Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo recently made a statement that Guyana has some stupid people. His words were, “And this country got some really stupid people, really.”
For three decades Jagdeo has sat in seats of power in this country. His boldness in insulting the Guyanese people speaks to the disdain many so-called leaders have for the population. Their mission is not to liberate the people. They do not care about helping to elevate those caught in the grasp of desperation and despair. Eradicating corruption or lawlessness to create a society that is safe, and nurturing is not their priority. Their mission is to be inebriated with power for as long as there is breath in their body. They believe that power and money masks their inadequacies. The thirst for control and influence is a mission for their enrichment and reprehensible actions and the so-called stupid people who help them to achieve this, they see as nonentities.
He knows that he can insult the population and his followers will cheer, point in the directions where they think the stupid people are and some will even humbly accept that it is they he speaks of having been battered and controlled for so long.
So-called stupid people are not supposed to have a voice. They are not supposed to engage in critical thinking. Sometimes their lightbulb might flicker, and they might build the courage to speak but as soon as they are challenged or snubbed, they will quickly return to the cells that keep them passive.
Stupid people are not meant to desire liberation, but their oppressors’ wishes are to keep them docile and distracted. The same leaders who call them stupid will tell them how to think and what to believe. They will tell them the sky is red, and they will accept that as the unquestionable truth; they will tell them that the naked emperor is wearing clothes, and they will scream how beautiful his garments are. Amid turmoil, they will distract them with entertainment while their pockets bleed. They will tell them that despite all the obstacles blocking their paths from enjoying a life of prosperity that is possible for all Guyanese, that they are doing the best they can even when it is their actions that keep adding to the obstacles.
The so-called stupid people are expected to be humble. Pride is for those who control the wealth and the direction in which this runaway train called Guyana goes. When their leaders move pebbles for them like giving them a one-off cash grant and telling them to build generational wealth with it, they are expected to regard these actions like these leaders would have moved mountains for them. The so-called stupid people will thank the same people who call them stupid for the peanuts they throw at them. This even though the peanuts were not planted by and are not owned by the leaders but it the so-called stupid people who continue to add their seeds to the soil. The so-called stupid people are expected to smile in the face of the erasure of their identity, they must accept being second class citizens in their own country and turn a blind eye to atrocities and accept that we are becoming the best we ever were.
There are those who are actively engaged in enriching themselves on the backs of the Guyanese people while oppressing them and there are those who are waiting anxiously for their turn to do the same.
Every leader who has a voice and does not use it to help the people liberate themselves from the shackles of subservience, poverty and fear is culpable in our demise. The Guyanese people must remain controlled for true liberation will mean that what we have seen as leadership, the unworthy characters that we have allowed to govern and the way we have been governed will end if we unify and put ourselves first. Keeping the people subjugated is one of the reasons they can be called stupid. Is it true? Are there some “really stupid” people in Guyana?
In this election year, tensions are high. Across the country intelligent people have lost faith in their leaders. Some have vowed not to vote again, some do not know who they will vote for, and some are putting their trust in who they see as their new saviours. There are also those who will vote for the same ones who call them stupid. They will give them another chance to continue to use the police to scare and terrorise the people; another chance to charge people with inciting acts of terrorism when it is not justified; another chance to build what does not last; another chance to quell every hint of revolution when the people begin to build their own bridges and roads to connect with each other. They will give them another chance for trillion-dollar budgets but will place a worth of US$500 on Guyanese. They will give them another chance at insulting their intelligence, another chance to convince them that they are best for liberating them even when they have hurt and abused them, designed their shackles and think that they are stupid.
The beast knowing its prey will say and do anything because the so-called stupid people have not learned that doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result is insanity. While the promises and lies linger in the minds of the people and they convince themselves that it is truth, the so-called stupid people will willingly give up their power.
Intelligent Guyanese will continue to stand for we know that they neither care about nor respect us. They do not want the collective to emerge from the grasp of corruption and lawlessness that continues to tighten its grip on this country.
It is unfortunate that some of the people who may fit into the ‘stupid people’ category will continue to look to their leaders with doe eyes – not caring about their character, their crimes or their deception but will continue to have faith in them while losing themselves.
