Tags
Abuse of power, Andrea Tantaros, Guyana Politics, Guyana President Donald Ramotar, On being awesome, Police brutality
Guyana President Donald Ramotar
U.N. General Assembly – New York – September 2014
Photo Credit: World Politics Review
During my adolescent years in Guyana, everything was nice. The dress was nice; the food was nice; people were nice. The word nice was so overused that our high school English teacher prohibited us from its use in our essays.
By the time I moved to the United States, everything had become awesome. Your macaroni and cheese is awesome! You look awesome! I’m awesome!
Notwithstanding the American excessive use of the word awesome, I was taken aback at a Fox News TV host’s response to the recent release of the CIA Torture Report covering the Bush-Cheney period in government (January 2001 to January 2009).
“The United States of America is awesome, we are awesome,” host Andrea Tantaros ranted. “We’ve closed the book on it [torture], and we’ve stopped doing it. And the reason they [the Democrats] want to have this discussion is not to show how awesome we are. This administration wants to have this discussion to show us how we’re not awesome.”
Tantaros’ public outburst gave new meaning to the word awesome: to be always on top, to be viewed as better than others, refusal to admit wrongdoing as a big deal.
In colonial British Guiana, we-the-people—descendants of African slaves and indentured immigrants from China, Madeira, and India—were not raised to think of ourselves as awesome. We were a subservient and oppressed people who looked to Great Britain as our Motherland.
Following the Guyanese people’s struggle for independence and during the forty-eight years since then, a new breed of leaders arose from the ranks of the people. As a son imitates his father, local elites in power mimic the behavior of their former colonial masters. Like them, Guyana’s power elites continue to use divide-and-rule strategies, fuelling interracial mistrust and misconceptions of the Other. The predominantly black Police Force serves as an arm of the autocratic State in maintaining its power.
After creating a political crisis on November 10 by suspending Parliament to avoid a no-confidence vote, Guyana President Donald Ramotar announced on December 6 that he has alerted the international community “to the possibility of early elections and the desire for them to field observer missions.” The actual date for new general elections remains a mystery.
Certain of his government’s performance in moving the country forward for the people’s benefit, President Ramotar is confident that his party will regain the parliamentary majority lost in the 2011 general and regional elections.
Through their actions, Guyana’s power elites manifest symptoms of Tantaros’ awesome delusions. To them, mismanagement of public funds, abuse of power, police brutality with impunity, and other crimes against the people are acceptable and legitimate behavior. For how much longer will their supporters fall for their awesome deception?
Three Worlds One Vision 
Reblogged this on Guyanese Online.
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Thanks for sharing my post, Cyril.
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Status quo in politics and the arrogance of the political classes.
Political correctness and media manipulation.
Not having the nuts to say ‘sorry’ when they get it wrong….
The list of negatives go on and on…..
In a word ‘attitude’ 😯
48 years wasted…only political reformation will change situation.
Re-examine constitution and change if necessary.
My spill
Kamtan
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Kamtan, I agree with you. There is need to re-examine the constitution, devised by the former Burnham government to ensure “Party Paramountcy,” and make changes where necessary.
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Wonder if understanding leads to learning which leads to atitude. Chicken and the egg problem? Growing up under the british did give us a semse of being inferior to them. On the other hand the stability and hopes of people might have been more attainable then wih less fear of the unknown.. America loves jargon, assome is just one of the latest. Inspite of our perceived mindset about white people, without a college education I quickly recognized that I was as good as any white in america inspite of the prevailing descrimination. Using commonsense and guyanese upbringing, was able to get on with all races in the US army and in my civilian jobs. So in the outside world the british basic education and guyanese background helped and did not hamper me. The bottom line is Indians fear black rule, thanks to the PNC, and africans continue to believe that unless there is a black man on top(President/ruling party) they will never get what they deserve. UNtil, the majority votes policies instead of ;personalities progress will be slow and difficult. Till then, lets hope for more non indians and africans and mixed races increase to make a deciding difference in the elections, forcing the present Indo and Afro parties to broaden their policies towards unity and inclusion and a nationalistic approach to governance. Sorry,Try to keep it short.
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Augustus, thanks for sharing your experience of adapting to life in the US.
“The bottom line is Indians fear black rule, thanks to the PNC, and africans continue to believe that unless there is a black man on top(President/ruling party) they will never get what they deserve.”
Being away from Guyana for so long, I don’t know to what extent this is still true today, especially among the younger generations who did not live under PNC rule.
I agree with you that there is need for greater representation of all ethnic/racial groups within the government.
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My point was that once Guyanese get to other places most of our perceptions tend to change and we make the most of opportunities available while accepting and respecting others. This may have been true more in the past than now. Just read guyana papers and not see the racial animosities expressed from party supporters in and out of guyana. Many of the young tend to believe what the old says. If most did not, they would form a new party or change the old from within. Politicians seek jthe top jobs for themselves not their supporters. It is criminal that with a small population and significant natural resources we are where we are now. It is a awesome mess. This is a good forum for independent thinking Guyanese. Guyanese likes to call other soup drinkers when they they do not agree, while drinking from the same soup with drinker labels. just saying
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“This is a good forum for independent thinking Guyanese.”
