THE essential problem in this country is the corrugated mind that roams this large country. Now a mind can be contorted without the awareness of its possessor that his/her mind is essentially a damaged one. There is a very brilliant concept in the writings of Karl Marx, one of civilization’s greatest thinkers. He wrote about “false consciousness.”
The term is descriptively simple to comprehend. You believe and accept something that has no factual existence. The formidable task in detecting a shambolic psychology is how you know the person’s mental make-up is really a lost cause or it is simply a deception.
When he was Prime Minister of the UK, Tony Blair joined the Americans in bombing Iraq. President Bush convinced him that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). But there is a huge amount of opinion in the studies of International Relations that think Blair was lying then and continues to lie. He simply wanted to please Bush and use the WMDs as a pretext. But of course, we will never know if Blair was telling the truth about what he truly felt.
I thought of writing this column based on a letter in the media that I read that carried the signature, “a concerned Guyanese mother.” This mother’s letter is an appeal to the Gen-Z of Guyana to raise their voices out of concern about things happening in Guyana. She really means, governmental behavior but she hid her true intention without resort to overt language.
Here is the part of her submission that made me compose this commentary here. I quote her: “Amid the deluge of heartbreaking stories on this tragedy, it is heartening to learn of instances where the country’s Gen-Z have publicly voiced concerns that are widely shared. And yet the Government has likened such reaction — and dismissively so — to noise.”
It is because of this quote here, I use the words in the headline of this column. There are two fundamental faults in the thinking of this “goodly’ mother. But how do we know she is sincere or just being like so many in this country that see Guyana not by the reality that descends on us each day, but how they want to see Guyana
First, I do not accept there is a factual foundation for the statement that the Gen-Z section of the Guyanese population voiced concern over the ferry tragedy. Now, my point is not to be confused with what the Gen-Z ought to do, but rather if they did it. I support the nation’s expression of sentiment over the ferry disaster.
But to have an infinitesimal amount of youths, specifically from UG, picket the Office of the President and describe that as Gen-Z speaking out is not factual. We have 10 Regions in Guyana and the “goodly” mother should direct me to Gen-Z’s demonstrative expressions over the ferry disaster in the other 9 Regions and in Region 4 outside of Georgetown.
What the “goodly” mother has written reminds me of two episodes in recent times. When there was the violent rampage from Buxton based gunmen between 2002-2005, only parts of Region 4 showed some amount of fear. If in those days you went to the other 9 Regions it was if you were living in another country. People were not distressed about what was taking place in the corridors of East Coast Demerara. Yet you would read about people saying that Buxton gunmen paralyzed Guyana.
Secondly, when there was a crescendo of anger over the death of Adrianna Younge but only parts of Region 3 were tense. In the other 9 Regions, it was life as normal. Yet opposition personalities made it out like Guyana was in trouble. This is the mistake the “goodly” mother made. A handful of UG students does not represent the 6,000 students UG has and the 800,000 Gen-Z youths in Guyana.
Finally, the “goodly” mother noted that the Government of Guyana described the concerns of the Gen-Z folks over the ferry as “noise.” This is not true. This is not factual. It was the Prime Minister that rightly used the word, “noise” to refer to the calls from the opposition for the resignation of Minister Juan Edghill. I cannot recall anyone in government at the Cabinet level using the word “noise” about the picket exercise of that handful of students from UG.
So is the “goodly” mother a victim of false consciousness, or is she part of the perennial destructive fault of this society? She didn’t provide her name. But if she doesn’t apologise to the government over the “noise accusation” then we know she embodies the destructive fault that thrives in this country.

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.