TO ANYONE who pays close attention to what is happening in Guyana, it must be obvious that all is not well in the society. One of the consequences of allowing a society to descend into a state of disrepair is that when a decision is taken to tackle the problem, the will to do so is often lacking. This may well be the case with Guyana. The change of government, a year ago, brought a new sense of patriotism and purpose among sections of the society. We witnessed a spontaneous outpouring of civic engagement, which was highlighted by the clean-up campaigns around the country. Alas, one year later, that outpouring seems to have subsided, and we are back to square one.

It is easy to point fingers at the political directorate for its failure to harness and steer that new energy to a place of hope, but our problems run deep in the national vein. The last three decades of structural adjustment, imposed from outside and administered locally, have taken their toll on the country. The rapid rise of unbridled individualism, accompanied by a decline of collective commitment to community and country, has produced a changed society in which the very rule of law is compromised and national values have been discarded. Partying is now a notional priority, even as patience with reflection has waned. Young people opt out of organized national endeavours when they do not discern individual gains, and older citizens have retreated to their narrow confines.

One just has to look at the way the roadways are used to find it difficult not to conclude that civility and regard for the community are no longer parts of our national consciousness. From the minibus drivers to the commuters to the drivers of private cars, we seem to have signed on to a destiny of disorder and disregard for life and limb.

As the frequency of road fatalities rises, reckless driving has become more entrenched. What is worse is that nobody seems to care. There are more law enforcement officers on the streets, but they appear to be helpless in the face of the anarchy around them.

While we quote statistics to show a decline in crime, one cannot help but take note of the gruesomeness of the murders and other forms of violence that are ‘in our faces’ every day. Life has lost its value in Guyana; the threat of the sanction of the law is no longer a deterrent to crime. We seem to have given up as far as ensuring that our society graduates citizens whose respect for life is paramount.

The recent saga surrounding the death of two young children in a drop-in centre in Georgetown must alert all of us to the urgency of now, to quote Dr. Martin Luther King. The circumstances under which the children got there, the obvious inadequacy of the facility, and the public wrangling between the family and the Child Care Agency point to a serious dysfunction in the society. When our children cannot be guaranteed protection at both the level of the family and community, something is rotten.

The recent results of the National Grade Six Assessment exams confirm a frightening development in our country — a widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. The huge difference between the performances of students from the private schools and their counterparts from the public schools is a reflection of the persistence of the social inequalities in Guyana, five decades after the attainment of independence. A few years ago, President Granger correctly called it “education apartheid.” Social inequality is the perfect recipe for hopelessness, despair and disorder.

It is time that our politicians on both sides of the political divide come to grips with the fact that Guyana needs repair work beyond political rhetoric. While our leaders spar about macro-economics and politics, our nation is dying at its very soul. But it’s not only our politicians who must take responsibility for our condition; the citizenry at large has to find its collective soul again.

Something drastic and intentional has to be done to pull us back from the brink.