We are fortunate in Guyana that even in the worst times of party paramountcy the full ruthlessness of power was never exercised wholesale. Then when Desmond Hoyte took office, authority was increasingly opened to questioning and counter-views. And in the PPP/Civic’s democracy, there was as ample scope for differences of opinion, variety of expression, and consideration of alternative approaches to governance as anyone could possibly expect to find – at least in countries where the pressures of poverty and opposing ethnicities are such complicating factors. It must be more than hoped, it can surely be expected, that President Granger’s government will be just as open to freedom of opinion and variety of expression and even more ready to embrace alternative approaches to governance.
Yet, this favour is never something we should ever take for granted. Any government, as it settles into power, as it becomes accustomed to exercising authority and increasingly enjoys the feel of doing so, is subject to becoming more and more impatient over any questioning of that authority. A tendency to believe and declare “We know best” is likely to become more pronounced. It is a tendency which must be firmly resisted not only by anyone with an independent mind but also by the government itself, which in the end has much to lose by the stifling of contrary opinion, by not allowing the inquiring mind to range far beyond what authority may think suitable.
The trouble is that it is all too easy to give in to authority merely because it has the power. It makes for a simpler life. There are great advantages in cooperating with power. To consent is to survive. Authority can summon up such a weight of inside knowledge, massed expertise and
