Dear Editor,
There is a groundswell on the daily periphery of life in Guyana. It is a seething, burning anger that gnaws and erodes the texture of society. It is that of a significant segment of the nation that truly believes that it is victimized, patronized, demonized.
All of this can be found at the teeming bus parks; it is conveyed through the vocabulary of occupants in the speeding, blaring, honking, buses themselves. It is not even below the surface in the now hardscrabble and primitive communities of Buxton and Jonestown, Sophia and Bare Root, among others. And it is barely suppressed in the body language and chemistry of the army, given the recent succession planning sleight of hand. These are just a handful of examples of the melting pot. Daily it melts, but remains untended.
This anger – this bubbling pot – is further fuelled by the plagues of drugs and violence; the pestilences of corruption and protection; and the poverties of plate and governance. Perhaps, this alliterative string is representative of the gritty realities of the governing regime: plagues, pestilences, poverties. Regardless, all are fertile breeding grounds for the growing discontent that knows not the limitations of day or season or location. It is private and public; and the implications point to not too distant upheavals both social and political. This molten lava of aggregated anger that simmers will inevitably seek expression through calculation or haste or opportunity; be it ill-advised, misplaced, or improper. Such expression will flow in pursuit of the lower ground of release and the higher promise of freedom. Freedom from a perceived tyranny and accumulating injustices. The tragedy is that when the explosion occurs, it will not singe those directly responsible for its presence and growth. They will have had the opportunity for flight in their luxury machines, and to wring their hands from a distance. But no one is listening; no one is concerned about the rising temperature; no one cares enough to spare the time to pay attention.
In fact, the response of the powers has been almost one of contempt, as manifested in seeking reassurance behind the bludgeoning arm of the state; and a heavy reliance on ignoring and delaying issues. This way the sensitive and controversial and grave lose the traction of interest, urgency, and priority; or experience distraction; or come to an abrupt demise.
And so daily increments of fires dance, leap, and glow within the bonds of fragile restraints. All the while, the groundswell gathers, while a shore of unconcern slumbers.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
