‘Give me one generation of young people and I will transform the world.’ — V.I. Lenin.
I have long held to the view that my generation and the generation before us have been a dismal failure. To be sure, there have been sparks of political and intellectual genius, but, as a whole, the political leadership and the intellectual superstructure that undergirds it were not up to the task gifted to it to lead the post-independence, anti-colonial struggles. Some may say that so steeped was their colonial mindset and ideology that they betrayed the mission of national development and settled for personal gains. In many instances, some regional leaders were as bad or even worse than the colonial overlords.
And so I pinned my hope on the next generation of young people with the hope that of of them will be the spark for a renewal and revival of the national project for the emancipation of our people from the bondage of poverty and dependence. A key ingredient for the renewal is the rejection of the low vibration we know as fear.
Last Tuesday on Boom FM radio we got a little taste of what can be done if only a few more young men and women stand up and be counted. Ras John took to the airways to lament the sad state of affairs in our country. He expressed supreme optimism that our nation can do much better than we are doing.
Ras John was passionate, confident, fearless and factual in blaming the economic and social retardation on our country on the Ralph Gonsalves regime, which has held political office for almost a quarter century.
Ras John reserved most of his disappointment and criticism for PM Gonsalves and Saboto Caesar, the parliamentary representative for the area in which he resides. He claimed that he was tricked by the political leader for whom he placed his life on the line to ensure that he rise to power. He had a sharp rebuke for Saboto Caesar, whom he blasted for not living up to his scholarship, training and potential.
In his wide-ranging critique, Ras John bemoaned the sad state of our agriculture, roads, economy and the failure of the government to aggressively tackle the problems which confront the country. He lamented the fact that many persons who made a good and decent living from farming are now pauperised and forced to eke out a living as security guards and watchmen, primarily because of the government’s inattention to agriculture.
He blamed the lack of good and proper management, reckless borrowing, which caused our national debt to skyrocket to over EC$3 billion and the callous disregard for the welfare of the public for the predicament confronting our country.
Ras John was bold and audacious in his indictment of the government policies. Unscripted and unrehearsed, he dismantled the meagre defences offered up by Gonsalves’ press officer, Shevrell “Candyman” McMillan, and exposed him as nothing more than Gonsalves’ ineffective yapping poodle.
In the end, McMillan was reduced to hopelessly shouting, “Yo lie! Yo lying!” without doing any harm to Ras John’s advocacy on behalf of the people and nation he loves. While McMillan pointed to an increase in the number of vehicles and homes since 2001, Ras John signalled that natural progression better explains the increase. However, Ras John maintained that the poverty and unemployment numbers are telling indicators that the majority of people are worse off today than before.
There was something very refreshing and inspiring in Ras John’s presentation on Boom FM. He made it clear that his advocacy would not be toned down or abandoned because of fear. He cannot be intimidated.
Ras John was accused of being arrogant. I saw a confident articulation and profound understanding of the country’s problems. But there is more to Ras John’s presentation last Monday. He wittingly or unwittingly invoked the words of Julius Malema, the South African revolutionary and freedom fighter and said, ‘Me never get weary. Me never get tired.”
Ideas become a material force when they grip the masses, said Karl Max. One can only hope that Ras John’s presentation last Tuesday reached the ears of a few good young people. Young men and women who can be inspired to read more, strive to understand why our country is the mess that it is and don’t let worthless politicians use and sexploit them or worse make them into useful idiots.
The task of nation-building is a youth project. Time and again, we saw that in their youth, one political figure or another — Gairy in Grenada, Eric Williams in Trinidad and Tobago, and Joshua and Gonsalves in St. Vincent — showed a commitment to aid and assist ordinary people in their efforts to self-humanisation, only to fail to deliver. Embraced by the people and given a chance to govern, they betray the people’s trust and spend most of their days in power mimicking the colonial overlords they replaced.
Our country needs more Ras Johns. Humble, people person, passionate, articulate, committed and unprepared to give in or give up. May our people be wise because heaven knows we can be more and do more. The time is now.