Thanks, Augustus. It’s my hope that my posts will generate new ways of thinking about issues.
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A good question, Rosaliene. To go from the serious to the ridiculous, it is a bit like all those people who buy giant foam “hands” at the ballpark, which have the index finger extended. They say, “We’re Number 1.” Psychologists conjecture that this sort of group bonding (seen around political parties, sports teams, and religion — a kind of tribalism) made ancestral groups more likely to be able to survive attacks by outsiders. This reasoning further suggests that since we are the ancestors of these people, the tendency was “selected for” in the Darwinian sense. Moreover, both Daniel Kahneman (a Nobel Prize winning psychologist) and Jonathan Haidt cite evidence of us coming to our beliefs intuitively and quickly, then generating reasons to support them. None of this leads to an especially encouraging answer to your question, “For how much longer will their supporters fall for their awesome deception?” It does indicate, however, that simply trying to use reason will have only a limited effect. As an anonymous person said, “You can’t try to reason someone out of something he wasn’t reasoned into.”
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Dr. Stein, if I understand you correctly, you’re saying that there’s little hope for the Guyanese people to have a more racially inclusive government because of tribal bonding.
In other words, in order to overthrow the current Indo-Guyanese government, the opposition parties would have to unite to guarantee a majority in Parliament. Given the differences among the opposition parties, this will be a tall order.
My question should therefore be: Can the opposition unite to defeat the incumbent party?
Thanks for sharing your valuable insight in understanding human dynamics.
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I’m sorry if what I wrote was discouraging. Haidt thinks it is not impossible for very different groups with very different beliefs to have conversations that are mutually respectful, but he is not detailed about how this can be achieved. He does, in fact, talk a good deal about the dangers of “conservatives” (that is, those who wish for the status quo to be maintained) to take a country to the point of dictatorship and abuse of minorities. As we have seen in the USA, under conditions which include liberals and conservatives living apart from each other, reading and watching only news sources that support their views, and reacting angrily and intuitively to the point of demonizing the “other,” good government doesn’t happen. I don’t know enough about Guyana to be able to say precisely how Haidt’s moral model will translate to human behavior there. Rather, I was trying to respond to the question of how difficult it is to get people who are entrenched in their political position, whether right or left, to think outside the box.
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Dr. Stein, the people of Guyana have been struggling for decades to break the gridlock of racial politics. Guyana is but one of several countries, including the USA as you point out, that seek to find common ground for good governance.
We humans are a complex species.
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Rosie
The answer to your question is ‘yes’ but doubt if it will make a difference.
You will then have a ‘two party’ state.
Not unlike USA UK ..
What would be better is a ‘three party’ state.
With the third or minor party choosing which of the two major
players they wish as ‘bedfellows’ …coalition government.
To govern you must have the majority vote in parliament.
Guyana is ready for such a government but we won’t know
until election results are ‘declared’….
A hung parliament may be the best result for all parties.
This seems to be the trend in most western democracies.
Let’s see what happens.!
A date for elections should be announced ASAP and electioneering
commenced. Manifestos et Al
Kamtan UK
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Say what you really mean, Rosaliene, “In colonial British Guiana, we-the-people … were not raised to think of ourselves as awesome.” – In colonial British Guiana, we-the-people were subjugated to white superiority. Imagine, to this day, white people born in British Guiana are still referred to as “putagee”. The Vice President of Guyanese Canadian Cultural Association of British Columbia, Sandy MacDonald, is Irish-Scottish descent. But he is referred to as a “putagee”. The conditioning is huge. We are still untangling the tribal differences the bakra-man inculcated in the colony. We are different? How so? One has straight hair and the other kinky hair? – It is about time we got over it. Get over it!
Emotions abhor Reason!!
I believe the autonomy of leadership goes like this – leaders will always be leaders. You will find that they will be defeated and pop up some where else as a leader. Followers, on the other hand, are following a leader or fighting to follow another leader. It is what it is!
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Clyde, using other words, I said exactly what you would like me to say: “In colonial British Guiana, we-the-people were subjugated to white superiority.”
My article was a deliberate attempt to demonstrate how we use harmless words, in this case “awesome,” to hide the ugly truth about our attitudes. The Bush-Cheney administration denied the use of torture by giving it the new name of “enhanced interrogation technique.”
Awesomeness is just another harmless word for our self-delusion and narcissism. This is clear in Dr. Gerald Stein’s blog post, “Confidence and Ignorance: Not as Far Apart as You Think.”
Here’s an excerpt:
“Such individuals are confident [substitute awesome] because they look at themselves through the distorted lens of their own self-delusion… Since he is “irreproachable” in his eyes, each of his acts must be good. Men and women of this type reason from an abstract belief about their own value, which automatically confers propriety on all of their behavior. If you suggested he had done something bad, he would reject your opinion and find a justification for his action.”
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To simplify leadership debate…
The Sheppard leads his flock ….
A good Sheppard s flock grows in numbers/prospers.
