Being still firmly caught in the miasma of British colonialism, we all know the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, don’t we?? The fella with the bright clothing who suddenly appears in the latter town that was plagued by rats? He tells the good citizens he could get rid of their pestilential plague – for a fee, of course. He duly plays his pipe and leads all the rats out of the town – never to be seen again. But…as happens when folks think they’re “smart flies”, the burghers balk at payment. Whereupon the Pied Piper starts playing his pipe and all the children of the town – 130 of them – follow his out of town, also never to be seen again!!
Well, the “Pied Piper” has since become a trope for charismatic people who’d promise you everything you ever wanted – and then some. But, in the end, you end up like the aforementioned “smart flies” – at the end of the cow’s nether region, enmeshed in cow-sh*t, from which you can’t extricate yourself!! And in Guyana we’ve had more than our fair share of Pied Pipers, haven’t we?? One of the biggest was, of course, Forbes Burnham – who’s been in the news recently.
Burnham was a Pied Piper par excellence – with the gift of the gab that could charm a caiman. Which creature, not so incidentally, he chose for his coat of arms!! Yeah…the same creature that recently bit off that young man’s arm!! He’d gone up to London and polished his pipes with a Churchillian drawl, and returned with bright clothing – immaculate to a tee! In Guyana, the folks were clamouring for someone to get rid of the British, whose rule had been pestilential. Seemed, however, that different folks responded to different pipes, and he became one of a number of Pied Pipers.
In this tale, it was the folks in the country who followed the Pied Pipers, and not the rats!!And it was the rats who promised to pay Burnham if he led his followers down the garden path!! And did he ever!! Given his thirty pieces of silver by the Brits, he promised those who followed his tune the moon and stars. They would just throw back, since he would “feed, house and clothe” them!! He then nationalised and controlled 80% of the economy, and put it in the hands of his followers. Those who followed other Pied Pipers would be given “condign” treatment – which could range from social to physical death!!
Unfortunately – but predictably – it all fell apart!! The people became hungry, homeless and naked! But remarkably, they still followed his music, that remained in their heads even after he croaked!!
Even to now insist he’s “father of the nation”!!
…at street corners
It’d be funny, if it weren’t so pitiful. Here we have a bunch of geriatric Pied Pipers playing pipes that were made to play tunes from the seventies – and have gotten into all sorts of problems. Seems they forget that, as time marches on, the tune that captures the inner Geist of the people also changes. So, these out-of-tune, wannabe rat-catchers turned up at various villages in our fair land to lure the residents into following them on some Quixotic – but dangerous – path. They wanna overthrow the Government – whom they insist are the new rats!!
Good for the folks that very few showed up, so they’ve been unaffected from the fallout of the geriatric folly. Actions have consequences; and in this case, while your Eyewitness hopes the consequences won’t be too dire, he’s sure they’ll be uncomfortable. The geriatrics are now in serious reverse gear, and insisting that they were just indulging in “street corner” gyaafs. You know when bullshit flows fast and furious!!
Hope that sh*t sticks!!
…on development
While the new struggle for global hegemony seems to be playing out between the US and China, actually, it’ll eventually pan out to be multipolar – after the two wear each other out on the ropes!!
