2022 proved you have to reject false prophets

Jan 09, 2023 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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Kaieteur News – There was a statement Leonard Gildarie made on one of the programmes last year on The Gildarie-Freddie Kissoon Show. He was right in what he said but the picture was not complete.

Gildarie rightfully condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We all must. Russia was wrong; there is no question about that. But we must be careful not to let other people narratives get into our heads.

The very countries that want the world to condemn Russia support Israel that annexed the Golan Heights which is Syrian territory and occupies territory that the Palestinians want to have as their country. I told Gildarie when we condemn Russia, we must do the same to Israel.

Years ago, when Barack Obama was president, I told my daughter that if at the dinner table, her friend says she dislikes Obama, she must avoid a confrontation but let the table knows that she admires Obama. My point to my kid was that if you let that friend offer her opinion without an input from others around the table, then that opinion can sway the table.

Last year was a terrible year for the survival of moral righteousness but there were many of us who did not allow other people to propagate their narratives without a voice of response. I keep telling young people I meet that they must never just shrug their shoulder and say, “I couldn’t be bothered with replying.”

You must respond  because when you do, others learn and it makes others know the facts of life and it allows them to make judgments that preserve their moral well-being.

The writings of financial analyst Joel Bhagwandin were an inspiration last year. If you read his analyses and statistical outlays last year, then you were able to reject the propaganda that flowed from people who want you accept their narratives which are false constructs. I read an analysis of the Mr. Bhagwandin on the financial performance of the APNU+AFC government and it was a learning experience.

Using Bank of Guyana statistics, not normative discourses, not his viewpoints but official statistics, Mr. Bhagwan showed that the incoming regime in 2015 inherited a healthy treasury that was empty by February 2020. For an account of Mr. Bhagwandin’s displayed statistics see my column of Wednesday, August 10, 2022, titled, “Self deception: More facts for African Guyanese to digest.”

Last year, more than two dozen persons, half of whom are Guyanese long gone from Guyana and never ever coming back, signed a letter in the Stabroek News advocating that Guyana participate in helping save Planet Earth by scrapping our fossil fuel industry.

Last year, there was an advocacy by Ms. Isabelle DeCaires of the Stabroek News for Guyana not to pursue a relationship with Saudi Arabia because it is an authoritarian state. Think of if there wasn’t a rejection of those constructs with an analytical explanation, how innocent minds could have bought into those false narratives.

First, extremely rich countries, some of whom are post-modern societies and where those expatriate Guyanese live, have thriving fossil fuel industries that continue to make them richer. But poor Guyana must save the planet and those very expatriate Guyanese will write another letter scorning Guyana for the ancient levels of its infrastructure.

Secondly, why must Guyana ostracize Saudi Arabia when no other country in the world does it and Ms. DeCaires’ own country where she lives, the UK, has ongoing security and trade relations with the Saudis?

Last year saw some episodes of hypocrisy that was not good for one’s stomach. A Commission of Inquiry into the fiasco of the March 2020 elections began and witnesses after witnesses testified to a situation that made the rigging of the elections of 1968, 1973, 1980, 1985 and the 1978 referendum look like child’s play.

But the usual suspects that was quick to jump of Charrandass Persaud for his unacceptable indiscretion to date has not signed a letter to the newspapers offering their views on what the nation has heard so far.

What Charran did was terrible. His position as High Commissioner became untenable. But it is equally wrong to deny people their fight to vote. And if you can write a letter on condemning what Charran did, moral obligation compels you to write on what is coming out of the Commission.

It is when decent humans reply to these episodes of hypocrisy, the eyes and minds of others are opened up. The year 2020 was not a good one for moral cleanliness and I will continue to assess that disappointing year. No amount of post-modern infrastructure will save a country if it doesn’t have humans possessed of a conscience. (The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)                                        

 

 

 

        

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