Not the time for political apathy

THE EDITOR: When analysing the collapse of a society, in any era, the commonality of apathy always makes itself apparent.

In any properly functioning society, there is an unspoken contract between individual citizens and the State’s ruling class.

The power of the political/ruling class, especially in a democratic society, is not conferred by rituals of a legislature or the offices of institutions, but rather the will of the citizens to maintain the status quo or to change who holds the positions of leadership.

Therefore, the role of the individual citizen is to be aware of the society they live in, hold the highest possible moral and ethical standards for their country’s ruling class and make sure public officials are held to account for the responsibilities bestowed upon them. However, if the citizenry neglects and/or does not understand their duty, corruption, malfeasance and poor governance abound.

Whether it be societal opulence distracting citizens from Rome’s gates or the peasant class only concerned with their own while the Khmer Rouge cleansed Cambodia, when the citizens forsake their mandate of accountability, derelict powers run free.

TT is not invulnerable against this millennia-old concept of humanity. There is no coincidence that our nation’s socio-economic dysfunction has been proliferating hand-in-hand with our own disregard for politics and governance.

Watching the news is quite depressing in light of our nation’s crime situation. Talking about the economy is discouraging due to a lack of opportunity and rising costs of living. Trusting in politicians is difficult because the growing perception is that all are the same. These things do not make it easy for the people to motivate themselves to be informed and vocal.

However, these crestfallen circumstances do not take away from our individual, national duties to hold our public officials accountable. As much as terms like “good governance” and “accountability and transparency” have become merely buzzwords, we as a society must find our voice once again.

With a general election roughly over one year away, and growing discontent with the state of our society, now is not the time to feel apathy for politics. Parliamentary sessions are more accessible than ever, political meetings are all streamed online, statistics and data are just a browser search away. Now is not the time to neglect your duty as a citizen and allow politicians and their associates to be negligent in their duties of governance.

When the people are silent, that is equal to an acceptance of our state of affairs. When citizens do not care for politics, the nation’s wealth gap increases. When the individual does not understand their power, a financier’s interest will always take precedence over theirs.

JADE-MARK SONILAL

UWI St Augustine