Commerce and the cultures that depend and revolve around its activity can lead populations and the supporting hierarchies of those populations into a negative culture of resistance to change, especially if to the hierarchies, the consequence of change is a loss of the status quo. The dim realities that predominated in the past millennium can hardly be imagined in our Atomic /Quantum physics era. But back then, trade mainly consisted for hundreds of years on the same and similar products; new product areas were colonised by force.
Monarchies and their supporting priesthoods with the same mysticisms were there to stay, unless decimated through conquest or natural upheavals. Generating the habit of cliques that held power presumably for eternity, the independent ideas of all society were demanded to kneel before their rude unnatural rights of entitlement and monopoly, which enabled their sole scrutiny and right to steal as a considered birth right.
That dismal world that spawned most of the revolutions in our history books did not altogether disappear. Residue of the resistance to change and to respond to ideas outside of the idealistic box is a story we can tell in Guyana, especially with the failures of the past administration to recognise and act upon the drastic changes on traditional norms of employment.
I evolved from around the early 1980’s through economic changes that impacted on accustomed Cultural economic norms, whether by natural social global seasons, or by lack of foresight. Those economic norms existed with specific negative Cultural parallels in the management of human customs. For many families, cash strapped decisions determined that the sister would get the lessons fee as males could always find something to do and eventually master a trade, and there were plenty of traditional labour demand jobs then.
This would descend negatively on almost two generations of Guyanese, because we were not consistently manufacturing for export; tradesmen were not seen as esteemed careers, but as reasonable providers. The custom of senior females regardless of profession needing to know that at the age of puberty, driven by tribal impulses, developed over thousands of years as a species that their family males were talking to some respectable young lady. This assured the family of his being “Male.” Many of them opted for less respectable but more exciting engagements that resulted in the ad-hoc child-mother strata, resulting in, based on support limitations, dreams of careers being shelved and “Bread and Butter” became the order of the day. Only thirty five years ago, the Georgetown houses of mass muscle employment were “The Water Front.” These were the Rice Marketing Board, also known as Children Property, Transport & Harbours, the Stevedore belt from John Fernandes to Le Penitence, with the occasional Chip & Paint gig between Sprostons and Number One, and the Defence Force, a final shelter option for many.
The civilian job-hustle took up employment from Georgetown, lower East Coast and the West Coast in impressive numbers, and nourished dependant services, from German’s restaurant, Beharry’s Bakery, Beer Gardens in Kingston, lunch women and money lenders and dozens of dray carts.
Then between 1977 to 1991 dramatic changes occurred: computers, container importation, private interests in the rice and gold industries, resulting in much of the muscle mass employment disappearing.
The privatisation of the rice industry, that followed the arson of Rice Board, decimated all remnants of “Children Property.” Containers wiped out the Stevedore and suit case traders culture, and computers did the same for the clerical workers, the only consistent beneficiaries were the most times distrusted so-called workers-union officials.
Thousands of jobs were gone and nothing replaced them; there was no public acknowledgment of this vast loss of employment. Doubled with the collapse of the bauxite industry, what followed was an overwhelming flood of street sellers, the vender population increased tenfold, with the advent of the suit case traders, minibuses and taxis. That’s when drug trafficking emerged as the “most lucrative way out” with its entire unforeseen decimating Legion. That commenced the criminalisation of the nation.
The crucial year of 2016 has found Guyana in a better administrative position, but it is difficult to ascertain the damage of over two decades of Caricature Banana Republic handling, with a current limited economy, greater strategy is required. Today, the historical sugar Industry is at the Twilight of its Gods. Despite warnings nothing was done and now, this industry can no longer merit financially the political worship and idolatry it received before. However, what was not done before, with collaboration the by-products of sugar, bauxite, rice, precious metals can all spiral new medium and small Industries. (Wales Estate can become the principle museum of Sugar in Demerara).
But it would be naive to think that the tribe immediately knows how to go about the dynamic of consistent small business existence, meeting acceptable marketable status. Thus, exploration is required to see what is available and where lies the market and how to set the collaboration for equal benefits.
Unlike other administrations, this Government has got to do business with its tribe.
Therefore, its administrators have got to be bilingual, to convey the governments’ language and to understand the tribal practitioner’s dialect.
Again, the arts will prove a viable ally, and there are already signs that the tribal Chiefdom understands that added shrines must be adhered to. The nation’s creative sons and daughters in all spheres will have to envisage and occupy a new landscape. We are embracing the first light of the next 50 years with a small legitimate cash-strapped consumer population, but they are a population that from the earliest post emancipation-indentured period had an eye and taste for beauty and standards. Though beaten down, certain values still exist; values that can translate into industry to meet standards.
We identify and debate with merchants over cheap goods though our wallets can only afford cheap goods. This means that we are not defeated, only subdued. Older nations and world powers understand the reality that the military haughtiness of nations are held at bay by the Odin Sword of all consuming weapons, so the national ego now rest with the respectability of products. Brand Names and the empirical realms of creative iconography all belong and have always existed with human trade, be it spices, sculpture, jewellery, the exchange of religious rites and rituals and slaves with special talents have all weaved the impulses of trade through past paler times towards today’s competing market cultures.
Guyana has much to sell. We have to get our population employed, mainly through self employment. The place of the artisan must be emphasised but we can only begin with what we have in hand.
To awaken ourselves first, we must be our best critics. For example, every book about the usefulness of Coconut Milk should be written by a Guyanese.
The fact that our forest and mineral reserves has been handed out to foreigners must be reversed.
We live in an age of myriad commodities not all need heavy energy to transfer into commerce, we have the natural resources and talented people, what is needed is the ‘Will’ and the accompanying support mechanism. To channel the currents of the next 50 years.