[dropcap]A[/dropcap][dropcap][/dropcap]lmost twenty years ago three senators were fired after they refused to do what the then prime minister expected them blindly to do. Saint Lucians had strong opinions on the matter. There were those who believed the dismissed senators had bitten the hand that fed them and received their just desserts. If someone gives you a position, they reasoned, you should gratefully do their bidding.
Others said the senators had done the right thing by refusing to be rubber stamps for the prime minister. I remember thinking at the time that when we see grown men at the highest level of government choose to air their dirty laundry in public instead of resolving conflict privately, we are witnessing the beginning of the descent of civilization.
What I did not realize was that some men never grow out of school-yard bullying antics. Elementary school-yard bullying is also how I describe recent events in local politics. Our representatives treat government and parliament like the R.C Boys’ school-yard. It’s like they’re seven-year-olds and fighting over marbles that they stole from younger, defenceless children to begin with.
In order to understand current events you have to understand history, particularly recent history. We cannot claim to be independent if we don’t understand what we are independent of. We become like the child who left home only to realize they know not how to cook, clean or pay bills. Faced with just two options, they continue to rely for their needs on their parents or on another enabling adult.
I bring up history and the long-forgotten firing of the senators over the Helenair affair to compare the matter to the recent retirement of our longest-serving governor general, Dame Pearlette Louisy. I was quite surprised at how predictably upset and offended certain sections of our society were. So upset that they decided (again predictably) to boycott the new governor general’s swearing-in ceremony, in protest against “the government’s high-handed approach” to Dame Pearlette’s departure, whatever that means!
I remember the same empty vessels making cheering noises in support of the action taken against the senators who had acted in the best interests of Saint Lucians collectively and demanded accountability. None of them considered the government’s actions at the time high-handed. I was too young to remember what the actual vote was but, as usual, the ayes had it in favour of the bill. The same empty pots are making negative noises about the proposed DSH project. But wait a minute, were these not the same people who introduced the whole DSH thing to Saint Lucia? Were they not the architects of the bridge to Le Paradis? Wasn’t a nature reserve sacrificed? Some of us would like to pretend Paradis never happened but the project’s abandoned carcass makes pretence impossible.
If we don’t remember our recent past how can we, in context, judge the present? Those of us who care about who secretly handed over our marine mineral rights to a notorious American cannot help but see the howlers against DSH as anything other than hypocrites. When some of us say we need to protect our patrimony and heritage what really is dominating their thinking is partisan politics. It is easy to see through the politically poisoned smoke surrounding the St. Jude’s disaster. How independent can we be if we don’t, or pretend we don’t, remember even the recent past?
As we celebrate the 39th anniversary of Independence, let us remember the words of Bob Marley: “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind.” We alone can ensure our freedom by ensuring we maintain freedom of thought and critical reasoning. We need to stop swallowing everything the politicians feed us. We need, with good intentions, to challenge them, ask probing questions and, when necessary, call them out on their hypocrisy and outright fake news. We cannot leave all responsibility for our nation to radio hosts and other talking heads. Each citizen has a duty to defend our freedom and protect democracy. After all, not everything that glitters is gold. So now you’ve hopefully seen the light, “stand up for your rights. Come on . . . get up, stand up . . . stand up for your rights!”
