CONTRARY to title, I want to begin this week with something that I have in fact never written on: John F. Kennedy and the effect that this political figure has had on me.
Like most of my readers, I wasn’t even born when Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, so it is strange to explain the impact stories about his life, and his untimely death have on me.
Indeed, the only other political figure that has that level of impact upon me is Nelson Mandela, understandably so, since I grew into maturity when apartheid was still very much a contentious issue on the global stage, as opposed to the increasingly distant memory it is now.
In contrast, I find myself moved on occasion to the point of tears when looking at a Kennedy documentary or in-depth news story, even with little familiarity with his life and times.
Indeed, the past week marking the 50th anniversary of his death has been particularly hard on me, and this profound emotional impact is something I intend to explore in future columns.
For now, however, I want to get to the real subject of this column: The things I’ve written on in the past. Going through the archives of the past four years, certain topics stand out for me: Issues that have moved me so deeply, I am compelled to write about them.
In no particular order, I’ll attempt to recap the basics of some of them below, in what will be the first of several similar columns from now until the end of the year. And, depending on the feedback I get, I stand ready to republish some of those articles in full.
Expired goods: I know we live in a society that doesn’t focus too deeply on such things, but I truly believe it is time we start. The prevalence of expired goods is not merely a consumer rights issue; it is also quite possibly a public health issue, one that I don’t believe gets the sort of attention it deserves.
Pensioners’ Privileges: Several times, I’ve written about the steps we can take to make life as comfortable as possible for our seniors. I believe all my recommendations can be encapsulated in my suggestion to establish one-stop shops for senior citizens services; a single place they can go to for a batch of necessary services, expedited specifically for their convenience.
Veteran Integration: Related, though not fully, to the above is how we provide space in this society for our Disciplined Services people, particularly considering that the average member leaves the services at a relatively young age. The Guyana Defence Force, for example, is a career organization, and while it is one that passes on invaluable and specific personal qualities, like discipline and loyalty, to its membership, very often the degree of specificity works against preparing them for life outside of the Force. Special attention should be given to the fact that, frankly speaking, it cannot be good to have people highly trained in armed combat being unable to find adequate legitimate employment.
Managing Social Networking: I’ve written several articles in the past on the dangers of social networking. In one in-depth series, I outlined some of the challenges faced by parents in this digital age, where the generational gap is increasingly becoming more of a chasm. I made the suggestion in that series that it was parents’ responsibility to learn how to inhabit and navigate the cyberspace that their children are born into, instead of trying to influence it from the outside. Another series of articles on social networking was targeted at young people, with particular focus on the potential consequences of their social networking indiscretions, not only on their personal lives but on their employment prospects as well.
Engaging the Diaspora: I’ve written extensively on how the Diaspora should be encouraged to be more integrally involved in the execution of national policy, and I am happy to say that there are specific governmental programmes currently underway towards this end.
Public Private Partnerships: Another subject I’ve written extensively on is developing a mechanism for public private partnerships. PPPs have seen rapid development in emerging economies around the world, Asia in particular, and can be a viable component of our developmental agenda. My view is that instead of engaging in such partnerships on an ad hoc basis, PPPs should be taken as part of advanced planning and developed along a set framework that in which they are strategically engaged.
Next week, I am going to continue with about four or five more issues that I’ve previously written on, summarizing the core points or suggestions I’ve made on them. In closing, I’d like to take the opportunity to officially welcome you to the month of December, and express the hope that over the next few weeks, the true spirit of Christmas is going to prevail in this country.
(By Keith Burrowes)
