Elegy Written in a Post – Independent Society – SVG

It was less than a year ago that we marked sixty years since Adult Suffrage. That, perhaps, is putting it wrongly for we paid little attention to it. 1951 was of course a significant year in our political development, as we gave more meaning to the issue of democracy. The land and income qualifications that determined the franchise were no longer in place and ordinary people could vote once they had reached the age of 21. A lot has happened since then, especially when we remember that in 1951 and even at later elections persons had to be coached to mark an X; even then spoilt votes remained significant.{{more}} We have gone on and even achieved our independence, or as I like to put it, restored our independence. But all is not well. Over the years our political leaders, who have replaced the administrators working on behalf of our Imperial mother, have exploited the shortcomings in the system to suit their own ends.

They appear to be motivated and fired by the desire to retain their political positions and cosiness rather than on the development of the country. In the process, they take along their supporters who quite often follow their leaders blindly, come high or low waters. It is clear to me that our Prime Minister’s recent trip to Taiwan was done primarily to impress the President of Taiwan. Following recent surgery to address a problem he developed, he had to make the trip accompanied by a retired nurse. President Ma Ying-jeou, it is hoped, will remember the sacrifice made by our Prime Minister to attend his second inauguration under those circumstances. The issue is not whether or not taxpayers had to meet the cost of the nurse’s trip, for they probably didn’t have to, but it has to do with priorities in the light of the many problems facing the country. Additionally, he was forced to miss the Second Caricom-Mexico Summit, Caricom placing a high dividend on Caricom-Mexico relations, with Mexico being seen as an increasingly important trading partner. Taiwan has been a friend of this country for many years and has contributed significantly to its development. President Ma is not likely to forget our close ties, even if our Prime Minister was unable to make it for health reasons. We have, after all, to be concerned about our Prime Minister’s health. It was not as though he was taking a trip to Barbados. The flight to Taiwan is taxing, even to someone in the best of health.

For me, what is even more significant is the lack of real public debate on this and other issues facing the country. It is as though we have succumbed to some numbness and have been crushed by force of circumstances. In fact, when I think of SVG today and particularly now when I go into Kingstown, Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” comes readily to mind: “Now fades the glimmering landscape in the sight/ And all the air a solemn stillness holds/Save where the beetle wheels his drowning flight/And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds.”

Why do we find ourselves with this lethargy, with this deadness? We are into our thirty-third year of Independence; but wasn’t that 1979 milestone supposed to have awakened our spirits and invigorated us with a sense of purpose and mission? 1951 brought the people into formal politics and 1979 was about us, refashioning the system to suit our ends. We have made significant progress. We have developed materially; we are more educated, but obviously in the process we have become imprisoned to political forces that claim to be part of our mission. We await messiahs and our deliverance. Our numbness prevents us from acting. As Gordon Lewis said, we are ‘the darkened theatre audience’, to my mind, clapping mostly in public and crying when alone.

It is really sad, for there appears to be no silver lining. We can only get out of this state when we begin to convince ourselves that we hold the keys to freeing ourselves from this malady. Can we prevent SVG from becoming a large churchyard peopled by zombies? There are, of course, those who see it differently. Life is good and woe be unto those alarmists who see the cup half empty rather than half full. If the truth be told, it is even difficult now seeing the cup, much less deciding whether it is half empty or half full. We always boast about the democracy we have, but when you look at what is needed to ensure a fruitful democracy a lot is missing. Foremost among these in my mind is a vigilant media. Our reporters report on matters, but not critically. They mostly refuse to speak truth to power and to ask the critical questions that should be asked. They are still too many apologists and those who are supposed to represent the cream of intellectual power have somehow confused their brains with their bottoms.

Everyone tries to look out for his/her self, even if it means doing it illegally or immorally. This is where we are at. Our political leaders recognize our weaknesses and are adept at exploiting them and using them to force submission. Many of us are into a Rip Van Winkle type sleep. When Rip Van Winkle arose he found out that there was no king, but that was where his loyalty lay. When many of us wake up we will find that there is no SVG that we can recognize and that there will be very little we can do about what we find as a representation of that country we used to know. Thomas Gray says, “The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide/To quench the blushes/Of ingenuous shame…” We will no doubt be celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. We can’t miss that!

(Please send comments to fraser.adrian@gmail.com)

Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian.