In the rending of the veil of pomp and circumstance after parliamentary opening ceremonies, the citizen wonders what truth remains truthful, and whether we were all taken in?
Has Leviathan, the all-consuming monster of State, become a permanent threat to our pursuit of life, liberty and happiness? Has the State become the insatiable Ouroboros snake that even devours its own tail?
Interest in symbol politics, in court-like ceremonies of splendor, dropped to an all time low. Yes, things appeared most precious and essential at birth, when five years ago, an illusion of freedom was delivered, dazzlingly from the hands of its creators. But the promise of equal playing field, a State with equal rights and duties for all, of inclusiveness and fairness, quickly evaporated. Marginalized and excluded by a closed ruling elite, celebrations of the islanders turned into bitterness for many.
The State, the Jack-of-all-trades from health care to garbage collection, has become the most inefficient, wasteful and corrupt enterprise in our society. And it does not shame to levy its unnecessary losses on its citizens. Yes, in the eyes of the public, paying taxes, more often than not, has become legalize robbery.
An aura of amateurish management, learning-on-the-job and straight-out enduring incompetence overshadows brilliantly designed and conceived structures of governance, laws, rules and regulations. Courts of Law, the last vestige to protect the citizens against institutionalized abuse and plunder, failed miserably, over and over and again. Merit quickly made place for favoritism, cronyism and nepotism.
Will those, who claim to be acting in good faith, in all their naivety and simplicity, be able to adjust the system into a kinder, gentler and more just society? Frightened and intimidated by the challenge, most prefer to turn a blind eye and endure. In the process, existing institutions are simply drained from power and turned into puppet shows.
Public bitterness, skepticism and straight out contempt are changing the perception and appreciation of democracy. A gradual sliding into an informal economy and administration has been an ongoing process for some time; it may even slide into total anarchy if governance stays on its present course.
When will there be a new young leader to turn the trends?
By Jacob Gelt Dekker
Opinion Columnist for Curaçao Chronicle
Bron: CuracaoChrnoicle
“When will there be a new young leader to turn the trends?”
Politics has become a sacred “employment agency” on this island. How long this will last, given the voting history of its population, whether it’s based on ignorance, emotionalities, false prejudice or a downright lack of self respect, will remain unknown. Why? Because up till now no institution has taken on the task to conduct a research (be it private or governmental) to actually understand why priorities are so misplaced and responsibilities considered a thread rather than an eagerness to do the right thing. Their excuse? No money, no one cooperates or “it’s a small island after all and everybody knows each other”. So unfortunately the righteous is as doomed as the crooked is blessed to coexist under the same roof of this “aura of amateurish management, learning-on-the-job and straight-out enduring incompetence”.
Even though I’m a realist by heart, I’ll shame myself, for now, with the words by Herman Wouk, who in a way wasn’t able to explain it any better himself.
“The West Indian is not exactly hostile to change, but he is not much inclined to believe in it. This comes from a piece of wisdom that his climate of eternal summer teaches him. It is that, under all the parade of human effort and noise, today is like yesterday, and tomorrow will be like today; that existence is a wheel of recurring patterns from which no one escapes; that all anybody does in this life is live for a while and then die for good, without finding out much; and that therefore the idea is to take things easy and enjoy the passing time under the sun. The white people charging hopefully around the islands these days in the noon glare, making deals, bulldozing airstrips, hammering up hotels, laying out marinas, opening new banks, night clubs, and gift shops, are to him merely a passing plague. They have come before and gone before.”
“They drive through the narrow, twisted streets of the town where impoverished native children play in the street and adults are fond of driving backwards”. “Don’t stop the Carnival” by Herman Wouk.
It will take more than just a young leader to turn this around. It takes by far a greater collective of sincere souls to genuinely take part of a complete overhaul of their own state of mind and then, hopefully, be willing to re-educate this nation.
The problem is most of them are packing.
All young leaders left for the Netherlands or USA.