The socialization of societal pain

Jul 06, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

While the Guyana Police Force has come in for sharp condemnation for its presumed sloth, possibly studied or orchestrated lethargy, the PPP Government has been a whirlwind of action. From President to Minister, it has been a blur of motion with relief for the robbed and value for those violated. On the surface, I see an on-the-move, caring Government, and leaders rolling up sleeves and dashing into action, all of which are good and timely things. Beneath the rapid deployment movements of man and money, and women and stuff, I already gather some other objectives at work.

The first is that the salvage operations on behalf of the hurting of Mon Repos quickly restore matters on the ground to a state of some financial normalcy. It is a positive development. The second, it helps to gloss over the inaction of the police, and distracts the affected segment of the populace from the inexplicable failure of at-the-ready, and nearby, law enforcement, which in time soothes the wider watching citizenry. From all indications, it was as if the state’s protective agency was in numbed stand down mode, with which I still grapple. It seems that intervening forces could have been dispatched from Georgetown to arrive there more swiftly for appropriate action than those in the vicinity.

Why, why not, and where the responsibility lies are all unanswered at this time, if ever. Third, observing the dispatch of funds and other raw materials gives off the air of making up for lost ground-failure of logistics (and the State)-and closing the door after the runaway horses have trampled on everything in sight. At least, the wounded and innocent pawns have been made financially whole for their troubles and their pains.

More importantly, I detect a curious development, which I label the socialization of risk. That is, the willingness of government to absorb the damage and cover the pain inflicted and felt. It is diffusing the hardship by spreading the fallout to beyond those directly responsible, with Big Brother leading the way. To put differently, the response of Government can be summed up in several pithy ways. You break, we build. You destroy, we restore. You burn, we return. You hurt, this is our retort. If this mindset is made to be the universal response to such developments, then it is likely that this PPP Government has just found and applied a workable antidote to mobs and their madness, and the mayhems that result from both. In effect, the socialization of the risks of riotous conduct has neutralized its feared potency; save for the psychological terrors that are an integral aspect of such rampages. It is the equivalent of bring on worst curses, and we have the cleanest cures, no matter how costly. If these things are really politically motivated and orchestrated, as many religiously believe, then the ringleaders have just been neutered and must start from scratch with a new drawing board. A great and durable weapon has just been rendered obsolete.

But there is still another element to this that is now stirring slowly, and should make its appearance in less than no time. I think that because of what took place in Mon Repos, and this is regardless of who is directly or indirectly responsible, protests have now taken on a bad name and issue a bad odor. This includes peaceful protest, which just became another contradiction in terms in Guyana. The opening is there for the PPP Government to move to parliament to table legislation to lockdown on protests in general under the banner of protecting the vulnerable, weak, and innocent, by introducing into law harder steps, and possibly harsher regimes, standing guard over any permission granted for assembly and protest, and making those permissions a laborious, time-consuming process. The GPF procedures could be made suffocating, with more needed. Naturally, this clashes with sacred rights of assembly, movement, and speech. We shall see. The roving, rampaging band at Mon Repos can claim the honors for such a development possibly waiting in the wings for the right moment for government to unveil, which I think is soon, if not now.

In close saying this without qualification: Mon Repos was an abomination and repugnance. It has no place in a civilized society. On the other hand, I look beyond the noise and moment and haze of Mon Repos, and I see other surrounding subplots swirling.

Sincerely,

GHK Lall

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