Dear Editor,
The president proclaims and reaches in parliament; the opposition, through its leader, disengages and retreats behind customary barricades and hunkers down in bunkers. The message is delivered: let the twain not meet. There is no interest; there can be no coalescing in any joint venture dedicated to societal progress; there is little forthcoming by way of embracing reciprocal resonance. What then becomes the responsibility, indeed the obligation, of conscientious citizens who dare to think and envision and desire otherwise? What then the duty of thee and me to keep the heat and light glowing?
For me the interest in being a difference maker compels that, at the core and throughout, I must be different from the norm, the pleasing, and the comfortable. A cresting, un-smothered will must be present to overcome customary circumstances, an inflexible environment, and the sturdily recalcitrant. Always! Leaders must learn and so commit.
For those in the midst, who have been given rare gifts-through authentic and unprecedented, but feared insights-there must be perseverance to the point of steely insistence. To those yeomen blessed with the power of proclamation and pen, they must speak to show error of ways, and also write to lift up and out of the political quagmire. Again, leaders can learn, should learn; but only if they are about the big, inclusive, harmonious picture. They cannot be willfully constricted by the limitations of narrow designs that cater only to narrower self-serving objectives. They have to be for all, and of all, both intrinsically and subconsciously.
In view of the durable dissonance, and the calculated distancing, the concerns of those possessing the character must be galvanized by those pointed words of George Orwell. Hear him: “We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of civilized men.” The remnant of civilized men and women in this country should listen, analyze, discern, and decide where to go, and how to approach. Without a doubt, the true depth of this land is still to be plumbed; it might be bottomless. The disturbing thing is that having discovered the bottom, there is contentment-forced or resigned-to be fixated on mired feet; or, at best, look across the restricting confines at eye level only. It is never about looking up, looking out, looking ahead, or looking beyond.
Hence, the revolutions of repeated retardations and of wretched recidivisms in multiple realms imprison and enfeeble. Ill-conceived and ill-fated journeys are perpetuated into the ether of failure, and the welcomed oblivion of nowhere and nothing. This is where leaders who refuse to learn, who reject adjusting, and who resist compromise have carried this nation; they must be recognized and identified for who and how and what they are: those who have harmed the populace; and those who are inimical to the best interests of the state. Those who speak and write must not flinch from such identification.
Thus, involved bystanders, observers, and contributors must speak and spend ink to bring stubborn hubristic men to their senses; or damn and expose and shame them for their obduracy. They must continue to press and lay bare; these tireless few who think, speak, and write must rededicate constantly to deliver particulars of all three. Of necessity, leaders must grow and mature into manhood for nationhood. The time is now; the hour must not come, once again, to embody and enshrine the same tiring, dispiriting traditions and practices that dig deeper, more perilous holes for an entire society.
Those who advance their limited agenda and believe that their own ascendancy is what matter end up nowhere. And the same can be said, too, for the rest of the republic. It is why feet must be held to the flame, and men called to task. There is no other way.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