Replace the good sheppard with the ‘careless’ (bad) Sheppard
And then flock suffers….the strays will be eaten by wolves or
re-join another flock…..but the flock numbers are reduced.
Politics no different.
Good and strong leadership is necessary if the flock
is to benefit/prosper.
Thatcher a good example of strong leadership
and so is Merkel present German chancellor.
Leadership.
Obama …no…. Putin yes…
One with impunity
Other with conviction.
My take 😇
Kamtan
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Think you are simplifying the subject of leadership which is a bit more complex. THere seem to be a difference between “leader” and “leadership” Ramoutar is an elected leader but does he exhibit leadership qualites?
A leader can also do terribly wrong things and with conviction like a lead horse in a pack which have the others follow him/her over a cliff. Hitler was also a leader with conviction. Putin might be a leader but does he show “good leadership? His economy depends on oil but the country is squeezed to the dirt with American policy of cheap oil and economic sanction.. Investors are fleeing Russia and the country has to survive on its reserves. But like Burnham, from a poverty stricken country showing up at the Commonwealth meeting in Austrailia with a chartered plane, Putin shows up with war ships after while expending his country’s resources with Ukraine. Is that an illustration of good leadership.
The American economy is in great shape especially in comparison to Europe; unemployment is at the lowest level in years; the stock market is at an all time high; we are about independent and saturated with cheap energy…………wonder if good Presidential leadership had anything to do with it.
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Albert
Difference between leader and leadership ?
Leaders lead/decides..
Leadership how they go about it ..how respected their decisions.
How enforceable their decisions.
Question
Are leaders born or bred ?
Born to lead ….political
Bred to lead….royal
Kamtan😈
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In a word NO.
Explanation
When we elect a government …we are not voting in a new or electing
the ‘leader’ of that party….that decision has already been made for us.
Party politics ! Dem Rep lab con etc etc
Democracy ? 😈
How did Putin come to power ? Democratically ? 😈
Ex KGB et Al …
Alternative ….open to ideas….😇
Even dictatorships with built in ‘safeguards’ how to remove/replace.
‘Peacefully’ 😇
Have opened the ‘can of worms’ eat me 😈
Kamtan
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“As a son imitates his father, local elites in power mimic the behavior of their former colonial masters. Like them, Guyana’s power elites continue to use divide-and-rule strategies, fuelling interracial mistrust and misconceptions of the Other.”
The above is true but its only part of the story. The British were also disciplined and efficient managers as administrators of British Guiana. They managed it to get the highest returns on their investments for British owners. This aspect of controlling Guyana was not “mimic” or learned by those local politicians elected to manage Guyana. They needed to continue managing the local econmy as efficiently as the British did in most parts, but for the benefit of the local people. Instead we uprooted the railroad, destroyed the civil servivce, the police force and in effect what was called a country. We use to call the Bajans “Uncle Toms” for copying aspects of the British way of life. Now which country is laugh at.
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Albert, thanks for expanding on the other complex issues involved in freeing ourselves from our colonial mentality. Sadly, we kept too much of the bad and threw out a lot of the good practices.
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Rosaliene
May add every word Albert wrote is ‘truth’ but we cannot ‘turn back time’ and must move forward with ideas of how to solve the political ‘impasse’ Guyana s politics is.
It is following in the footsteps of UK USA so called democracies but it will take
a determined effort by its political leaders if things are to change/improve.
We must remain influential and critical in our writings.
The pen is mightier than the sword.
Change will come but when ?
Hopeully with a hung parliament….
My wish….
Kamtan
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Really, the struggle in Guyana, between those who anoint themselves as “politicians”, has never been about leadership and accountability. It has always been about access to power and control of the state apparatus(Thomas). The corollary of this power positioning is that he s/he who holds the power decides who gets what, when, where and how(Laswell). The power mongers/brokers in Guyana, both past and present, have used their power to, in varying degrees, first enrich themselves, or, at least, meet their personal needs, via the state’s resources; and secondly, to dole out the remaining resources to entities of their choice; regardless of qualification or capability. With regard to the question about America’s currently strong economy? It starts with good leadership – the President’s ideas and projection; but it really comes alive through effective controls – checks & balances and qualified, capable management. Do we have these attributes among the holders of power in Guyana? The evidence to date suggests that the answer would be no. I’m not very sure what we would be celebrating at our 50th anniversary of Independence????? Thanks and best regards to all.
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Wrickford, thanks for dropping by and sharing your views on this sad state of affairs in Guyana.
While it does appear that far too many of the nation’s politicians are merely out to enrich themselves, there have been and still are many others who sincerely seek to bring about real change for the people they have been elected to serve.
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Rosaliene
Absolutely….politicians are elected to serve the people first and foremost…
their ‘mandate’ in a democracy. A lot seem to choose to serve their God (money)
💲 first….my favourite lesson in history…..
KING V POLITICIAN power struggle.
CHARLES V CROMWELL
king lost his head ‘literally’….history teaches fools.
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Fools indeed to believe that we can repeat the errors of the past and achieve different results!
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