Getting…democracy deeper

In a development that surprised absolutely nobody familiar with his people-centred approach to governance, Pres Ali has invited civic groups – especially the Church – to offer suggestions to help craft policies on social media’s impact on young people. In this way, he’s answering those critics who gripe that all decisions are coming from on high. Of course, the parliamentary committees have now been staffed – so we’ll see how many of them will have their own consultancies to address the same national concern that youths are “getting out of hand”!!
But sadly, your Eyewitness fears that Pressie’s entreaties for public participation in policy formulation might just be shying seeds on barren ground!! Kinda like asking the neighbourhood cricket club to draft a national space programme! We Guyanese have developed public bitching and moaning to a high art form!! Just listen in on any group at any street corner and it’s like listening to one of our good ole call-and-response ditties!! The call being a complaint about what the “youth men” are doing – or not doing – and then the response of “what’s the Government doin’ about it”!! Congotay!!
Your Eyewitness can easily predict some of the proposals. The first being to demand that youths “put down their phones and go outside”, as they used to do when THEY were young!! This tactic, however, has been tried by every parent out there – and has enjoyed roughly the same success rate as telling folks to stop complaining about potholes by avoiding roads!!  Fact of the matter is “social media” ain’t just about having a smart phone.
Young people spend hours – but not just because of some innate demon acting out!! They’re on platforms engineered by multinational – now multi-trillion! – corporations like Meta/Facebook, Grok, Instagram, etc, with market capitalisations larger than the GDP of many countries!!  YouTube tops the list of the online platforms with TikTok and Instagram right up there! Roughly six-in-ten teens use TikTok and Instagram, and more than half Snapchat. The algorithms that relentlessly feed content designed to maximise engagement, outrage, envy, tribalism – and occasionally dance challenges!! – ensure engagement!!
Now some of the complaints are about anti-social values being promoted based on the content that’s supplied –with Pressie specifically asking Churches to become involved since we know this will be their concern. So, can we expect calls for content censorship like we’ve had for the longest while in China – and rising in several European countries?? Or maybe there might be recommendations for stricter content moderation!!
So, we gotta hone in on exactly what’s our problem with social media. Cyberbullying? Misinformation?? Addiction, declining attention spans, body-image pressures, online gambling, political radicalisation, or exposure to harmful content??
Each requires different solutions. No one size fits all!!

…trillionaires now!!
Elon Musk just became earth’s first trillionaire!! But to your Eyewitness, this feels less like an economic milestone and more like the final boss level of “how many digits can we realistically fit on a screen before the User Interface gives up!! Musk might’ve just proven that inflation ain’t just economic —it’s ambition. Somewhere, a calculator just quietly resigned and chose early retirement!!
Let’s review Musk’s “accomplishments” that’ve made him a trillionaire. He took over Twitter – which he promptly renamed “X” – and to finance the deal, investment banks lent him US$13 billion!! But he promptly proceeded to destroy X’s business model by turning it into an extreme-right-wing cesspool, prompting advertisers to flee. By 2024, X was valued at less than half its purchase price!! While Tesla led in Electric Vehicles – China’s BVD has now leapfrogged him by light years!!
He admitted Space X “has a history of net losses and may not achieve profitability in the future”!!
But he has friends in high places!!

…success finally
Your Eyewitness’s many friends and family in NY are over the top at the Knicks finally winning the NBA championship after FIFTY-THREE YEARS!!
In typical NY style, millions came out into the streets!! Fireworks were seen – and heard!! – across its boroughs!!