ThinkDeep

I stand looking in sadness at a beautiful place. Trinidad and Tobago, was a great place to grow up. It had that unique style. Those memories are something to cherish. Yet, as we look at that country today, there is a great deal amiss. Why do I care? I don’t even live there any more. Yet I do. And so I write. Because it is what I can do. Small it may be. Perhaps I will influence no one. Perhaps it is too late. A part of courage is to go on even when facing daunting odds.

I care because Trinidad and Tobago can be a better place. The potential is there. Yet it seems like most are willing for the stupidity to continue.

I was going to talk about party loyalty today. And I will to an extent. To those of you who cling to the PNM know this. You are no different than anyone in any other country who associates themselves with a strong party loyalty. That is admirable to a degree. However, undying loyalty to any political party can be a poison that can destroy the very thing you are trying to protect. I’m not saying you should abandon the party. However, if they are not doing the job you think they should be doing, why sit on the side line and let it happen?

If you hired someone for a job and you really liked that person, but they were doing a bad job, wouldn’t you fire them? If you hired a guy to build a fence and a week later it fell over because it was poorly built, would you hire that guy again? I sure wouldn’t.  Why then would you accept a dysfunctional government who does close to zero to solve or alleviate some of the countries problems?

Perhaps Trinidad is too small of a country.  Let’s see.  Iceland has a population of 350,000.  And they don’t have the significant crime problems that are ruining the paradise of that sweet Caribbean isle.  Trinidad and Tobago is becoming a lawless wasteland.  And the longer you wait to fix it, the worse it will be and harder to fix.  You know they say a stitch in time saves nine.  Well, there you go.

Call on the people that you elected to do something about crime.  You hired them to do a job.  Now you should expect them to do that job.  There are only two reasons that they are not doing the job the were hired for.  Either they don’t know how to do the job or are unwilling to do the job.  If you are unwilling, you should be fired.  If you don’t know how, then find someone who does know.

Personally I think Patrick Manning is not the sharpest tool in the shed.   I might be wrong.  That shouldn’t be a disaster.  But it appears that he does not care.  And you hired him to care.  You hired him to do a reasonable job at a minimum.

For all practical purposes, Trinidad has a government that can sit on their ass while everything goes to shit.  Why should they care?  No one else does.  People get all the government they deserve.

So what is in the future?  Complete lawlessness?  Everyone carries around an uzi, Glock or M16?  Is that what it will come to?  Who would want to live in that?

I trust that you really care but don’t know that you can make a difference.  You should know that you do not have to accept such utter incompetence.

I’m urging a letter writing campaign taught to me by one John N. Morgan.  This is devilishly simple to do.  Have you ever sent a post card?  That’s how easy this is.  A postcard is a predefined size accepted internationally.  Only the size matters.  You can use virtually any card.  Get yourself some thick plain white card stock and cut several to the right size if you must.  I said it was simple, but I did not say it was easy.  This is actually easy to do on a computer printer.  Print out in big letters “I Care about my country. Do Something About Crime”.  Hand write it with a marker.  It does not matter.  Next you will need some stamps adequate for mailing a postcard.  You will need two addresses.  Get the address for YOUR representative and the mailing address for the PM.  Here is where you can get creative.  Pass some out to friends and ask them to mail them.  The post cards will be pre addressed so all they have to do is get a stamp.  Send in one yourself every day.  I recommend mailing these over time.  You want these politicians to get a handful every day.  Try to run the program for weeks at a time.  They can toss aside one or two of these.  But it will get their attention after they get 100 or 1000.  Teach others to do the same.  What you have is a lazy employee who should care much more than he is showing.  Do something to show that you care and therefore he should also.

Good luck and God bless.

Thomas Jefferson is one of my favorite historical figures.  It would do everyone well to learn about some of his ideas.  Though he was an American, his thoughts and ideas permeate the fabric of all our lives across many countries beyond what anyone can imagine.

In Tienennen Square in China when the students stood up for democracy, they were holding signs with the Jefferson’s words on them.

The very idea of a bill of rights, which is the idea that people should have a list of rights to protect them from abuses of their own government come from Jefferson.

