What’s new… in development 

One of the good things that came out of your Eyewitness’ growing-up days under Burnham and Jagan was that – while in short pants – he learnt there was a critical difference between “growth” and “development”. Going to these fellas’ meetings was like attending grad school!! “Growth” – they insisted – referred to what’s happening to the economy as a whole and was usually measured in an increase or decrease in the GDP!! Yes, dear reader, a decrease can also be called “growth” – “negative growth”!! And “development”?? That described what was happening in the lives of “we the people” – especially the “small man” in PNC lingo. Or the “working class” – dubbed the “proletariat” by the comrades – in PPPs. No one complained that women weren’t mentioned – they fell under the category “man” – no pun intended!!
Development meant the “small man” was gonna be made into the “real man” (PNC), or the “working class” would end up as the owners of industry and be living high off the hog – as the owners did (PPP). They both accepted the economy had to grow – but the PROFITS would end up in the pockets of the small man. We learnt there could be growth without development. Like when (in Cheddi’s words) those “British bastards” hived off the sugar profits to England – but no development without growth!! Your Eyewitness remembers swaggering around like an insufferable little snot, thinking how “enlightened” he was using these words!!
But he soon discovered that’s all it was – words!! Burnham threw out the British and Canadian (bauxite) bastards, and “we the people” then owned 80 per cent of the “commanding heights of the economy”. But did that change anything in the lives of the “small man” or the “working class”?? It certainly did – but not in the way he’d been promised. Rather than living better, he was plunged deeper into suffering since the PNC faithful Burnham appointed to run the economy just ran everything into the ground! The small man now became the “hungry, homeless and naked” man!!
And your youthful Eyewitness learnt a valuable lesson: the “bastards” – owners of industry who run their businesses successfully – also perform “labour” – mental? And they should be well compensated since, without their know-how, there’d be no industry!! And this brings your now wide awake (not woke!!) Eyewitness to our present circumstances where oil’s giving us a chance to have BOTH growth and development!! Since the oil belongs to “we the people”, sure, we should be living higher off the hog – but let’s remember what happened under Burnham’s policies.
While we should be getting more than the present 14.5 per cent – and we’ve already done this on new contracts!! The US Ambassador’s just pointing out the risk in IMPOSING renegotiation!!

…in world order
With all that’s going on in the mid-East, we should appreciate that for a small nation like ours, life can be “nasty, short and brutish”. Like Hobbes concluded over 400 years ago about man in his “state of nature”. And yes…back then “man” didn’t include “woman” but was subsumed under him since she was made from his rib! Anyhow, Hobbes suggested that man should create Governments – Leviathans – to which they should give up their rights and for which the Governments would protect them through laws.
Well, following all the wars fought AFTER man formed Governments by nation-states, you’d think they’d follow Hobbes’ suggestion at another level and form a “Government of Governments”. They’d give up some rights for the mega-govt to keep the peace among nations. And that’s exactly why the UN was formed after WWII – when about 80 million were killed. But we know that’s now gone for channa, innit?!
So, being on our own, let’s properly equip those border patrols!!

…in politics?
Well, the politicians have finished with the (serious) business of handing out kites for Easter – a tradition for donkey’s years that gets them into the communities! They’ll now get back to fighting for who gets what, when and how??!!