A grand TT experiment

LET’S TRY something new in TT, shall we? Everyone who has been asking questions about the Government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic should just be quiet. Anyone head-scratching about the numbers (which seem largely static from one week to the next), just drop it.

If you’re worried about conditions in the quarantine facilities, or the quality of the care given to the sick, just put your faith in the Lord.

After all, reporters could have gotten pictures of roach-infested rooms anywhere on the internet. And what the hell do all these Typhoid Marys want anyway? It’s through their own reckless action that they have sickened themselves, and imperiled the entire nation, right?

Additionally, it’s well established the media have a vested interest in making the Government look bad (or good, depending on what jersey you wear).

There are too many armchair epidemiologists stirring the pot, looking for problems were there aren’t any.

What allyuh really want? Don’t you see Dr Roshan Parasram is the very essence of grace and smokey sexiness under pressure? That isn’t enough? Just do your part – stay home, change your profile pic to the CMO, and keep posting pictures and videos of your experiments with homemade doubles, or calming poui trees.

Too many of us have anxieties out here to really grapple with this covid business. There are qualified people to see about such things; in the same way there are people who have a handle on crime, the economy, public infrastructure and all the other pesky details of good governance in TT.

It’s precisely because of inquisitive busybodies that people can’t get their KFC anymore. You wouldn’t leave well enough alone! You just had to keep bumping your gums. You keep poking and poking and braps, the enlisting of private security firms to aid in the fight against harden citizens gets scrapped.

Stop interfering in the work of the experts who have vast experience in dealing with a completely unprecedented health and economic crisis! What this country needs now more than ever is for you to keep your collective a---- kwart.

Where is this coming from? OK, I will explain for the ten or so people still afflicted with the incurable curiosity virus. Of late I’ve been posting comments online reflecting my concerns about our handling of the covid19 crisis. I believe there are many unanswered questions needing full ventilation.

What I’ve noticed, in response to both my comments and questions raised by others, is a tsunami of condemnation from Trinis who just want everyone to hush their mowt.

I read a post in which someone actually said the best thing we can all do right now is just be quiet. Never before have I seen so many of my fellow citizens organise themselves into a virtual army to shield the Government against interrogation and criticism. It’s a peculiar thing to see a people actively campaign for censorship of themselves.

To see such reticence in people I’d previously considered independent thinkers...a complete and unblinking faith that the authorities will guard their interests...this I find surprising and worrying.

People challenged my online observations by suggesting that I, and inquisitive types like me, want the death toll to be higher. We won’t be satisfied unless the suffering and destruction are more widespread.

Yep, as a small business owner I’m enjoying the absolute vaporisation of all income-earning opportunities while sitting at home watching my resources dwindle as the bills refuse to stay home.

I can’t tell you how I quiver with excitement at the prospect of leaving my home on a groceries run, only to return with a case of water and a case of coronavirus. It’s only schadenfreude that gets me off the bed in the morning.

Silence, though, according to online critics of the eternally curious and sceptical, is the best weapon we have against this deadly pandemic. Covid19 thrives on transparency and accountability.

So shutter all newsrooms across the country. Reclassify journalists as non-essentials and have them stay home too. Dispense with the daily news briefings. All press releases should be forwarded directly to the State’s top crisis communications specialist/political activist henceforth.

If you have doubts, quiet your heart, look inward and focus only on yourself and your family. The time for swimming against the tide is at an end. As an experiment, let’s try relinquishing our voice and our right to demand answers entirely. What could possibly go wrong?