Dear Editor,
I have always held Dennis Wiggins in high regard because I am of the view that when he enters a debate he will be pushed by arguments and evidence, rather than by a pre-analytic politicized disposition. It appears that I might have been wrong.
In a letter in defence of GHK Lall (SN October 29) Mr. Wiggins throws caution to the wind and simply repeats a long list of customary charges against the PPP and the current administration in Guyana. Moreover, Mr. Wiggins accuses me of being too ‘partisan’ in response to GHK Lall, whose letter he calls ‘brilliant.’
Apparently, my partisanship is to be found in my comparison of Guyana with some aspects of American life. Wiggins is of the view that I unfairly brought in this comparison in response to Lall. He does not see where in Lall’s letter there was any opening for such a comparison. I will help Mr. Wiggins with this.
Here is GHK Lall in his own words –“Of course, it is conveniently ignored that some of the other societies can afford the ill effects of some corruption and failures, that there are safety nets in place; that the official poverty measurement represent a manageable livable standard for our fleeting countrymen; that justice is served most of the time; that the playing field, while not always level, admits others; and that even at its most deplorable, those societies are repositories of hope, inspire confidence, and which their citizens will not exchange for anywhere else” (SN October 23).
I wonder if Mr. Wiggins read this paragraph in Lall’s letter. Lall is the one who asked Guyanese to forgive whatever ills might be in those ‘other societies’. He is the one who says foreign suffering is bearable. The sad thing for Lall, and for Wiggins, is that I know those societies. I know that life in many parts of the U.S. is so unbearable that no poetic letter from GHK Lall can help them. No matter how many letter writers like Mr. Wiggins might come to the assistance of Lall, the situation on the ground over there for the poor and downtrodden will not be alleviated.
Wiggins talks about permanent suffering in Guyana. Simply put, that is bad social science. Guyana just topped the entire Caribbean in the CSEC Exams. Our students did better than any other Caribbean country. Over 30% of our students got five subjects with grades 1-3. In Barbados the comparable figure is 13% Mr. Wiggins. In Jamaica it is 17% Mr. Wiggins. 400 of our students passed ten subjects at one sitting. We got the best overall result – 14 grade ones, Mr. Wiggins. We got the prize for the best science student. We got the prize for the best business student. No other Caribbean country comes close to that.
There is much more to this. Look at Guyana’s ranking for press freedom and for gender equality. I’ll write about these accomplishments soon. No doubt Wiggins and Lall will find faults. Lall, of course, will couch his narrative quite poetically. It won’t help. The fact is Guyana has a growing middle class and no letter writer can erase that.
Yours faithfully,
Randy Persaud
Randy Persaud,
Stop engaging in spurious meshing of data (students’ CXC performance) and the emergence of your fictional middle-class. Here is the rub. Your BOSS and political party are not serious about security reforms. Hence, all those brilliant CXC performers will soon leave because of the lack of credibility in the police force (and of course the army). In spite of the fact that drug pushers run amuck, your boss claims to know who killed Minister Sawh, deadly crime, a pathetic police force, etc, your BOSS and political party choose politics and COVER UP over the security of the people.
The fact is Guyana is the largest exporter (in terms of %) of skilled and educated workers. NO SECURITY NO STRONG MIDDLE CLASS.
TK, Randy wants to have a discussion with Guyanese in the Diaspora but he wants to dictate what they must say, otherwise he will disagree with them. He condescendingly says he always held Wiggins in high regard, but simply because Wiggins took him to task for his pre-analytic politicized disposition (his own words) as a Jagdeo media spinner, he lashes out and tries to insult Wiggins’ intelligence.
Randy has no shame coming into the SN letters column to start a discourse (because the Chronicle cannot handle the type of letters critical of the government that SN will publish) and doing so from a pre-determined position as a defender and promoter of the Jagdeo regime. But when others counter with intelligent rebuttals, he tries to put them and their intelligence down, like as though God appointed him a decider of who is intelligent and who is stupid. No wonder the government is in trouble, because it attracts individuals of like backward thinking. Three doctors as spinners and they still cannot take wickets. Maybe the pitch could handle pace, but government has no pacers, only spinners and underhand bowlers.
Persuad, Guyana has a growing middle-class–outside of Guyana. If you can find one inside of Guyana, I’ll call the VAT a figment of all Guyanese’ imagination.
Next time, think before you post. Your views have now become identical to those who just love to build castles in the air and eat windpies and water-custard for the “cause”.
In order to write these things and be effective, it does no good to lose credibility. Just ask Bisram and before him, all those PNC and now the PPP party hacks.
We’ve heard, read, seen this familiar refraid before. It ain’t pretty. Cut it out!
Oh God, Dr Randy. I want to see the “growing” middle class you are snickering about. Please get out of your glass house and come take a walk with me along the country.
Take off your shoes, walk bare feet with me. Dump your silverware and let’s eat what many folks eat what they call a meal most of the time.