Why do I tell you about Jefferson?  Thomas Jefferson realized that a government had to continually renew itself.  He didn’t specify how this should happen.  He stated that there should be a revolution every hundred years.  There is no telling if he meant a physical revolution or not.  By all accounts he does not seem to have been a person who espoused violence.  Elections as we know them today are sometimes like little mini revolutions.  They allow for a new place for the emerging ideas and philosophies.  It isn’t the taking of power that is so important.  What is more important is the change in thinking.  A society must think differently.  This change can occur over a long time or a short one.  But it does change.

The French Revolution took place in 1789. However, if you look back at some of the writings leading up to it, there was a change in thinking that was happening.  At that time, information and thoughts flowed much slower than today.  One thing is certain, all political revolutions are preceded by a revolution in thought first.

I want to be clear that I am NOT talking about any sort of armed revolution or violence.  A society built from violence will only bring sadness, pain and death to itself in the long run.  I am talking about a revolution of IDEAS and THOUGHT.

Be open to changing your thinking.  Don’t be concerned about whether you can change everything in your society or not.  Look at the man in the mirror first.  That is the person who needs to change their thinking.  How to do that?  Ask questions of yourself.  Is this the society that I want to live in?  Is it acceptable that my government act that way?  Is that how I would act?

This is one reason I despise an over developed sense of loyalty to a political party.  Write a letter to your representative.  Tell them what you think.  In a country like Trinidad, it should be easy to hand deliver the letters if you wanted to.

I realize this takes work.  This takes effort.  This takes time.  This takes resources.  You must pay attention to what is happening.  Yes, even thinking takes effort.  It can be frustrating.  Are you willing to accept what is?  Are you appalled that your politician often behaves in a childish manner?  It is one thing to accept something that is not ideal.  It is quite another to accept something that is a complete mess of incompetence,  hardheartedness and arrogance.

In spirit, all democracies should be government of the people,  by the people and for the people. How close does your government get to this ideal?  Think about this one.  Usually, it is the “for the people” part that they forget most readily.

Being born and raised in Trinidad means that I have great fondness for that nation.  I grew up in paradise.  Before we go any further, I will tell you that I no longer live there.  I left a long time ago.  When and why don’t really matter.  I’m telling you only to set the stage right.

I was pleased to find out a few days ago that there is a TV station from Trinidad that broadcasts over the Internet. IBN TV8 has a barely viewable video stream.  But it is there nonetheless.  Two days ago, I was watching it because my brother sent word that he and his wife would be on it.  I watched as they talked about the sheer absurdity that the island nation has become.  Children are being killed and disappearing.  Many times no one knows where they disappear to.  This might be news to some.  However, if you live in Trinidad, this isn’t news to you.   I’m not here to talk directly about any of those things.  I am here to try to touch a part of your mind.

A society that lets crime run roughshod over it without fighting back is not headed to a pleasant end.  As crime and violence are tolerated, it only encourages more crime and violence.  The country is headed to a precipice and seems prepared to jump right off. Being a small country, this has much larger systemic ramifications than bigger countries.

In larger countries, crime waves can usually be contained in certain geographical areas.  They usually do not pose a risk to the entire system of government.  In small countries, such break downs in the rule of law, if left unchecked, can result in a challenge to the government and the way of life itself.  Look back at Colombia and the government war with the drug lords.

What can I do?  I don’t live there?  If you live in Trinidad, what can you do?  Anything?  Do you feel powerless?  Do you think someone else will take care of the problem?  Do you even care?  Is your only concern when the next party is or how much rum you can drink?

I’m here to tell you that you can make a difference. Yes you.  You the little old lady who can barely walk.  Yes the able bodied man or the petite librarian.  Each of you can make a difference.  All you have to do is care and know that you can.  Is it too hard for you?  Is the country worth it?  Would you like me to tell you want to do?

I don’t have a detailed plan for you. I can tell you that paying attention to what your government is doing is very important because what those guys do will affect your life and the lives of your children.

I don’t live in Trinidad and my influence will be minimal.  But I will do what I can.  And the first thing will be to start to engage anyone who will listen and read.

If you are reading this, pass on the link to someone else.  Let’s engage in a dialogue.