I do not share the belief or opinion that civilization has come a far, far way since men hunted and gathered because of science, technology and medicine.

Those three areas of knowledge have made the existence of life possible, but life would have weathered away and die if the human soul did not recognize that nothing in life can be saved if the human was not a rational, sane person that protected the ethical foundation of civilization.

In other words, humans offered the world a device, moral rights, for it to continue to grow by sheltering other humans from the nasty minds of their fellow humans who could have used science, medicine and technology for their own selfish purposes. If there weren’t teachers, journalists, scholars, writers, judges, human rights crusaders, among others, no amount of science and medicine would have saved us.

Perhaps the greatest example of how the moral foundation of civilization preserves civilization is the oxymoronic nature of the United States of America. The achievements in science, technology, engineering and medicine past 100 hundred in the United States is simply breath-taking and beyond normal. This is an extraordinary country when it comes to all aspects of science. Today, the US can create any scientific or technological or engineering instrument that can make the world a better place to live in.

But the US can collapse any moment because its moral foundation is shaky, and perhaps the adverb, “extremely” may not be inappropriate to use. In the area of race relations, respect for human life, respect for the values of the family, respect for the inherent worth of a human, the obsession with violence, the worship of the gun, extremism in the pursuit of pleasure, the US is at the bottom of the countries that make up this world.

The sociology of the US at the moment threatens the continuation of its scientific greatness. There needs to be an obsession with moral values if the current shape of US sociology is to be saved from implosion. This has been a long introduction to the application of moral values in understanding the moral paucity of the people who live abroad and criticize foreign investments, particularly EXXON, in Guyana.

There has to be a moral example on the part of those who don’t want foreign investors to be allowed huge concessions in Guyana. I write this column here with the exchange between Dr. Randolph Persaud and David David Hinds on the denouncing of EXXON in Guyana by Eusi Kwayana. Kwayana actually used the word, “neo-colonial.” in describing EXXON’s relationship with Guyana.

Kwayana is not the first and will not be the last of foreign-based Guyanese to criticize the oil investment in this land. But where is the moral example in the foreign Guyanese that wants us to stop oil production? I went through the list of those who want EXXON out and it is worth repeating now that Kwayana has added his name to the list.

Kwayana has lived in California for 25 years. If we are going to accuse Guyana of having a neo-colonial relationship with EXXON, then what about neo-colonial companies in California? That American state has the largest hi-tech industry where research in artificial intelligence may well destroy the world. What is Kwayana doing in California? The last time I checked Cheddi Jagan, Forbes Burnham, Ashton Chase, Yesu Persaud, Janet Jagan and others died in Guyana.

Sociology professor, Dr. Percy Hintzen disparaged Guyana’s fossil fuel industry in a column he wrote for the series “In The Diaspora” . Dr. Hintzen left Guyana over 40 years ago and settled in California. He taught for over 30 years at the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Hintzen knows only too well that neo-colonial companies fund Berkeley.

In the same column, Hintzen, a Guyanese says that he considers his existence to be based on his Creole ethnicity. But strangely, he lives in a country that is predominantly Caucasian. The last time I check on my own existence I was living in a country where the president, prime minister and a majority of the Cabinet are dark or brown-skinned, where the opposition leaders, the senior security officers and a majority of the judiciary are brown- skinned. If Hintzen wants Guyana to get out of the fossil fuel industry and is proud of his Creole ethnicity, then, what is he doing in California?

Time does not permit many other names to be discussed. But Dr. Alissa Trotz wants Guyana to get out of oil production. She lives in Canada. The majority share holder of Stabroek News, Isabelle DeCaires wants the same thing. She lives in the UK. Both countries have neo-colonial companies that exploit the Third World.