Latest update May 26th, 2026 12:35 AM
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BLIND TO REALITY
In Guyana, many appear to be blind to reality about the current situation in the country. The notion of being blind to reality is nothing new. It is not about having a physical disability, which is the inability to see or having limited vision or being in complete darkness. Rather, it is blindness due to being aloof, egotistical and elitist.
Many, especially the poor and the working class cannot really see what is happening in the country because they are too busy hustling to put food on the table, paying the bills and sending their children to school. In other words, they are blind to the issues that are affecting them the most.
The love of money may blind many not to think of others or their environment. Others may be blind to reality due to not having a job, hence their poor condition. Racial, ethnic or religious prejudice may blind some of us to the need to accord dignity and respect to persons who merely look different.
There is perhaps more an insidious form of blindness to which we may all be subject. It arises from the institutions or circles we inhabit such as the media, place of work, church group, circle of friends or our role as parents or guardians.
We are blind to these institutions which act to interpret and give order and meaning to the society around us. They provide us with the mental models and the lenses, which enable us to see, interpret and analyse information about our communities and country at large. They determine which news sources we consume, or whether we rely on gossip and social media for our information.
Many in the government are blind to the fact that they get into an institutional ‘bubble’ where information is filtered to them. Their actions and responses and circumscribed, and they gradually lose touch with the masses. For example, several prominent persons and organisations have exposed some of the flaws in the oil contract between ExxonMobil and the government but instead of trying to renegotiate it, the government has praised ExxonMobil.
Those in authority should recognise the dangers of not being in touch with reality and should take steps to periodically recalibrate their lenses and allow fresh information and insight to reach them.
The present administration needs to get in touch with its constituents on a regular basis to know their concerns and not just at elections or when they are engaged in protests to repair their roads or the lack of adequate potable water.
They need to engage honestly with the views of the masses, which are not consistent with their own in order to understand what is shaping their thinking and their behaviour. Our leaders need to get into the various communities to see and experience what citizens are experiencing.
They have to avoid being imprisoned by the mental models, which may be fixed by their beliefs, politics or their ideology. But there is one lens which ought to remain constant and clear to them and that is to be aware of the people’s needs and attend to them.
When viewing through those lenses, they are more likely to be in touch and not be blind to reality and would be able to understand any situation the people are dealing with.
There are mental models, which are functional in a way, that they help us to classify and make sense of people and events around the world relatively quickly. But, they can also lead to us to a kind of blindness that would not make us look inward on ourselves.
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