Ungovernable and unmanageable

Jul 16, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

The situation, which was barely controlled to begin with, now threatens to get really out of hand in a blink. Many dismiss the warnings that I share, from time to time, but I caution that this is not the usual elections of our fathers and grandfathers. It is not of paling staves and cutlasses. The reactions on the ground, as I see them ahead, hasten us into uncharted waters. I urge that there be no disagreement on the use of that word, since it represents where we are going without paddle, without rudder, and without any horizon in sight. I do not see any whatsoever, other than which I recommend, but which is loudly and roundly denounced.
I draw upon a handful of recent instances and share some contemplations. First, the head-of-state was blocked from free and unfettered movement; it was by his supporters, of all people, who invoked the Gandhian and the MLK-like, to register their self-sacrificing bodily resistance. I warn that that could become the order of the day, every day. Ungovernable, it is called. Nobody is listening. There was glee from the dark side that it is fitting since the president himself is responsible for creating that monster. That is so, but I refuse to be bogged down just with that which is found self-satisfying by others. I take it to another level. What I saw and read (and appreciate) is that his supporters are warning: do not concede. Do not go there. I sense hardliners in the fold are sending their own messages and registering their positions publicly: do not think of it. To take this still further, the mind and energy of the mob usually overpower whatever stands in the way. Since we are so cleanly and bitterly polarized here, there is no strong middle, no central group, that causes turning back. The mob(s) take over.
Then, I received some complimentary pieces about the GECOM office fire in Linden. There it was, a GECOM office of all places selected by readied and charged-up underground operators. One voice from the crowd (since smartly and edited out) raged at the burning building and included something like this: we want the chair fuh bun with de building. We can argue forever about whether what the chair is doing and where she is heading is legal, or right, or all the rest. But in that voice from the crowd, I hear the depths of what is involved in these elections, through the uncontrolled passions that roam free. This is where things are stoked, and we still talk insanely about governance and democracy and all that bull that has no meaning here. Of course, other than when such favours.
Next, on Wednesday morning, there is continuation via images an effigy (not abnormal), but the out of the ordinary of a coffin and an occupied one. I was outside, but I recall the late Janet Jagan dangled in effigy and dolls stuck with pins and the whole range of exploits that is part of political democracy and civility in this society. Now we have made things a little more discrete with a coffin. It has a red-clothed figure with the hair texture distinct and unmistakable. We all know what red means in its several significances (political, plasma, and so forth) and the inference of the hair chosen. I should not forget the green leaves or flowers and what that is intended to represent.
Editor, I know what I am seeing and where I am. Those who hear and envision some platitude along the lines of: we must forget our differences and come together…are entitled to fool themselves and hope for the best. I am long past that stage. But, of course, nobody has any use for what ruffles the smoothness of their well-laid plans. I remind them about Steinbeck’s mice and men and the follies of those.

Sincerely,
GHK Lall

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