IN my publication on this page yesterday (Thursday), I used the term oligarchy which is a political concept that was applied to the man on horseback in Latin American economies (particularly Central America) in the 50s and 60s. In oligarchic Latin America, the plantation owner controlled the government.

We do not have an oligarchic system in Guyana. We never did and never will. I will stretch the concept by taking it out of economics and applying it to social activism in Guyana. By oligarchy in this country, I mean people who use status and influence to pressure and weaken the government. Some of those people have cultural contempt and some have political disdain for the PPP.

With the death of Stabroek News, one of the things I will miss is the comments on the online edition of the newspaper. There is no other compartment of present day Guyana that has showed me the deep and dangerous ignorance of this country than those online comments. I have learnt a lot about Homo Sapiens from the ignorance of these people.

You read these comments and no matter how educated you are, you cannot believe humans could embody such mental nothingness. These people saw the government as the only source of wrongdoing in Guyana. How in modern society can someone reduce a society only to what government does?

The real oligarchs in this country have never commented yet their presence is so destructive. Who are the real oligarchs in Guyana outside of the opposition parties? The obvious name is Glen Lall, the owner of Kaieteur News. The PPP hasn’t got and will never get someone with the oligarchic mentality of Glen Lall.

I wonder all the time if the Guyanese people at home and in the diaspora know who the people are that criticise the Ali presidency, and if Guyana will survive if they ever get into power. I wonder if the Guyanese people know the incredible level of intolerance of people who criticise the Ali Government and how dangerous that intolerance will become if they have state power.

I offer readers two examples that I never put in print before. They belong to my activist memory bank that is about 59 years of age. I was fairly friendly with WPA executive Wazir Mohamed. I was the first person he told that he was getting married. At the time, I was a Stabroek News columnist. I ran a column critical of the WPA and Wazir was livid with me and distanced himself from me from thereon. He got married shortly after, and I wasn’t invited.

I taught AFC executive, Trevor Williams at UG. Because of his politics, we became close. He would visit my home to discuss his politics. I was the first person he told that he was getting married. Trevor became a parliamentarian and sat on the sub-committee of parliament that dealt with education.

The committee held a session on UG. Obviously, my expectation was that he would bring up my UG contract termination. He didn’t. I remember my telephone conversation with him very well. I was at the Rubis gas station on the main highway at Bel Air. I protested his lack of political principles. Shortly after he got married and I was not invited. Those two examples will always stay with me. They remind me of how psychologically nasty this country is.

I never saw a comment from those online people who gave their opinions below the letters in the Stabroek News about Glen Lall. Mr. Lall is absolutely unqualified to criticise any government in Guyana whether, PNC or PPP. Mr. Lall gives no recognition to natural laws and man-made laws. Mr. Lall gives no recognition to the existence of humans.

This man runs a newspaper exactly the way the oligarch ran things in Latin America. His newspaper is simply a toy in his hands. He has no respect for any human on Planet Earth. I am not a perfect person, far from it, but I should never have stayed for 29 years as a columnist with the Kaieteur News. It is one of my flaws that I regret having.

I have said enough about the Stabroek News in my 38 years in the media so in passing I would say that paper was another oligarch; so were and are so many organisations and individuals in this land. The Guyana Human Rights Association is oligarchic in its mentality. Transparency International – Guyana Chapter is an oligarchic actor.

There are individuals who compromise The Usual Suspects that exhibit undiluted oligarchic behaviour. The Guyanese people watch and listen to them on a daily basis as they tell the nation that the Government of Guyana is insensitive and unresponsive to criticism. Beware the Greeks bearing gifts!

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.