Reflections after 60 years

THE EDITOR: Economic research reveals that the economic trajectory of some countries between 1960 and 2016 suggests that it can take about 25 years to catapult a nation from Third World status to First World status.

Icons like Dr Eric Williams have argued that we can build a nation for all only if we have, against the background of discipline, production and tolerance, a vision to promote, a mission to guide humanity, and a destination to reach.

We must also note that 60 years are not the same as 25 years. I say this because we seem to be diving rather than ascending.

We have all criticised the state of crime, discipline, tolerance, unity and productivity in the nation.

My response to set things right is that we should research where we went wrong with the five agencies of socialisation – the home, the church, the school, the arts and the press. Of course, we should also look at how we have been addressing our culture and prevailing ideology.

Having examined for over 63 years the performance of politicians, teachers, top public service advisers and men and women of the cloth, I must conclude without apologies that the major leaders of our country by way of omission have failed us.

Political decisions are often made without understanding that there are many subsets in a universal set and that there are many alternative outcomes to a policy.

Our education system seems not to have been able to zero in on how we should educate our children to face world civilisation as it unfolds.

Also, our culture and ideology seem to have had difficulty in preparing us for survival and adjustment.

Against all of the above, I now appeal to all in our nation to consider what may happen to us, if we continue on the path along which we are now galloping.

Therefore, I recommend that we take the advice of Abdul Kalam, an Indian aerospace scientist and statesman who served as the 11th president of India from 2002 to 2007, and look at the sky so that you will understand that we are not alone. Yes! Understand that the whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those among us who dream and work.

RAYMOND S HACKETT

Curepe