Dear Editor,
When Rakesh Rampertab wrote his letter in which he opined that Guyana needs new thinkers and writers (‘Guyana needs a new group of thinkers and writers,’ SN, July 18), I replied (‘Some of the new blood is worse than the old’ (SN, July 20). In that correspondence, I remarked that Mr Rampertab’s approach was unphilosophical. Mr Rampertab has followed up that letter of mine; see his missive, ‘The new way is about building on the legacy of the older political class’ (SN, July 27). What follows is my attitude towards the contents of his July 27 piece.
He wrote that I was personal when I queried his absence in fighting for democracy in the eighties. No such thought came to mind. It was a legitimate reflection on someone who lived in an era, questions the longevity of those who fought in that era but he himself wasn’t engaged in action. Secondly, Mr Rampertab dubs the comments of my July 20 letter as old-fashioned school of political thinking. Thirdly, he argues that it is also self-destructive. So what did I do? I searched the Stabroek engine for letters by this gentleman and found a few. After reading them, I see nothing that is newer in them than what Dr David Hinds and I write. But on the contrary, I am unhappy with the selection of names he chooses to write on, leaving me with the impression that Mr Rampertab may belong to an ancient school riding on the horse of deception that he belongs to a new genre.
He finds time to write on the PNC. He cites Tacuma Ogunseye and David Hinds as belonging to a bygone age. Strangely enough, we are yet to see a letter from this gentleman that analyses elected dictatorship or naming names from the unpopular government that rules Guyana. Mr Rampertab is an evader. In my original reply I asked him if what he saw in the eighties doesn’t look like child’s play
in comparison to what we have to put up with in the 21st century with Mr Jagdeo. Not a word from Mr Rampertab. Not a word from Mr Rampertab on my theory that some of the new blood we are seeing at work now as in Mr Jagdeo, Robert Persaud, Kwame McKoy, Priya Manickchand and so many others is worse than the old thinkers that Mr Rampertab wants to wish away.
Unfortunately, Mr Rampertab embraces old, old political theory when he told David Hinds in a letter of June 16 that the PPP has an absolute mandate to govern. He means to abuse power, not to govern. I don’t know what Mr Rampertab means by absolute. The word has no relevance in assessing the PPP’s election win and their performance. The PPP has a legal mandate to govern. It certainly does not have a moral stamp to do so. The PPP (like the PNC) draws its electoral strength from narrow constituencies. Surely, Mr Rampertab must have read the election statistics to see where the PPP picked up its votes since 1992. Nothing is wrong with an activist from the fifties still thinking and writing and being active in the year 2009. It is not when they started. It is not how old they are. It is whether what they say makes sense, is visionary and is of use to modern people. Fidel Castro is from an ancient age and what he has to say is irrelevant. Mrs Jagan was dangerously stuck in the past. Nelson Mandela is 90. Jimmy Carter is 84. Eusi Kwayana is 84. All three are young in their thoughts and visionary in their conceptualizations. I’m afraid I can’t say the same for Mr Rampertab.
Yours faithfully,
Frederick Kissoon
