I RESPONDED (yesterday, Tuesday) telephonically to a long email I received from someone whose anti-imperialist work I admire.
The conversation lasted so long that my credit almost ran out. Now I once wrote that I cannot afford an ice cream cone at $980 from the company owned by Terrence Campbell much less to spend thousands of dollars in a cell phone chat.
But it was one of the most engrossing conversations I had within the past few years because I injected philosophy into our exchange. The philosophical category I used was “conscience.” Before I relate my discussion with this nice lady, a word about what Chronicle columnist, Leonard Craig said to me.
Craig intoned that he could never understand how people could have left Kamala Harris and voted for Trump. I quickly replied that I would not have voted for Harris. I had every reason to choose Harris over Trump.
Harris has my DNA in her – Caribbean and Indian. But I vote for issues and could not have given Harris my ballot because there is an inner soul of Homo sapiens that holds civilisation intact and that is called a “conscience.”
You cannot violate conscience for purpose of any cause whether it is a higher cause or valued cause. Conscience overrides values. So, this anti-imperialist lady put it to me that I am not generous to the cause of the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement in Guyana because I do not like the politics of The Usual Suspects (TUS) and the Mulatto/Creole class (MCC).
She told me that the TUS and MCC have made a valuable contribution to the protection of the environment and that is a positive action of TUS and MCC that I need to know about. She spoke very long and it was unusual of me not to butt in. But I waited patiently until she was finished to deliver my lengthy sermon.
I started out with the distinction between the physical environment and social, moral and political environment in Guyana. I put a simple question to this genuine anti-imperialist activist –ask TUS, MCC, Guyana Human Rights Association, Transparency Guyana Institute, SASOD, Red Thread (they all overlap) what have they done during the five months of attempted rigging to save the social environment of Guyana.
This gentle lady’s point is that in life there are contradictions and I, Frederick Kissoon, must understand that you choose a cause and overlook the contradictions inherent in those that espouse a worthy cause. I told her that I cannot do what she asks because of conscience, and I told her conscience is the bottom line.
So, TUS and MCC want to save the physical environment but they want to destroy the moral, political and social environment because of colour and class. Not satisfied with supporting rigged elections in 2020 or refusing to condemn it, TUS and MCC were at it again in 2025 when they cast aspersions on the integrity of the 2025 elections.
They cited two factors – Commonwealth citizens voting and the truckload of Commonwealth East Indians that arrived at the polling stations. Briefly – all Commonwealth citizens vote in national elections of all Commonwealth countries and the foreign East Indians were transported by their employers. GECOM issued a statement condemning TUS and MCC organisations of creating mischief
I insisted to my friend that my conscience would not allow me to participate in forums with TUS and MCC on issues of the physical environment and Gaza because they are horrible, anti-democratic people that are unconcerned with the right of Guyanese to vote.
She agreed with every point I made about the concept of conscience but insisted that contradictions are inherent and we have to deal with them. This was her sticking point. She continued to argue that Gaza is so important that I must acknowledge the contradictions humans have to live with inside the politics of liberation.
I certainly rejected that because there can be no help from Guyana for Gaza if there is no Guyana. There would have been no Guyana in 2020 because we were close to returning to permanent power. There would have been no Guyana in September 2020 because the GHRA was fuelling the fire that two African boys were killed by East Indians in a burst over election victory exuberance.
Why do you want to save the physical environment but show no concern for free and fair election that guarantees the stability of a country?
I concluded by advising my friend that she should ask the people in TUS and MCC that she knows that since they mouth off about everything the government does, can they tell her what they have written about the 2020 election rigging and the Commission of Inquiry into it. The answer is nothing.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.