Greek mythology and Vincy politics

Fri Feb 22, 2013

Editor: A recent tirade by a local politician takes one back to the fifth century B.C. and to Greek comic dramatist Aristophanes’ classic play “The Birds”. The playwright addressed the subject of “Nephelokokkygia”, the English interpretation is “Cloud-cuck-oo-land,” which he described as “…an illusory domain of imagination” or “the realm that separates the gods from humankind.”{{more}}

Almost two and a half millennia after Aristophanes’ satirical parody, this local political figure seems not only to inhabit the sphere of the novelist’s mythological strata, of the rarified air where dwell the “gods,” but apparently also subscribes to another Greek mythology, namely that of “Phrenology”. Webster’s College Dictionary describes phrenology as: “A system of character analysis based upon the belief that certain faculties and personality traits are indicated, predisposed or predicated by the configuration of the skull.”

Speaking from the perch of a local radio station, the severely incensed and irate politician, in a disparaging and invective tone, harangued, lambasted and lampooned another politician to get it in his “thick skull” that he is no less intellectually gifted and academically endowed, having been educated at a parochial private school, a primary preparatory school, the grammar school and the same tertiary institutions as the politician who was on the receiving end of his disjointed and almost incoherent and rambling diatribe.

It is apparent that there is a desperate quest for academic or scholarly recognition and acceptance, at least on par with his chief nemesis. This as evidenced by his recent self-initiation and induction into the world’s largest club, the “Cudda-Wudda-Shudda Club”, as he, without prompting, explained why he did not attain a PhD. Scholastic achievements and accomplishments should be self-evident and are more credible when acknowledged and recognized by one’s peers, contemporaries and the public at large. No need to stand on a soapbox or shout from a mountain top: “Hey look, it’s me. I am an intellectual. I’m smart. I have arrived. Genuflect ye lesser mortals.”

As the old maxim goes, “Self-praise is no recommendation”. Someone once coined the phrase: “If you are smart, don’t blow your ‘knows’. Parenthetically, it has been reported that sometime subsequent to the last general elections, the said politician, while much of the electorate who voted for him were still stained with the indelible ink on their “voting fingers,” derided them as not being worthy of his representation. Sneering at them with a condescending and contemptuous disdain. In effect, saying he is above and beyond them. How about that for gratitude?

As for the “thick skull” phrenology remark, it is just what is it — “Greek mythology.” The size, shape, density or other configuration of a person’s cranium has absolutely nothing to do with intellectual capacity or prowess. So “thick skull,” “shallow pate,” “pin-head” are only figurative denigrations used in a derogatory manner for the purpose of disparaging another person’s intellectual worth. Personal insults and no matter from which side of the political spectrum they originate are counterproductive and undesirable. Such energies would be better placed in the discussion of ideas, policies, and programs that will be in the interest of national development. The tone of our political discourse in recent times leaves a lot to be desired.

We ought to be cognizant of the fact that in a time of heightened awareness, facilitated by modern technological devices, such conduct and behaviour zips around the globe at lightning speed. We are indeed living in a “global village.” Even our lower grade primary school children have Internet-ready laptops, courtesy the government. Older students and other adults are armed with smart phones, IPods/Ipads, tablets and other devices. It is high time that our public figures set the example. There is much too much acrimony, belligerence and intolerance. We need to observe a truce. Take a time-out, a cooling off period and pull ourselves back from the brink of the precipice, beyond which there may be no return. Let cooler heads prevail.

To paraphrase a couple of calypsos: “Vincy come first.” “We have a country to build.” Political activism need not degenerate into “gutter politics.” There is absolutely nothing wrong with strident arguments and forceful discourse in promotion or defense of the causes, policies, programs and principles. However, there is and ought to be a line beyond which we do not venture in our quest for political mastery, bearing in mind that, at the end of the day, our blessed Hairouna is the rock upon which we must all enjoy a civilized and peaceful co-existence.

There is probably in history no one more strident and single-minded in the pursuit of the cause for which he fought, yet Paul, after his road to Damascus conversion, on which he was headed to persecute Christians, came to this realization and in a letter to the brethren at Corinth wrote: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery, must be temperate in all things.” And might I add that temperance has a twin quality or virtue, whose name is “humility.” The world is listening and watching. More importantly, our children are listening and watching; they hang on to every word we utter and every gesture we make. Aristophanes’ parody is funny. Our politics is serious business that affects the lives of real people.

We ought to be pooling our resources and energies to solve problems in these economically challenging times. So please, tone it down, for “Vincy’s sake”, for our “children’s sake,” — keep it civil and clean.

Benson Feddows