OUR perspectives are mostly informed and conditioned by what we see around us. Our socialisation process: home, parents (single parent) or lack thereof, school, friends or peers, workplace, religious institutions, politicians or leaders, society as a whole, all exert influence on our minds.

Our educational institutions are supposed to nurture us toward building a successful future; to prepare us for the challenges of life in the real world. They never prepare us to deal with our inner worlds of often conflicting and confusing emotions and feelings. Many of us simply do not know how to deal with them.

But it does not mean we are powerless. We always have a choice. The ability to choose is what distinguishes us from the lower species of animals. This is what makes us uniquely human with a capacity to know right from wrong and to act in accordance with our conscience and the moral norms deeply ingrained in society.

Whether good or bad, like monkeys, most of us mimic. We see and we do. True to our ‘third world’ status, we become mimic men and women to the point of not knowing who we really are. The upright and virtuous face we advertise for public viewing as leaders or the ugly one we zealously guard behind a mask of deception! We are all paying a price.

Empirical/statistical evidence speaks for itself. Violence, crime, senseless murder, disrespect and total disregard for others, domestic violence leading to spousal battering and death – all are bearing a younger face. Many ‘intellectual’ propositions are bandied around regarding the causative factors, with expert opinions and quotations prolific and constant; even those without any scientific bearing on the specific socio, political and economic environment. This is the Guyanese phenomenon – a dialogue of the deaf, dumb and blind! Each one wants to prove some level of supremacy; each one analysing the elephant in the room from a different perspective. Each one holding on to a different part of its anatomy and diffidently pronouncing, “AHA…this is the elephant” in a eureka moment of discovery, regardless if he is holding to the tail, trunk, neck or tusk!
Unfortunately, while fiddling in our mental quagmire, we lose sight of the fact that both the victims and the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are human beings like you and me. Not mere statistics. Both need attention and help. Statistics cannot unveil the mangled emotions which made the perpetrator a victim of himself or herself and circumstances. Notwithstanding the fact that they are victims also, they must pay the price for their senseless and abhorrent acts. While society demands this, it must not deny the fact that they also need help.

These social ills are in the main pointing to an inability to deal with the myriad of conflicting emotions which are steeped in ignorance of self and the inner workings of the mind. Essentially it is an internal problem that is externalising itself. The problem therefore has to be addressed at the levels of both the individual and society. And its embryonic form has strong roots in what was supposed to be the protective haven of family values and virtues, the home.

We see therefore that all of these societal institutions and relationships bring to bear formidable influence on how we make choices in an unspoken, intended or unintended battle for the control of minds. And without being conscious of it, how we are in subtle ways influenced to make choices even though they may not be in our best interest! The influence is deep seated and much more formidable than most of us would like to admit or believe. It operates mostly at the sub-conscious than the conscious level of our minds.

Sadly, the best of intentions are masked by personal and fundamental human flaws. The triumvirate of status, wealth and power is often accompanied by humongous egos, arrogance and pride! And this is not a malady afflicting any one race. Each one of us has an ego with which we romanticise our virtues and camouflage our flaws. It is as old as the human experience!