Vultures …of culture

There are some people who’ll go to any length to create strife and confusion in our country – just to further their lust for power. Note your Eyewitness didn’t say “to SATISFY their lust for power” – cause as they move up the power ladder, they get enlarged perspectives to see and seize ever larger chunks. To reverse the analogy, they become like avalanches picking up debris to build their mass, smashing everything in its path.
Your Eyewitness, of course, is talking about those elements in the Opposition camp, who, knowing fully well we’ve got an ethnically divided society, yet exploit culturally driven fears in the community. And this is very, very dangerous, since culture goes to the very essence of who we are; or, more to the point, who we see ourselves to be. Or not!! Now the danger comes from the fact that folks who live near each other, or with each other, can’t help but compare themselves – and in these matters, someone will always come out ahead or behind. That’s what comparison’s all about, ain’t it??
Now, this started from the very beginning of this country, when the Europeans who “discovered the New World” compared themselves with the local Indigenous peoples and concluded that they were faaaar superior!! So superior that they didn’t even deign to consider how they could “discover” these lands when those folks were already living here!! And, of course, the answer is they didn’t consider those to be REAL people!! And ditto for all others they dragged from all four (?) corners of the earth for the honour of slaving away for them!!
To slave for them was an honour, since we’d pick up some “civilised” behaviour from them – like whipping and beating us for the slightest “infraction”. Such as looking at them cross-eyed!! You were supposed to be grinning even when you were dragging a punt loaded with cane to the sugar factory!! And some are surprised that nowadays we beat our wives and children at the drop of a hat!! Anyhow, our history has, not surprisingly, produced cultures that make us touchy about all kinds of “slights”. And if you’re slighting your neighbour, if you happen to be doing better than he is doing, you’re implicitly signalling that he’s not as good as you!!
And when an entire group suffers by comparison to another group, then, lo and behold, you have the ethnic conflict that bursts out ever so often in our dear old mudland!! And that’s what these culture vultures are digging up like old sores. Folks move ahead or fall behind for all sorts of reasons – driven by historical or contingent factors.
Rather than whipping up frustrations that can explode into violence, why not work to overcome debilitations?

…on elections
Now, we know General Elections are due in 2025. Unless, of course, the PPP calls a snap election – which is their prerogative. But whichever way we go, there’s gonna have to be a Voters List – with the names and particulars of all who’re entitled to vote! Now, your Eyewitness isn’t too sure about their stance on the imminent LGE, but Opposition Leader Norton just made it clear the Opposition ain’t going to participate in the 2025 General Elections unless there’s a brand-new voters’ list – put together from a house-to-house exercise.
They claim our list is too “bloated”, cause it has too many persons who’ve migrated or died. Now, this threat sounds reasonable – until you hear that the Courts have ruled that you can’t take off emigrants’ names!! So, what to do?? Well, we can always change the constitution to allow that.
Or, as the PPP says, tighten the safeguards that were instituted after 1997 and subsequently!! Whichever way we go, this aint gonna end well.

…in the air?
A lotta folks are happy that British Airways is back. Now, this might be good for Britain, as they try recovering from Brexit. But is this recreating the old Pax Britannia? And will the navy follow??