Dear Editor,
A large percentage of Guyanese eke out an existence from paycheck to paycheck. Poverty breeds violence and violent crime is rampant in our society. Poverty is the underlying factor in the majority of these cases. The inability of the perpetrators to pay their monthly debts and no money to channel towards savings, furthering their education, raising a child or children, travelling abroad, saving for retirement, or accomplishing a goal, leaves people unhappy, prone to heinous crime and sometimes suicidal.
The bank robber who perpetrated the early morning attempt to rob the Republic Bank in the heart of Georgetown and was killed during his attempt, was in a way emulating the large number of white and blue collar workers in Guyana who are involved in theft on a grand scale. His attempt unfortunately, was on more of a suicidal trajectory which confirms the prevalent and worrying mindset of some in our midst, and situations becoming cases of either wealth or death.
Sadly, young people are seeing the modus operandi of the leaders of this nation and following in their footsteps. Of course most of them committing crimes do not have a desk job from which they perform white collar. If there was more employment, the number of crimes would be significantly reduced and many would never even consider carrying out a robbery or a grievous offence.
I do not profess to be an expert in sociology, psychiatry, psychoanalysis or any similar field pertaining to the workings of the mind, but my smattering of knowledge related to these areas combined with my wealth of human interaction, endows me with certain fundamental truths. We need to copy the methods of the developed countries by having the views of experts aired, analysed and debated after any major social event, upheaval or violence. It will be well worth it should the government budget for investment towards this severe need which might entail recruiting experts from overseas, as there is obviously a paucity of professionals in these fields of study in Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Conrad Barrow
