IT is so shocking and appalling to read about the intense level of ‘personal attacks’ in so many of the writings (and even in some of the news items) in the daily newspapers in Guyana. Why should we call people by so many foul, contemptuous, ill- mannered, highly offensive and disgusting, malicious and just downrightly nasty names because we do not approve of what they do, write or say? And the people who often pen this willfully destructive language so proudly like to present themselves to the world as intellectuals decorated with so many degrees. And so the attack and the counter – attack continues unabated that readers are forced to ask themselves: Is this all these guys have to write about? There is absolutely nothing to gain from tearing down other people. As Alfred Tennyson wrote, “No one ever got very high by pulling other people down.” When a person viciously attacks another, it does not advance our knowledge of the issue, and more importantly, it doesn’t advance the effort towards a solution. Our newspapers should not reflect the toxic, crude, malicious, distasteful and hate-filled writings that are so common on the Internet. It is time that we move on the higher ground and deal with the ideas and issues and stop these personal attacks.

It is so tempting to think that we got the upper hand over someone whom we have maligned and denigrated. The reality is that we have just revealed by this action our own weakness and personal vindictiveness. Writing in whatever form is a vital medium of communication, and in so many ways it reveals so much of our inner self and personality. A pen (now the keyboard) in the wrong hands can provoke so much ill-will and even violence and destruction; in the hands of an enlightened soul, it can inspire people, build bridges of hope and fulfillment, and remove superstitions, ignorance and fear. In no other way do we reveal to the world so much of who we really are than in our writing.

CECIL RAMKIRATH
Bayonne, NJ, USA