CULTURE is consciousness. It occurs in the mind and takes into account the symbolic nature of human associations. This, according to Greenfeld (2005, p. 333), makes culture both a mental and a symbolic process. Culture was first perceived as ancient due to it being governed by religion and steeped in beliefs of salvation and divine authority, which justified inequality. Inequality was justified, and a social order was maintained, by the belief in an afterlife, where those who accepted their present social position and worked hard and remained pious would reap their rewards. That ancient culture was undermined by the emergence of a new form of consciousness, a modern culture – nationalism.
This modern culture, or nationalism, advocated social mobility and popular sovereignty based on the idea of equality. It stressed the importance of this life, not an afterlife, and argued that individuals should reap the rewards of their work here on earth. There was therefore no need for anyone to accept any social position. Being equals, any individual who possessed the requisite training could lay claim to any office and experience a change in his social standing.
Instead of through salvation, the individual was able to save himself and improve his quality of life through social mobility.
Also dissimilar to religion was nationalism’s principle of popular sovereignty, i.e. the right of the individual to elect a government, which reinforced the idea of equality by making the individual, and not the divine, the legitimizer of authority.

By making the individual part of the nation through equality, nationalism bestows the status of citizen upon the individual and makes elitism the right of each.
Should the same egalitarian-based principles of nationalism, i.e. social mobility and popular sovereignty, be adopted wholeheartedly in Guyana, it is my belief that many social problems, such as divisions based on ethnicity and class, would be attended to and eventually remedied.
However, before any attention can be given and any remedy can be applied the requirement of the conceptualization of equality itself as the entitlement of every Guyanese must be satisfied. The education system is critical not only to the propagation and realization of such a concept, but also to the removal of previously held opposing ideas.
Once the idea of society as a totality of equals pervades the national psyche, it will eventually need to express itself through social mobility and popular sovereignty.
Social mobility, i.e. the ability to move up or down the social ladder, is dependent on the equal distribution of the opportunities which facilitate such mobility.
One such opportunity is employment – the exchange of labour for money. In most instances, the lower classes work to earn and accumulate money which they then use to improve their quality of life.
By improving their quality of life they eventually improve their social status and experience upward social mobility. The opposite, i.e. downward social mobility, would be experienced by someone of the upper class if his upper class status was dependent on his job and he lost that job.
Equality expressing itself through social mobility would also bring wages into question and ask what amount of remuneration would allow equal access to social mobility dependent on occupation.
Education, once again, becomes important if the highest paying jobs require certain training, and if that training – not ethnicity, political affiliation, class, religion, gender or sexual orientation – is the only prerequisite for that job. The government, therefore, ought to do all in its power to make education equally accessible throughout the length and breadth of Guyana, for an educated population is a developing country’s greatest asset. It is also central to the other expression of equality – popular sovereignty.
Popular sovereignty, i.e. the right of citizens to appoint their leaders, also reinforces the civil rights and liberties of the citizenry, since it is by dint of their authority that leadership is conferred. The idea of democracy – government for the people, by the people – also goes hand in hand with that of popular sovereignty.
Should those elected not carry out the wishes of the electorate, they can be removed from office through the electoral process. This is why government is mandated to respect the rights of the people and to act in their interest. Education is essential if citizens are to express their needs to government, make informed political decisions based on how political parties plan to address national issues and hold government accountable for their actions. Popular sovereignty as an expression of equality, however, can only be maintained if both parties – the governed and the government – respect the principle of popular sovereignty itself.
This means two things: (1) whatever can be done by government must be done by government to guarantee the freeness and fairness of elections and; (2) once satisfied with the transparency of the process, the electorate, as well as parties contesting elections, should have no reason to question the results. Additionally, should the ruling party be voted out  it should step down in a most magnanimous manner, acting in accordance with the wishes of the electorate.
To sum things up, should the egalitarian-based principles of modern culture or nationalism be adopted in Guyana, change can be effected. Equal access to education would create a level playing field for job applicants.
The ability to gain employment based solely on qualification would dismiss allegations of appointments based on ethnicity, political loyalty or anything else.
As constituents of the lower classes start to experience upward social mobility regardless of ethnicity or political loyalty, many of the ethnic tensions which spill into the political arena are likely to be eased.
Equality in the context of popular sovereignty would result in less distrust between the electorate and politicians since the latter would be ever cognizant of the power the former possess.
Politicians would also be wary of an educated population, which would be more likely to vote based on a party’s track record and not ethnic appeal or anything else.
If track record is the sole determinant of votes, the probability of corruption occurring would be reduced, since the focus of any party wishing to remain in power would be to execute the wishes of the electorate.
Knowing that politicians are aware of their power, the electorate is more likely to feel a part of the process of nation building and work tirelessly towards its achievement.
In the New Year, it is my hope that a new consciousness, a modern culture – that of nationalism – envelopes Guyanese society and continues to be the cornerstone upon which we build a nation and realize our motto of one people, one nation, one destiny.

(REFERENCE: Greenfeld, L. (2005). Nationalism and the mind. Nations & Nationalism, 11(3), 325-341. )