Let’s go to the office and see how the buck passes when you got no connections. Let’s make some cool aid in the middle of the blackout plague. Let’s experiment life with a teacher’s salary for a month.
Until it hits you on your skin, you are nothing but an armchair theorist propagating elections politics as social reality.
Well said, Ghost Rider!! But if I may add to your solid argument that in order for Guyana to have a MIDDLE CLASS, there has to be a LOWER CLASS and and UPPER CLASS, right? And since the PPP, based on its socialist beliefs, is supposed to be all about the LOWER CLASS, as opposed to the MIDDLE and UPPER CLASSES, one has to wonder what is Randy’s point of reference in determining what constitutes MIDDLE CLASS?
In the last New York mayoral debate on Tuesday, the question of New York’s MIDDLE CLASS came up, as both candidates sem to be vying for this group’s votes. Neither man was able to clearly define what constitutes MIDDLE CLASS. Bloomberg said it was the group of people who had to pay mortgages/rent, pay bills, and live comfortably or something to that effect. Thompson said it has been reported that it is a group that earned somewhere between 75k a year for singles and 150k a year for couples.
So my question to Randy is: what is his definition of Guyana’s MIDDLE CLASS? Does it fall into either or both categories given by the NY mayoral candidates? And do all members of Guyana’s so-called MIDDLE CLASS pay taxes? That is the most powerful way to determine who are Guyana’s MIDDLE CLASS, because to simply go by the number of new houses, number of cars and huge bank accounts some may have is not acceptable.
That’s true. Guyana has always had a middle class that’s growing … and going … Just hope rate of growing is higher that the rate of going … got to do a bit of calculus to determine that …
Yeah Hackie…you need to solve for the time paths of the difference (or differential) equations and den pass de thing over to Randy at OP.
Need the definitions and data, though, before I can start. And THAT might be a state secret!
Let dy/dt = growing of middle class and dx/dt = going of middle class, therefore dy/dt + K dx/dt = 0 , where K is a constant (the secret!).
This chap Randy rover is a dreamer like miserable and the rest of the PPP cabal who are living on cloud 10.
They are busy trying to spin public opinion but instead they are going to draw the ire of people more and more.
Notice, a lot of some people’s middles are growing too!
Guyanese was known to be brighter and smarter in that region and beyond and was more respected and was regarded as intelligent. It would be nice if Guyanese is held in that high regards once more.
As in regards of class, you either have money or you don’t in Guyana, there is no middle. Well, class is over rated, and dismissed in Guyana.
Smart R ! You and your misguided friends should stop the nonsense about Guyanese being known to be ‘brighter and smarter in that region and beyond ‘. Stop it ! If they were so bright and smart, how is it that no Noble Prize winners have emerged. Oh yes ! Little St. Lucia has two, Trindad has one. You keep beating your silly drums because you pass an exam. Is that it?
Ever wonder why Thailand and Singapore and countries in the South East Asia bloc are flourishing ? Well, sit with some of the students of those countries in the classrooms in LSE and Imperial college. That will teach you.
Guyanese were once proud and respected people. And known for their hospitality. Guyanese want some of that respectability back first, then talk about class later.
Randy Persaud this is pure foolishness. Wasting time on something you alone believe in and repeating it often will not change the fact your talks are empty. Dennis Wiggins you should learn a lesson from Randy’s insult.
Hi bloggers let this blog be the last on this letter.
Colin ! I called it a few days ago when I mentioned that Mr. Lall got ‘played’ by the dr.(small ‘d’ , of course). It is a debate he desires in order to push his propaganda in the most widely read Guyana newspaper. What does passing of high school exams got to do with a ‘growing middle class’? It is a product of dedication, aptitude, knowledge of speciality and commitment to purpose (drive). The social scientists would also categorize the middle class as upper upper, upper, middle, lower etc. I wonder which one is expanding and in what ethnic group of the society. dr Persaud should be very careful in his statements.
Guyana does not have a growing middle class as the PPP propagandist suggest. It however has a growing upper class whose suspicious overnight opulence would fail a legitimate income tax audit.
Thank you, Bismattie! Thank you very much! The government’s recognition of the overnight rags-to-riches experience of some folks is a frightening revelation of what this government is all about. No wonder corruption is to this regime what fuel is to a car’s engine.
propaganda as usual – you are dead wrong
how does this ” growing ” contextualise with other countries per capita
where does the growth comes from – it certainly does not look like growth from internal manufacturing and production = barrels & $ from overseas relatives
yes guyana has very brilliant students – where are the jobs and benefits after graduation = overseas !
what gender equality – how many women ministers in cabinet as compared to men
how many women gov’t. propagandists = 0 to 3 or more men
hehehehe
Randy. Yo start again wid yo foolishness. Guyana has three classes. The ruling class. The (mindless) class. And the suffering class. Go figure.
Guyana has class ring too.
You are so right. If you are not a ruler and not suffering in Guyana, you must be mindlessly supporting the PPP, tacitly or otherwise. I guess it is the growth of this latter “class” Dr Persaud is emphasising.