach of deconstruction is to show that words have layers of meanings, and those meanings do not necessarily have objective existence at all. The central methodology deconstruction employs is the “metaphysics of presence.” This concept was first used by the fantastic German philosopher Martin Heidegger in his magnum opus, Time and Being (undoubtedly the best philosophical explanation on the nature of human existence).
It was from Heidegger that the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, in birthing deconstruction as a philosophical school, took the meaning of the “metaphysics of presence.” Simply put again, the “metaphysics of presence” is the exposure (as beautifully done by Heidegger) of the false existence in philosophy that in human existence there is an autonomous agent that exists outside of time.
Heidegger then deconstructed philosophy from Plato right down to the beginning of the 20th century, then Derrida right down to the ending of the 20th century.
I got the idea of deconstructing power under the APNU-AFC late on Tuesday night, December 20. I borrowed the Joe Singh report into the Guyana National Broadcasting Association from a Kaieteur News colleague, Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell. I had to digest it that night because Abena wanted it back the next day.
In deconstructing power in 2016, the Joe Singh report is required reading. It tells the story of failed power and the abuse of authority that began with colonization and continues to the date of the publication of this column.
For the President, his Cabinet and the five lawyers in that Cabinet, to accept the findings of that report, when the evidence is shockingly contradictory, indicates that this country is a failed state. But this column is not about that report. I will devote an entire column to the inquiry.
Is there evidence other than the tragedy of the Singh report that deepens the Thanatos of the pessimistic mind in Guyana? The answer is yes, and it is mountainous.
The year was about to close and a senior minister gave the nation the Overdeveloped State as a Christmas gift, but in forms rawer and more bestial than colonial hegemony. We are moving rapidly into the pond where Tantalus was cruelly treated and walking fast toward the rock to which Prometheus was tied and his body destroyed.
In a failed nation, the Overdeveloped State tantalizes its subjects. It dangles a brighter horizon, then, it pulls it back. You live in hope and die in despair. The eagle eats out the liver of Prometheus but he survived and was reborn. Rebirth is a mirage in Guyana.
The minister told his subjects, the State (which is the embodiment of the citizenry) will only repay what it can and those owed can take it or leave it. The State is constitutionally owned by the citizenry but when the State becomes overdeveloped, it becomes a Leviathan. However, Hobbes’s Leviathan was not owned by the people. There is a seminal difference between Hobbes’s Leviathan and the Guyanese Overdeveloped State.
In Hobbes’ social contract, the Leviathan had total power over the people, but Hobbes’s covenant had a revolutionary clause that allowed the citizenry to remove the Leviathan’s hegemony. If at any given time, the Leviathan broke the social contract, the masses had the power to revolt and remove him. The Overdeveloped State in Guyana cannot be removed so easily. The divided masses perpetually fretting over ethnic advantages allow the Overdeveloped State to violate the social contract.
As the year drew to a close, a barefaced violation of the social contract took place. The minister said we will pay what we can. If you don’t like it then that is your problem. And who was the minister talking to? The citizenry who lent money to the State. The State, which has a sacred duty to serve and protect the dêmos (ancient Greek, philosophical word meaning the people), takes the money the dêmos lent it and refuses to repay.
In case you are confused, the Minister referred to contractors who lent money to the State in the construction of the Durban Park. This is a reversion to the previous Leviathan who took money, goods and services from the dêmos for CARIFESTA, and many of those dêmos are yet to be paid. This is how the Overdeveloped State operates in the post-colonial world.
I did say that in these columns I will make frequent reference to the Overdeveloped State. So what goes through the mind of a citizen who provided goods and services to the State and is told; “we will pay you what we want to pay and you can take it or leave it.”

Latest News

APNU+AFC in 2016: The Metaphysics of Presence

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| April, 14th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Ramdheol fifty leads pilots Guyana to 6-wicket win

Berbice thrash Demerara by 82-runs after Fraser...

Guyana Rainforest Rangers to bowl encampment...

A tribute to Milton Robert Pydana aka ‘Golden...

GCB expresses condolence on the passing of former...

Covent Garden Secondary boys on course for Region...

Features/Columnists

In praise of the Almighty Executive Order

Collaborative Government–Private Sector Action Imperative for a Resilient Trade Future

World coming to an end

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

APNU+AFC in 2016: The Metaphysics of Presence

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| April, 14th, 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 […]