Institutionalising the absence of real public discourse

Dear Editor,

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office, so says Aesop, the Greek storyteller several centuries ago; that holds true to this very day. Such an apt description of reality for families in my native land Guyana for both of the two racial pariahs that stalks the land. When a people are divided either on the basis of race or political beliefs, thieves reign and corruption is institutionalized.

The absence of real public discourse is made possible as legislation circumvents by way of archaic laws that are in the interest, of in this instance, the Guyanese nation. Everyone plays along not understanding that we are all our brothers’ keepers. It has a force so powerful that it transcends time and lays bare the very fabric on which our society is woven.

There are many who side with evil in a blanket wall of silence and when the consequences are upon them, they recede in the dark recesses of their minds loudly exclaiming, where did I go wrong?

Sincerely,

Kris Kooblall

Toronto, Canada