To Die For

I wonder just how many of us Trinbagonians would be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and die for our country? Not many I suspect, for in this land of rum and roti there are many who talk the talk about how proud they are of our country, especially when our various representatives in the sporting arena (less so in the literary and artistic fields) achieve international recognition. Yet such talk is only that. In reality, none of our citizens seem to be truly proud of Trinidad & Tobago.  

Pride in our country is not only about athletic or aesthetic or artistic achievement of a few individuals. Rather, it is more about our achievements as a people, which can perhaps be brought about by adherence to our national motto - discipline, production and tolerance. We can be proud of how clean our country is by having the discipline to not litter, as many of us continue to do sans conscience. We can be proud of our country's economic status by working strenuously and diligently to produce world class goods and services instead of having a ten days laziness mentality towards labor and a civil servant's nonchalance towards service. My old friend Brian reminds me that in Trinidad & Tobago there is no such thing as a civil servant; they are all uncivil.

Having pride in our country means that we can observe the final watchword of our national motto and tolerate each other, on the roads and in the killing grounds of the crime hotspots, and that we can tolerate those we perceive to be invaders and usurpers, the visitors who come here for hospitality but more often end up hospitalized or terrorized. Perhaps we tolerate the things that are wrong overly, thus the substandard levels of service in all strata of our society.

We really have no pride in our country, and thus no patriots, for patriotism necessarily entails pride in one's country. When was the last time you heard a Trinidadian described as a patriot?

Given the foregoing, the concept of the ultimate sacrifice applied to the Trinbagonian mentality is laughable. The Roman thinker and philosopher commonly known as Horace coined the term Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - "it is sweet and honorable to die for one's country", and although such high thought is today largely dismissed as folly by the pacifists (Owen as early as 1917 referred to it as "the old lie" in his haunting poem of the same title - you can read it here: www.warpoetry.co.uk/owen1.html) yet the idea resonates with many, especially in this time of extremism and expansionism.

Where do our current leaders fit into this scenario? Martin Daly is rightly fond of describing the current crop of leaders as "kings" because of their attitudes toward leadership, and as we know, in olden times, the kings fought all battles from the front, and the captains went down with their ships. So, would Manning and Panday make that ultimate sacrifice for Trinidad & Tobago? 

I don't believe so, yet in the context of the next election, there may be an opportunity for one of them to do just that, for given the fact that a unified opposition is required to oust the current administration (a fact proven by the results of our most recent election), and given the fact that such unity is impossible as long as Panday is alive, then all Panday has to do to ensure that we rid ourselves of the current administration (and thus save our country, hopefully) is die.

So come on Panday, be a patriot and hurry up and die.