“Life is a work in progress”
“There is no feeling in the system, the system is too cold, there is no love in the system, the system is just wrong.”
“We all know, yes we know, we shoulda know, how d ting go”
We live in a cold, unfair and indifferent world where unnecessary suffering and unfair misery abound in our social systems because of the domination, exploitation, manipulation and oppression of the majority by the few.
Notwithstanding this and because of it, humanity has a consistent and continuing struggle to achieve liberation from this nefarious and persistent abomination.
It involves deepening social, economic and political consciousness and engaging in non-violent direct action to compel our leaders to institute and promote policies to transform our society in a fundamental way so that we can achieve the necessary changes to advance our Democracy.
We must follow the footsteps of our ancestors who struggled under brutal, cruel and challenging conditions to gain our Freedom from the colonial oppressors.
We have a duty to play our part in the eternal relay and evolution that is connected to the advancement of our democracy, regardless of the challenges and obstacles we must face.
We must always live in and focus on the Now. However, we must forever be aware of, know and understand the lessons of our past to properly deal with the present and chart a path into the future that ensures progress and liberation.
***
We must all operate in society as agents of peace, unity and solidarity, working with all our fellow citizens, and seeking systemic and transformative change in our social order.
As a people who have experienced exploitation, domination and oppression, which continues, we must always be aware of this painful experience. Therefore, we cannot and must not, upon attaining our liberation, become the oppressors of the future.
Our focus must now be on advancing our democracy; we already have a political, social and economic infrastructure that facilitates this process.
Individuals and organisations must promote the debate. We must form reading clubs, discussion groups etc., involving youths and adults to encourage reading critical analysis and discussion in an ongoing effort to solve our problems.
We must have these discussions to generate ideas and find solutions. In these discussions, we must show integrity, courtesy and respect for each other.
We must rely on critical, objective and holistic thinking. We must always strive to avoid narrow-mindedness and superficiality, to see the bigger picture, to be frank, questioning and respectful and determined to solve problems in a fair and impartial manner.
The citizens must consistently seek to play a role in the governance of the society. We must awaken and become more interested in issues that affect our lives and future. We must overcome our complacency, our blind and irrational reliance on and loyalty to our leaders and demand consultation, accountability and transparency on significant issues that impact our lives and future. We must demand sanctions against our leaders for noncompliance with these safeguards.
***
Nongovernmental and charitable organisations, including the churches and political groups, must implement community projects and build progressive coalitions collaborating to promote positive change and transformation in our society.
We must hold discussions in order to advance our ideas, propose solutions to the problems, and demand that the political directorate consider them before any decision is made which affects the vital interests of the citizens and society.
***
The time has come for us to refocus and reform our economy and political system.
There is an urgent need to have a political system that includes the voices, views and oversight of the working people.
It must be inclusive and allow for the participation of the working people in their governance.
We need an economic system committed to the genuine and concrete development of the cooperative and small business sectors as an equal and viable option, to coexist with the private business sector as an engine of growth.
The government needs to show its commitment to the reform of our education, economic, social and political system to deepen the development and advancement of our Democracy.
***
It is now important for the citizens, including the laity of the different religions, to awaken from their slumber, their apathy, indifference and complacency.
We must now direct our leadership to assist us in developing family and community involvement, to help us with the organisation, infrastructure, volunteers, etc., to have continued community projects and education. This will be because of action taken and not just talk.
This involvement and redirection by our leadership will help us become self-organizing, self-reliant, socially conscious and community-oriented, which is crucial for the deepening of national consciousness.
***
We must now develop the maturity to own our responsibility without waiting for others to do it for us.
We must now strive with determination to put our faith and piety into action for the benefit of society and humanity.
We must learn that each person has a duty to start the process of personal growth and development of political and social consciousness.
We must recognise our duty to balance our search for individual advancement with our inherent responsibility to give back to society. We must make a life for ourselves, but at the same time, we must find and make the time to give back to society. We must become truly committed to playing a role, however small, in the development of our Democracy.
For the future, we need resolute, consistent and concrete actions by our leadership to reform our society to achieve the objectives of our democratic revolution where every creed and race find an equal place and no one is left behind.
The time has come to remind our leaders that they must be our mentors, role models and loyal servants. They are responsible to us and accountable to us and must therefore consult with us and have genuine regard for our views.
***
We must strive consistently with concrete policies, particularly in our education system, to transcend any inclination towards racism, chauvinism, racial prejudice and discrimination.
We must promote genuine mutual respect, understanding, trust, tolerance, solidarity and friendship among groups.
We must strive to overcome the embedded mistrust, and fear of other ethnic groups in our society by developing a genuine social and national consciousness, and patriotism in order to achieve unity in diversity.
***
We must call on our leadership in government and opposition, the churches, and other institutions and organisations and citizens to actively and consistently promote inter-group solidarity, healthy competition, cooperation and the mutual love and trust that hold together a democratic, multi-cultural, multiethnic and multi-religious community and society.
We must recognise and affirm the transcendent dignity of All humanity regardless of class or identity and connect with the spirit (identical and equal) in each of us as conscious, aware beings.
***
We must stop making excuses, overcome indifference, complacency and apathy, and take the steps necessary to liberate ourselves from mental slavery, manipulation, prejudice, and blind and irrational loyalty to our leadership.
We must become critical thinkers, frank, questioning, respectful and courageous in our continuing search for solutions and advancing our participatory democracy.
We must attain our objective of promoting unity, solidarity and harmony within our society.
We must see that in our society, it is the few that are consistently gaining substantial economic benefits. The political leadership elite, the business elite and other upper-level careerists and professionals are benefiting from our economic system, while the working class and working people receive the dregs that “trickle down” from the top.
In order to redress this growing imbalance and liberate the working people from the unending struggle to make a living in this society, we must resolutely and consistently seek to resurrect and implement the original goals, “The Perspectives for a New Society”, where we promote policies and strategies that “give greater economic power to the historically dispossessed groups, effect a more equitable distribution of the social product and greater popular participation in decisions affecting the community.”
We must now “wake up and live” to succeed in our continuing struggle to achieve freedom, justice and equity in our developing Democracy.
