The worst of times

Apr 07, 2020 Editorial

At the risk of understatement, it has been a bad year so far – the worst place for any society to be trapped hopelessly. It is the worst of places for citizens to be and the worst of times for Guyanese caught up in yet another unwinnable struggle, with few to no bright spots promised.
We at this publication are forced to this dismal outlook, because even when things are dark and down at the individual level, there is usually some tiny hope that if a certain road is explored, if a few things fall into place, and if there is the will to give a try, then progress and success could come.
Whatever comes may be very minute, it may not happen at all, as more failures and disappointments add further to the pile of what fell short. But it is part of the unconquerable spirit of man that when everything is gone, then something is found somewhere and, that somehow, something is created out of nothing. That is the indomitable spirit of men, and men make up nations, even the most troubled, the most despairing ones.
But as all of this is presented before the public, there is recognition that hope has fled swiftly on powerful wings. The outlook is that even if there is judicial and electoral finality, that a different round of social malaises, of racial antagonisms, and of divisive defeatism would drag us all down beyond what has been experienced, beyond what may be contemplated and in the works. The same works at the same hands of the same men will not lead to anything or anywhere new. That, too, is now an inherent part of the ugly dreary hopelessness.
The people in this land are taking stock. They do not like the results, which weigh them down further. For, at present, this nation is not dealing with a political crisis alone, but a convergence of crises. In addition to the political crisis, there is a social crisis and a racial crisis, both of which are beyond dispute. Still further, there is a medical crisis, an environmental crisis, a psychological crisis, and a slew of other crises still to be detected or to register. We are, indeed, in the worst of worst places.
This is not helped in any way by the culture of superstition in which we live, and which still has a remorseless stranglehold on this society. Frightened citizens remind themselves and one another that it is that proverbial black cat of a time: it is a Leap Year. Tell citizens to be careful and sensible about COVID-19 and there are shrugs of disdain and continuing indifference. In the next instance, tell them that ‘somebody did them something’ and it is alarm bells and off to the believed sanctuary and protective handiwork of spiritualists and the like, who happen to know of and have just the remedy called for by the particular situation.
Taken together, countless Guyanese look back and take the measure of the first quarter of 2020 and shake their heads in the confirmation of indisputable proof: there is the record of the facts and circumstances. And with this in mind and in hand, the same many look ahead and declare that this society has a still harder road ahead for the rest of this year, should the most important, the most relevant, and the most distressing things stay on the same destructive course.
It is the sum of all fears congregating, the aggregate of hopes repeatedly dashed on the jagged rocks of unending disappointments.
Superstitions or not, there has to be acknowledgement, no matter how minimal, that there is some substance to the mindsets that have become ingrained at all levels. It has been powered by the uninterrupted moves and countermoves of quarreling and grappling, of confronting and clashing.
We occupy a no man’s land that points not to hurdles scaled, but of more of the same, if not more barren, territory ahead. Despite the thick hovering gloom, we still must challenge ourselves to dig deep and locate those rare elements that could carry us somewhere, give us a chance.
We cannot give up, for then we would have lost hold of life.

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The worst of times

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