The ultimate imitation of God

WE do not know all about what we are as human beings, nor have we deciphered the very realms of living matter. We know there’s an ‘ego’; a compulsion that propels us on a stream of bravado that sometimes defies the logic of caution and the overwhelming evidence of folly. Over the past 30 years, hundreds of Guyanese have died from drug usage. Many families — rich and poor— have endured the insecurity, sleepless nights and break- away from all normalcy due to a relative in the embrace of this or that narcotic control. This indulgence is a force, an entity of sorts, that stimulates the mind to seek it out and engage in a ritual dance of the elusive mind at large, and a retreat of the spirit from the overpowering prison of addiction, from where, looking back to retrace footsteps seem harder after every high.

What makes addiction even more venomous, is the fact that there are citizens posturing in offices and social edifices that the naive would easily trust to act in their interest, but who would reduce if necessary a third of the nation’s population to addiction and the violence of inevitable drug conflicts bringing the destruction of all core values and an invasion of every perverted vice into acceptance by force for profit. Some of these people are mentioned for what they are in international publications. Do not for one moment think that drugs, with its destructive powers, are collectively recognised as evil by all. There are divisions on this where logic would dictate that human decency should prevail. The majority indeed do reject, but evil is a force that imposes with the seduction of bribes, the lure of immediate release from the depression of unclear paths. It lifts low self-esteem with the promise of shortcuts to the success of ‘conspicuous consumption’ and future financial security. To many, it provides them with an illegitimate sense of power, over the life and death of other citizens who dare resist or defy. The activities of the phantom-related state killers under the past regime are perfect examples.

The micro or macro drug state does not, and cannot exist without the savagery of its enforcers, these are gathered from the more unclear, unexposed, what in grassroots terms are addressed as the ‘Mock-Shine’ translate to possessing the image but lack the principles and intelligence to do the right thing. They are society’s social dropouts and its legion of imbalanced professional predators, where the will to succeed transcends the risks of the obvious cycle, the more enticed they become. How this works is simple. I know a friend who was promised enough money to pay the Ministry of Housing for his land and enter into the vehicle-pawning business; all he had to do was chaperone some drugs through the airport. Before explaining this, he had asked me to borrow any book I had on the drug business. I lent him ‘Cocaine Wars’ which he returned in a week. Apparently, he went to the airport and something mentally happened. He left the line towards immigration and his prized luggage and took a minibus back to Georgetown then retreated to a rural area where he remained. Until I saw him a few years later, by then his whereabouts had slipped from my interest, until on an ACDA outing to that area of Guyana he approached me, bearded. I didn’t recognise him at first, then we chatted. It seems he had retreated here with his small family, altogether. Apparently, he had taken his advance and driven by the reality of what could be from the other side of the coin and leaving nothing to chance, he ran. He described the book he had borrowed from me as a ‘Horror Book.’ He read, others don’t, and are consumed only by the promised options of the glitter of their side of the coin, denying the possibility of the shadows of the other side.

Of course, it is complex. Poverty at different levels plays a part. Cultures differ with respect to the empathy and logical enlightenment of each person. Confronting immediate situations impose difficult decisions; thus, the balance is an endeavour of inner torment when needs and circumstances are encroaching, but the consequences are always pivotal with respect to ‘shortcut choices.’ This is the human internal predicament that differs from person to person, all with compromising, and most times with life-altering results.

The ultimate spin of mind-altering drugs (MAD) is the proposal of the elevation of consciousness above the challenges of worldly obstacles. Obstacles that plunge us into fits of hopelessness and the fever of the blame game and the urge of the quick fix. MAD attempts to replace faith, prayer and actions through sincere works in the pursuit of solid ambitions. It denounces the reality check, which alerts us that in most situations our obstacles have been summoned by our own actions or have been thrust upon us by misplaced imaginary expectations of entitlement. They are gauntlets thrown at our feet by actions we should have addressed rather than have ignored. Politics is one, and career and trend choices are others. With politics, it is in our interest to explore the past actions of those who seek political office. If they have held office before, explore how did they treat the nation physically, mentally and spiritually. Not what they tell you now. Like the drug addict, career, but known corrupt politicians have perfected the methods of lying. They can even offer you an immediate release, but if you fail to see the big picture, the natural propensity for insincerity will emerge and creep into your social habitat when you are most vulnerable. One thing they understand is those who are earnest in what they believe, they are despised for that, but, they hold beggars, the vulnerable and opportunists in contempt, only as pawns in their scheme of things.

We have had nightmare years of escalated narcotics, from 1996-2014 tearing at our peace of mind. Courtney Crum-Ewing’s murder in 2015 was the last martyr of an era of evil, that wishes to clothe itself anew, we can never reflect on MAD in Guyana without reflecting on the PPP’s Jagdeo /Roger Khan years, and if we fail to learn from the past, then the future will be worse. That period occurred because that was an administration that possessed no moral character that had the power or credibility to halt any excess.