Our poisoned society

“We are a very sick society and one does not have to look far for evidence,” a friend of mine commented recently.

By "sick" she was not referring to covid, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, heart disease and the range of illnesses that plague too large a sector of the TT population. She was responding to an account I had given of a dog owner’s casual, don’t-care attitude when I had informed him that his dog was in discomfort, wounded and needed attention.

“Nah, the dog okay,” he said, brushing me off as though to say, “Mind your own business. It’s my dog and I can do what I want or not, even if it means he has to suffer.”

As an active animal rescuer/welfare advocate in Tobago, I am very familiar with that attitude and style of response (in most instances given by men). It suggests an inability and/or unwillingness to (i) admit that one can benefit from the well-intended guidance of others (ii) have a mature discussion about ways in which a problem can be addressed and remedied (iii) accept that a woman can be right about something.

About two weeks ago, I saw a dead black and white cat lying on the grass at the side of the main road. The collar around its neck added a poignant dimension to the tragic scene. Someone, somewhere, was undoubtedly grieving in the aftermath of their beloved pet’s disappearance.

In the days that followed, the body moved through stages of bloating into rotting, its flesh melting into the grass, leaving a skeleton draped in a discarded "garment" of white, fur-covered skin. A wide portion of grass around the corpse was burnt brown...an autograph left by the searing chemical substance as it seeped from the body into the surrounding earth. What a torturous death that cat must have experienced as the concentrated toxin ravaged it from the inside out.

The bodies of several birds lay in a radius of a few feet around the corpse. Poison that seeps into the earth also kills some of the surrounding wildlife.

This poisoned chain mirrors our society and its various unhealthy interconnected issues and attitudes. Just as the body of one poisoned animal contributes to the killing of various forms of life around it, so too can the negative thoughts and words of one bitter, vengeful, mistrustful, frustrated citizen permeate his or her immediate surroundings, poisoning, with the negative vibrations, the minds and hearts of those in close contact.

When and why did so many citizens of this republic become as mistrusting, fearful, angry and lacking in hope as they now appear to be, in increasing numbers?

A video uploaded recently to a social media news site shows a man calmly walking up to his neighbour’s car at night and setting it alight with what appears to be gasoline and a match or lighter. He then casually strolls away, followed by a pack of dogs. The woman filming the scene from a window on an upper floor comments later in her broadcast that the man must be "tripping off" for setting her uncle’s car on fire. She laments that police came but “did nothing.”

Completely disregarding the fact that a man has just committed a serious criminal offence and has put a community in danger of a potentially large, fatal explosion, one person leaves the following comment:

“Side effects of taking Sinopharm,” he/she writes, much to the delight of several social media users, who apply supportive and encouraging "like" and "laughter" emojis.

One reader responds: “That is such a stupid and irresponsible comment.”

“Like you took the Sino awwwwww,” someone rallies back.

“Looking so,” another adds, revelling in the back-and-forth "jabs."

The term "toxic relationship," coined by American communication and psychology expert Dr Lillian Glass, is defined by her as: “any relationship between people who don’t support each other, where there’s conflict and one seeks to undermine the other, where there’s competition, where there’s disrespect and a lack of cohesiveness.”

Her comments could well be applied to our society, seemingly intertwined in a spreading web of toxic actions, thoughts and relationships.

To those who disagree with me because of the belief that TT is the sweet land of the hummingbird and scarlet ibis, alcohol, beaches, fetes and Carnival, I urge you to think more deeply of our situation: the inner poison is spreading like a deadly virus.