Are we really free?

Michael Abrahams,  Online Columnist

As we prepare to celebrate another year of Independence, I have been reflecting  on our achievements over the past 52 years and wondering what the hell went  wrong.

  Yes, we have achieved quite a bit since August 6, 1962, but, based  on the resources that we possess, or possessed before successive governments  plundered, pillaged, raped and sold us out, we should have been at a much  better place by now.

  Slavery, at least the Middle Passage, may be over, but mentally we are still  chained to some of the ideals our enslavers drummed into our heads, but have  since abandoned or cast aside after seeing the light. As a matter of fact, it  may have been easier for us to escape from the physical shackles that held us  than to free ourselves from our mental bondage.

  For example, the British no longer have any use for a buggery law, but not only  do we hold on to ours, we made it a hot-button topic during our last general  election. The Europeans brought us religion, but have now separated Church and  State more effectively than we have, if we have at all. Somehow, we are failing  to see that our captors have moved on, but we are still living in a 19th-century  time warp.

  And we still have a colour and skin tone issue in this country, with many  wishing to distance themselves from their African heritage. We continue to  cater to, and favour, those of lighter complexion, even in our own families,  with many of our populace obsessed with bleaching their skin colour. Our police  force allows its female members to wear Eurocentric hairstyles but has banned  the more Afrocentric dreadlocks.

  Adolf Hitler said "The receptivity of the masses is very limited, their  intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous." The man  was evil, but used propaganda to control the masses better than most, and  evidently knew what he was talking about. Unfortunately, we see the sentiments  expressed in that quote being played out with regularity in our country.

  We do have short memories and demonstrate this splendidly at  election time, where we see the political loyalists continue to support and  re-elect leaders and parties that repeatedly fail them, with the party faithful  forgetting the multitude of lies, broken promises and scandals in the past.

  Hitler also said, "In consequence of these facts, all effective propaganda  must be limited to a very few points and must harp on these slogans until the  last member of the public understands what you want him to understand by your slogan."

  We have seen that principle at work, haven't we? Slogans  such as "deliverance is near" and "we put people first"  have got into the collective head space of the masses when, realistically, we  have yet to be delivered from our dismal socio-economic plight and the only  people that are consistently put first are politicians and ardent supporters  aligned with parties in power.

  Successive administrations have repeatedly failed to motivate, inspire and lead  by example. Instead, many have spent their time in office empowering their  constituents with a sense of entitlement, where handouts are expected and  utilities such as electricity are seen as an inherent right to be accessed for  free.

  We have allowed them to brainwash us into accepting unethical,  dishonest and, in some cases, illegal activity on their part as par for the  course and have permitted them to instill into us an ‘a nuh nuttn’ mentality.

  So, as we celebrate 52 years of Independence, we need to awaken from our  slumber and cast aside our mental shackles. It is time for us to take our  leaders to task, to stop making excuses for our indiscipline, to stop accepting  mediocrity and slackness as the norm, and to make a commitment to unselfishly  do all that we can to improve and elevate this land of ours.

  Michael Abrahams is a gynaecologist and obstetrician, comedian and  poet. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or  tweet @mikeyabrahams.