Guyanese who accuse others of the very faults they have  

Sep 29, 2022 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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Kaieteur News – I will look at the idiotic argument that there is an emerging apartheid ambience in Guyana, for now, suffice it to say, that Guyana is not alone in the world today where men and women of flaky character are producing narratives that endanger society and find ready publication in the media. It is occurring in the United States faster than sound can travel.

Countless persons have contacted me about non-publication of their letters in the Kaieteur News. The reason is logical.  My response is always the same – I do not have even an ounce of influence at the newspaper but I have worked with the editor-in-chief, Ms. Sharmain Grainger, a long time now and perceive her to be a very decent professional.

So when I get these complaints, I would from time to time send a little query to her. Recently, Dr. Randolph Persaud indicated to me that he didn’t see publication of his letter on confronting the falsehood of a racism and apartheid in Guyana.

The editor told me that there is a waiting list because of the volume of letters sent. I accepted that explanation because I once edited the letter pages of KN so I know about the deluge of letters. Dr. Persaud’s letter was published last week.

This is a country not for the faint-hearted. On September 27, (last Tuesday), the Stabroek News (SN) printed a correspondence by Dr. Tara Singh, from the diaspora. Dr. Singh’s piece was critical of the politics of Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton. I share his analysis of the convoluted directions of Norton’s politics.

The very next day, (Wednesday, September 28), the SN published a rebuttal to Dr. Singh from long-standing PNC aficionado and former PNC parliamentarian, Sherwood Lowe. Well, it is either SN’s has no waiting list or the editor exercised his right to assign priorities to letters.

Interestingly, financial analyst, Joel Bhagwandin told me that he cannot get his letters published in both KN and SN. I did say to him I can have a friendly word with Ms. Grainger but I don’t know the people at Stabroek News. Anyone reading Mr. Bhagwandin’s analyses of financial issues would acknowledge the gentleman knows his stuff.

Let’s move on to Lowe’s letter itself. He wrote, “Should Dr. Tara Singh request evidence of this obsession (PPP’s domination of power), he can start by reading the several SN editorials in 2022 alone that have belly-ached about this.”

The compelling question the reader is faced with is why SN is the definitive authority on the use of power? Who speaks for whom in this country? Why Mr. Lowe did not find it appropriate to quote Dr. Randolph Persaud, Ravi Dev, Joel Bhagwandin, Ralph Ramkarran, and editorials from Guyana Times, all of whom have outlined analyses of the nature of governance that do not collaborate the perspective of SN.

Again, I ask; who speaks for whom. Mr. Lowe goes on: “To navigate the complex world, our minds of necessity are wired to simplify and to prevent information overload.  Of necessity, therefore, we stereotype or pigeonhole persons and groups.”  I am tempted to ask Lowe if he considers himself to be one such person.

I will give my answer if asked by someone else the exact question about Lowe. Reading the propaganda and fictions in Lowe’s missive, my take is Lowe himself is a victim of the brain being wired to filter information it cannot cope with.

So what we have in Guyana today are the following complaints; emerging apartheid system; power domination, runaway corruption, PPP’s excesses, terrible governance, etc. These things of course put the ruling party in a class of its own in the world because it is only two years in power and is being accused of these atrocities.

In Barbados, PM Mia Motley has won two consecutive elections without any opposition in parliament. How does Lowe rate her government? How does he rate the Biden presidency which a recent poll among members of the Republican Party revealed that they believe Biden’s victory was fraudulent?

What Lowe did not include in his condemnation of the government and expansive eulogy of the politics of the Opposition Leader is that humans tend to believe over a long period of time the convenient fictions they have been fed. These fictions become undying truths for them.

There is still hope for such people despite the limited capacity of many humans to internalise all the materials that they have to cope with in the complex world we live in. Once they are decent and have a rational mind, they will reject false prophets like the ones we have in politics in Guyana.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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