GOVERNMENT’S outreach to Linden, which unveiled a range of historic socioeconomic projects for the town and demonstrated a deep care and concern for the mining town from state leaders, signals a refreshing era and dispensation of national cooperation, a real reaching out beyond divides and political walls to make sure that every Guyanese in every corner of this land benefits from Guyana’s imminent rise in the status of the world. President Ali shows this knack for generating a wave of hope and optimism when he rubs shoulders with the citizenry. Wherever he visits, in communities across the country and interacts with people of all walks of life and every political, religious or ethnic persuasion, the President reaches out to them with a genuine, tangible, sincere and authentic desire to see their socioeconomic status improve by leaps and bounds.

This would make Guyanese look forward to the nation’s future with hope, when they see their President reach into every corner of this land to bring real development and to generate genuine prosperity and to see Guyana rise to its magnificent legendary potential, without any consideration at all for political or ethno-religious persuasion. The newspapers reported one resident as lauding government’s Linden outreach, noting that the President knew what the town needed instinctively, even before she could give a speech about it. Also, President Ali instantly solved a problem that a re-migrant Guyanese was facing, causing the businessman investor to gush praises for the government.
A team of ministers visited the mining town with the President, and every minister posted on social media their utter joy and pleasure to be in the town and its environs, enjoying their interaction with residents. Citizens also posted excited pictures of their encounters with ministers.

Here is what is so significant about this state trip to Linden: this is the main political stronghold of the opposition coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), and the Alliance For change. Yet, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government and state officials walked into town as heroes, with a red-carpet welcome. Lindeners came out in droves to meet with them and share their concerns and cares with freedom of and heart and soul.
Guyana stands unique in world history, as the only Cooperative Republic in the world. This spirit of cooperation underlines the nation’s being, its heart and soul. When the coalition was in government, it seems they ignored this idea, that not only in name, but also in substance, Guyana could be a global example of a nation that knows what it means to exercise the value of cooperation as its national ethos.

The PPP/C government is exercising this cooperation concept with real teeth, and hopefully this national policy would engineer a Guyanese nation that would always see cooperation as the main driver in how Guyanese relate to each other. In this new era, the opposition would hopefully learn to develop the same spirit and join the journey of Guyana’s progressive forward move.
It is wonderful to see the country flow along so smoothly, with the few negative voices who refuse to get on board the development train not finding an influential national platform. Although some media houses still promote divisive and non-cooperating viewpoints, Guyanese citizens are assured that their government today works in their interests.

Human society suffers from a serious anthropological fact, called the scapegoating phenomenon; a theory that the French thinker Rene Girard developed, and which forms an instructive sociopolitical consideration, when one looks to design a constructive, forward-thinking, cooperating national platform. Scapegoating, on the political front, is the process whereby naysayer elements show up in society to find fault, scapegoat and blame others for perceived shortcomings. They refuse to see any good happening. Even for such an amazing and positive Linden government outreach, for example, some folks would find fault, criticise the outreach, and scapegoat others. The scapegoating phenomenon is an aspect of base human nature at play, but as happens with so much of human nature that is base and uncouth, nations learn to implement democratic structures and systems to prevent scapegoating from harming the country.
Today, Guyana stands secured that the President and every minister and Cabinet member, could be engaging personally with Guyanese in every community across the land; so much so that naysayers are finding it hard to find traction with their negative spirit and scapegoating agendas.

Guyana is now on the path to eradicating the scapegoating agenda before any long-term damage afflicts the 55-year- old body politic. The PPP/C seems to have mastered this leadership skill and the President and ministers are all on board, their shoes hitting the ground every day. The President is leading an extraordinary state policy to personally reach out to, engage with, and provide real, tangible solutions to citizens’ concerns. The Cooperative Republic of Guyana is on the move up, and the state-citizen embrace that happened at Linden is a magnificent transformation in how Guyanese cooperate and work together for everybody’s benefit and development. Guyana is in a new dispensation of real, on-the-ground cooperation, and the leadership of the government to engineer such a national alignment must be lauded and encouraged.