Well, yesterday was “International Day for Women” – and your jaded Eyewitness decided to look up what’s the day all about. Since – as far as he was concerned – not much has changed with the now routine, daily chopping, maiming and murdering of women in Guyana. How many times haven’t fellas decided that “if I can’t have her, no one will” and promptly stabbed his wife or partner – who clearly couldn’t be their SIGNIFICANT other – to death. Women, in this scheme of things, are property, and you can’t have folks just taking your property, can you? Sometimes the cowardly perpetrator attempts suicide to escape punishment. When they survive, Your Eyewitness hopes the wretches end up in front of the judge who hands out those 100-year sentences.
So what’s the “Day” about?? “International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women,” said the organisation sponsoring the event. So have the “achievements” in all those areas a DONE DEAL and we should now ‘celebrate’ them?? The UN chimes in with a bit less celebratory exhortation: “The purpose of the day is to uphold women’s achievements, recognise challenges, and focus greater attention on women’s rights and gender equality”. The job ain’t quite done, they seem to conclude.
But we can’t have a “Day” without a theme, can we?? That would be like a doughnut without a hole!! And we’re duly informed this year it’s “For all Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.” So what’s new?? Does it mean that nothing’s changed and it’s identical with every innovation through the millennia?? We’re back to square one and women are always behind the eight ball?? So when are they NOT gotta have to fight to catch up in any field any longer??
Point of the matter, Dear Reader, is that in even the most so-called progressive state – much less the ones where women are treated like chattel through “religious” strictures or where they’re dumping DEI programmes! – has it really sunk in that NO one group of humans should be seen as innately not equal to others!! And that’s what it’s all about, ain’t it?? The irony is that in places like our dear mudland, in so many ways women have already DEMONSTRATED that not only are they EQUAL but actually of recent have done better in areas like education!!
What this means is that because of our prejudices, we aren’t allowing women to rise in the various areas identified above – “social, economic, cultural, and political” – on their merit. Until we effect a change in the mindset – unfortunately possessed by some females! – that makes a priori assumptions about “women’s place” , the world will never be an equal place!!
Go girl!!
…our performance
After WWII along with the UN, the victorious West – the USSR wasn’t consulted – decided to launch two global financial institutions to keep an eye on how the UN members were doing economically. The resulting International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank were called the “Bretton Woods institutions” after the place where they were formed. The World Bank would lend money IF they decided it was necessary, while the IMF would check to see how we’re doing according to Art IV of its charter.
Well, the IMF’s Article IV Consultation team are in town with their metrics on what development’s supposed to be. Things like inflation rate, money supply, poverty rate and such like would be scrutinised. Well, they’ve now grilled the appropriate parties (hopefully!) and announced that the patient’s coming along nicely. “Strong development” they concluded!! Seems they could just contain themselves not to say, “Good boy!!”
Looks like some more cash grants are in the offing. Whoopee!! But as VP Jagdeo had suggested, they recommend “targeted transfers”.
…Opposition antics
Even if your Eyewitness were writing a soap opera, he confesses he wouldn’t have been able to write one that matches the titillation factor of the present Opposition antics!! And you know, Dear Reader, he has a graphic imagination!!
