Does your opinion as a citizen matter?

THE EDITOR: Open letter to the citizens of TT.

Do you know that every single idea, voice, action of each citizen helps to shape our society and country?

We make decisions that apply not only to ourselves but to the members of our social circles. In some circles one or two people make decisions for the entire group. In other circles everyone participates equally in the decision-making. And then there are some circles in which ideas remain in thought form and are never expressed. Or ideas are expressed and never acted upon.

Whether known or unknown to each member of respective circles, they are engaging in some form of politics.

Throughout your day decisions are made at home, school or work and this forms some part of politics. Domestic politics and critical issues ought to be engrained in our DNA, as our decisions encompass the very politics which drives the force to governance.

Strangely enough I have seen people reserve comments on discussions of religion, race and politics because they appear to be unhealthy. If there is anything unhealthy about real-life issues that affect us all, it would be the submissive, dust-the-issue-under-the-rug attitude that we all employ as a tool to escape dealing with our problems head on.

For those who believe the discussions and commentary are not worth your time and are an insult to your knowledge because other people use derogatory, degrading and disgusting content to make their point, I say be constructive, be factual and, most importantly, be respectful.

Raising the bar of social commentary in today’s world is necessary as our leaders continue to disappoint us due to personal vendettas and interest of party rather than people.

We don’t have to agree, we don’t have to be right but we ought not to be afraid of engaging in discussions that can become policy.

All we harp on and on about are the problems, when we should be finding actionable solutions.

Our ideas/opinions turn into discussions, our discussions determine our decisions and our decisions form solutions. Even if you wish to lay on your back and do nothing, that in itself is a decision and it will affect the individual and the collective.

VARMA RAMDHAN via e-mail