I read with great interest Mr F Skinner’s letter ‘Wealth transforms and strengthens one’s position in the political process’ (SN, November 19). I consider this one of the more interesting pieces I have seen in the press for quite some time. Let me explain.
Skinner’s task is not an easy one. The main reason for this is that generations of intellectuals in the Caribbean have been anti-wealth in their world views, and these views have penetrated the broader populations so much that anything related to wealth creation is considered evil.
Intellectuals come in many forms. There are the book types like myself, but beyond that, the society has a plethora of organic intellectuals. They range from the pastors, leaders of political parties, and ‘big-ones’ in civic groups, to the village ‘mouth man’ who has an answer for everything. We should not forget the columnists, letter writers, bloggers, and TV pundits.
I don’t know if Mr Skinner has ever had a chance to go to the Caribbean Studies Association Annual Convention. If he hasn’t, he should. There, he would find more than half the papers dedicated to anti-wealth disquisitions, albeit under various guises. At these meetings the themes that dominate are race, struggle, oppression and exploitation. These themes form the ‘normal science’ of Caribbean scholarship. If you venture too far from them, the senior scholars are likely to engage you in conversations about the direction of your work. The younger scholars are likely to be more upfront and imply that you are a ‘sell-out’ to imperialism and the ruling class.
I had this experience during my last CSA conference in Colombia two years ago after I said some positive things about globalization and markets.
The themes above should indeed be an integral part of Caribbean intellectual discourse. After all, they have been fundamental aspects of our histories. But that history is more complicated than – ‘we suffered.’ Where is that history in the scholarship, and more broadly in our daily common sense? More needs to be written on the emergence of professionals, small business enterprises, and of the Creole and post-independence middle classes. No one walked up to them and put the education in their heads or the money in their pockets. They studied, worked, saved, and invested.
I myself tried recently to write about the middle class in Guyana. I was hollered on by the same folks who can’t go beyond the language of exploitation. These are the organic intellectuals I have in mind. Once you say something about progress, they will gang up against you to ensure that no conversation outside of oppression is allowed. Afterwards, they pat each other on the back for a job well done. Little do they know that they are participating in a kind of cultural regulation of speech. This is exactly what Mr Skinner is facing now.
I ask the critics of Mr. Skinner – what’s wrong with the logic – study-work-save-invest? Don’t forget – the folks who preach most about the evils of money are the ones who already have it. That includes the Mercedes-Benz Marxists who live in North America and Europe. I close by reiterating the words of Bob Rae, the former left leaning leader of the NDP and Premier of Ontario who once said – I like money so much, I want everybody to have it.
Yours faithfully,
Randy Persaud
