We Grenadians, at home and in the Diaspora, have just undergone the procession of formalities of Westminster-style constitutional governmental arrangement, though it definitely didn’t cater for the absence of an opposition. And formalities are applauded, most certainly, when they are substantive in maintaining a particular order which, by the way, you get to have an input in as far as the kind of society you see to be warranted.
The current order in our beloved homeland needs to be constant in ascertaining that all stakeholders are included in the process. To do so, we ought to remind ourselves of the context in which our economic, political and social environments are being ordered and orchestrated.
As citizens of this land, Grenadians are towing the line of a culture engendered by imperialistic dependency; the kind most of us fought against passionately against with our spirits, hearts and bodies during our revolutionary struggle for self-efficacy and self-sufficiency (in areas we are quite capable) with the conversion of our natural resources into finished goods; therefore, transforming our economy from one that has been poised for greater foreign entanglement via a tourism sector, as well as the light manufacturing industry that existed then, and has been at the same scale for the most part, which does not properly support the aim to bestow a quality of life to match the sacrifices rendered in the upkeep of these industries.
The experimental phase with the manufacturing of fruit nectars and the salting of locally caught fish, as was beginning to take root under the leadership of the People’s Revolutionary Movement and its government (as a collective venture), has long been cast away for the domain of the hoteliers, ushering the disproportional prioritization of tourism compared to the revitalization of agribusiness/sector and greater attention toward diversifying our economy.
I sense now is a good time to remind you, that TNP (The New National Party), NNP (New National Party), and NDC (National Democratic Congress) are of the same creation, in that they share the same historical origin, being offshoots/ amalgamations of Hubert Blaize’s GNP (Grenada National Party). And it (GNP) might have appeared progressive in the colonial era when it came into being, as was the GULP (under the leadership of Eric Gairy, who turned out to be another hotelier), the party that led the charge for independence, until the latter provided an autocratic form of governance emblematic of the former colonial power in that of Great Britain that the Grenadian masses could no longer stomach.
U.S President Ronald Reagan understood the conservative characteristic of a Blaize and his interest in maintaining the social order that existed post-colonialism (proper), which the PRG sought to disrupt in bringing about progressive forces in all aspects of the Grenadian society, including education, universal franchise, labor organizing, health care, etc. Hence, we are left with and thus deprived by the legacy of a U.S intervention and resultant installment and subsequent endorsement of hotelier Hubert Blaize and his protégés, where we are desperately in “need” of foreign investment in our tourism sector and everywhere else.
NNP clearly captured the reigns of political power in the Spice Isle from their sister party, NDC, however, the present dynamic of a two-party system in electoral politics is very much indicative of the solidification of our lack of interest in history, in a consciousness of self as a freedom-loving people, in falling for the illusions of capitalistic democracy (an oxymoron), failing to realize that we have lost our way.
Instead, we are making ourselves more entrenched in their paradigm of total dominance of capital (the moneyed few); seeing what the trail it has demonstrated even in the developed nations, yet not taking heed. Our capitulation as a people has left us with what we think is a choice in voting NNP or NDC: the illusion as it seeks to manifest itself in our electoral politics and thus the governance of our tri-isle state.
Such events should explain the general stagnation, with unemployment constantly hovering in double digits, and the seeming incapability in reversing the mounting food-import bill we have been laden with, even before the onset of the current world economic climate. Not to mention, the further expansion of our debt burden to multinational cartels such as the World Bank and the IMF every decade, which now is in the billions (for a nation with roughly one hundred thousand in population, most of whom is having a mighty hard time eking out a living).
These are all symptoms of a festering disease we have been inflicted with, and would continue to suffer its impact should we accept this “normal” as our reality. As a national, I appeal to you to cease the practice of honoring the parade of the current formalities, and organize to vote for a Revolutionary Grenada, one that activates the masses at once, with one destiny, one plight in mind, to be able to chart our own course in history, as a people with a rich tradition of struggle, to be liberated: with remembrance of the spirits of Julien Fedon, T.A. Marryshow, Uriah Butler, and Maurice Bishop.
