In this most charitable of seasons I am returning to my contemplation of global inequality and the poor. In this article I will place the discourse in the context of President David Granger’s laudable promise that should he still be in office after the 2020 general election, Guyana’s oil wealth, which has already begun to flow, will be equitably distributed rather than end up, as such resources often do, in the pockets of the rich (SN: 20/12/2019). Unlike what happens in a normal liberal democratic country, ethnic voting has severely curtailed the influence of private wealth in the political process of Guyana. Policy is largely driven by the orientation of the political elites and as such what they promise is usually possible if it is practical and there is political will to implement. Complicating the present issue is that at election time politicians make all manner of opportunistic promises but the equitable distribution of Guyana’s resources is of sufficient importance for us to understand if there is any hope of it becoming a reality.
