It’s the culture that’s being passed down from the top

Nov 14, 2018 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
People seem to be reacting in a shock and disbelief in the looting which several firemen allegedly carried out following the recent plane crash. Am I surprised? Absolutely not.
You see, Guyana has gone back 20 years. In those days people had to “hustle” for every meal. Back in those days, thieving and scampishness was a thread in the Guyanese cultural fabric (like many other countries in the world). But recently, in Guyana, thieving and scampishness, fraud and deception seem to have become the fabric itself. And worst of all, it seems to be the “acceptable”. Everybody is hustling.
Now, instead of acting surprised, we should look at the bigger picture. We should ask ourselves, why the people are behaving in this hustling, thieving, scampish manner. The answer is simple. It’s the culture that is being passed down from the top. The leaders are not being honest. The politicians, managers and professionals are not being honest in their jobs. So the folks at the bottom are looking up every day and they are seeing what is happening above. They see scandal after scandal. They see large monies paid to contractors with no work being done. They read the Kaieteur News and see all the wrong things being done by Government ministers, doctors , lawyers and contractors. When the people see this happening all the time, there is only one thing that occupies their mind. And that is…”when and where do I get a chance….” to thief.
The lawyers and professionals are scamming people; the police are taking bribes; the customs people are making a killing with bribes; the contractors are collecting and not working; the politicians are busy taking kickbacks; the rice export people are busy switching good tags to bad rice. So I ask: what do you expect from others in society? Why do we expect stellar behaviour from anyone else in Guyana?
So folks, don’t act surprised. The firemen are a mere part of a society of hustlers. They made a hustle and they got caught…that’s all that happened. They will need some time to sort this out. But in the meantime, the rest of the country is hustling.
Cheers,
Ryan Prashad
Ontario, Canada

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