Latest update June 25th, 2026 9:38 AM
Guyanese must take a stand
(Kaieteur News) – Some combination of harmful ingredients has gone to the heads of Guyanese. Ruling politicians are power drunk, listen only to themselves, runover those daring to disagree. Opposition politicians are slowed by some other kind of ingredient. Some Guyanese have transformed into the flat out mad, while others have been overtaken by foolishness.
Men go into a bar to relax, only for some madness to swamp their heads, which prompts them to unholster weapons and fire a few rounds into the air. They don’t do that so casually even in Texas. But in this new, wild and wide-open frontier that is Guyana, almost everybody is a law unto himself. Leaders shout down citizens; citizens intimidate and savage their peers, with the result of many forced to run for cover, settle for silence. Meanwhile, the hordes of the incoming rub their hands together, smirk in smug contentment, help themselves to our lucrative opportunities, dump upon Guyanese, and count their cash.
In sharp contrast to Guyanese, outsiders keep their cool, feet grounded. They do not get carried away (in “never see come to see fashion”), drive themselves mad (like Midas) with the glitter of new money, but simply shake their heads, and carry on with ringing their cash registers. This is what Guyanese should be focused on: be aware, dedicate their energies towards knowing what is going on around them, being more responsible and vigilant citizens, and looking out for their fellow citizens.
If our fellow citizens have only a fraction of the commonsense, the smarts, and the wisdom that we at this paper think that they have, then they would take aim at how outsiders take advantage of us, instead of targeting their fellow Guyanese, and being a danger to others. It is time that we all grow up, that the attitudes in this country change, and that our changed conversations reflect such improvements at the individual level. In theory, we are supposed to be on top of the world, our conduct must so reflect. When we cannot have civil conversations, even collect our garbage consistently, then we are closer to the dregs of the sewer than the heights of what passes for a civilized people.
What we are insisting is that the many cross sections of the Guyanese population must arrive at a swift understanding of the enormous gifts that have been put into their hands, and that they have to get serious about the responsibilities that come with them. To paraphrase a well-known saying: to those that have been given much, much is expected. We must live up to the lucrative trusts handed to us. This means communications that lead to consensus.
This is what Guyanese with too much energy for their own good should get a grip on, and realise that they waste time in shooting off guns, shooting off their mouths, and shooting down those who dare to point to the company and holler: ExxonMobil is trouble, ExxonMobil is untrustworthy, ExxonMobil is self-serving and predatory. This is what Guyanese will get by just looking at the company’s revealing record, and all of the gaps that it does not want Guyanese to see. Look at how ExxonMobil managed the Exxon Valdez misery to the advantage of its treasury.
The PPPC Government knows this, so do members of the Opposition. Yet both have been too warm and embracing of the same ExxonMobil that has been so unjust to Guyanese, so outrageous in its contract concoctions, so unfair and horrendous in the sum of its hemorrhaging activities.
No Guyanese with an ounce of pride inside of them would want to have anything to do with ExxonMobil. Not work for it, not drum up figures to defend it, and not craft speeches to sing praises about how much good this American corporate power has done for Guyana. For every barrel of oil that ExxonMobil gives to Guyana as its paltry share, ExxonMobil snatches up, sneaks out, and walks away with a bank vault stuffed with our inheritance. Instead of Guyanese going crazy at each other, they should go crazy over what ExxonMobil is doing to them, all of us. We either grow-up, or we grind ourselves into the dustpan of history.
Share this:
Discover more from Kaieteur News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Sir. Ronald Sanders
The GHK Lall Column
Weekend Cartoon
