…the good life
They say a little bit of knowledge is a “dangerous thing”. And this thing called TV that’s beamed into our homes 24/7 is proving very dangerous to the government with the kind of “knowledge” it insist of hocking. How’s that you say? Most of the programming is snatched from the US, isn’t it? And surely they’re not preaching revolutionary overthrow of governments – even though they’re now flying directly to the home of Che Gueverra in Cuba?
Well they aren’t…but their TV content’s no less subversive to our government. The shows, after all, show our folks in living colour how the rich and famous – and even the not so rich and famous – live over in the States! And it’s for that reason when a Guyanese want to let you know you’re living in the lap of luxury – they exclaim, “Life in America, eh??!!’ And that’s the kind of life – or at least a reasonable facsimile – Guyanese want in the here and now. Especially now!
And what made and makes this dangerous to the government is ’cause when they promised to deliver the “good life” to the populace – especially their supporters who took them seriously and voted them in – it was “life in America!” they saw. But here we are over a year-and-a-half later still living lives of not so quiet – desperation. Not so surprisingly, sullen looks; angry growls and waspish letters are now the default reaction to the APNU/AFC government.
Just look at the GPSU and the angst steaming out of their ears! Their 15,000 or so members – three seats! – were the shock troops who threw their bodies into the voting booths and reflexively placed they X’s on the hand and key. Apart from the ties of blood, was the promise of a “substantial” raise to deliver the “good life” after the elections. And this was no “chicken in every pot” of the Depression era Roosevelt but cartloads of food from supermarkets, a “car in every driveway” and a house in the suburb like “on TV”.
So the 5% offered by the government last year on their pittance shook them. 5% on a pittance still remains a “pittance”!! But the faithful figured “let’s give them some time to settle in” with their 50% raise they gave themselves to stop “temptation” and better will come this year.
And we arrive at the outrage of the 10% “final, take it or leave it” offer of the government on the lowest paid workers – the ones earning the aforementioned “pittance”.
Can we expect them to be storming the Presidential Compound after this “let them eat cake” offer? Is blood thinner than water?
…money
But while the government’s taking a whole lotta flack from their supporters, they HAVE been trying to give them a piece of the pie. The problem is it doesn’t seem to’ve percolated into the collective governmental cranium that if the pie isn’t growing, giving anyone a bigger pie spice means taking it from someone else’s share. And that’s where we are in Guyana today.
The economy has stagnated – excepting for gold, which benefits only a few – and when the government imposes all sorts of new taxes and other revenue collecting measures from the citizenry, they’re basically robbing Peter to pay Paul.
The government has to appreciate what even old Karl Marx accepted back in the day. That Capitalism must be allowed to do its thing to create wealth, before you can bring in Socialism to redistribute it.
If you don’t do that, the “egalitarianism” you create is a cruel joke. We’re all equal – but we’re all beggars!!
…basic income
But maybe if our (future) oil money’s invested to create new industries we can do what Finland just placed on their agenda – a “basic income” of the equivalent of US$870 for every adult citizen.
More than twice the salary of the average Public Servant!
