‘Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.’ Karl Marx
So fed up are Guyanese with political wrangling and the resultant poverty that, more frequently than in most countries, their recommendation of what should be done to politicians range from – ‘put all of them on the sea wall and shoot them’ – to – ‘our only hope is that these politicians learn to work for the common good.’ Both of these positions and many in between, are unrealistic and are sure indications that many of us have not properly understood the dynamics between our condition, the solutions we have proffered and our goals. We have allowed the tradition of dead generations to weigh like a nightmare upon us. We cannot get rid of our politicians’ negative behaviour by violence or prayers; once the opportunities exist, someone will rise to fill the gaps. The only answer is to establish appropriate institutions and enforce rules to prevent the excesses. In a comprehensive fashion, this is precisely what this series of articles seeks to do by suggesting that we focus upon a different way of doing politics.
