by Brian JM Joseph
Why aren’t young people interested and passionate about politics? Is it because of the social construct of our society, that young people aren’t deeply passionate about it here in Grenada and the Caribbean at large? Is it because they are political illiterates and they are not knowledgeable in areas of political science?
I’m wondering why they are not motivated to get involved and become part of the national building process, unlike a few who sees this is an opportunity to serve their country diligently, therefore they want to be part of a community of interest. I just love this quote by Aristotle and it reads ‘You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honour.’
Our youths need positive role models who can inspire and ignite the passion of pride and patriotism within themselves. Despite the absence of positive role models, we can self-motivate ourselves to be the change we want to see in our communities and in our country by becoming the leaders of tomorrow. I believe the time has come for the leaders of tomorrow to stand up and take action in other for positive changes to come ‘we must act now’ there is no time like the present. Plato the Philosopher once said and I quote ‘Rhythm and melody enter into the soul of the well-instructed youth and produce there a certain mental harmony hardly obtainable in any other way’ end of quote. I want to be a shining example by opening up doorways for others to follow. I believe I can be of valuable service to my country in a meaningful way Grenada needs trustworthy individuals like myself and others who can make valuable contributions towards her growth and development.
Any opportunity given to serve one’s country ‘he/she should be grateful and honoured to do so.’ I’m wondering how many of us are aware of national pride and patriotism being a citizen of one’s country. It is every citizen’s right to serve his/ her country despite their educational background because we often limit and deny ourselves opportunity in serving our country whether it be as a politician or statesman, believing it’s the job of a lawyer, doctor, clergyman or an educator. My word of advice to you it’s not as a citizen you are entitled to serve reputation-wise; I would recommend reputable character is of key importance. Aristotle said and I quote ‘Character is determined by choice, not opinion’ end of quote. Politics shouldn’t be about academic achievement but rather how well individuals can use knowledge to create opportunities, enhance growth and development of their country, the land of which they called home sweet home. One must be skilful in art of being innovative, he/she must be balance with even-handedness with no room for partiality.
Politicians present and past have made politics a dirty game over the years I have been looking at comparative politics and the studies that’s applied to political phenomena and it rather baffling when it comes to politics here in Grenada and within the Caribbean region. Most unscrupulous politicians speak on a basis of radical scepticism and they are not truthful in their approach because their arguments are usually baseless and leads to a self-contradictory or a logically unacceptable conclusion. In my honest opinion, the majority of Caribbean leaders and politicians are not exemplary because of dishonesty, mediocrity, morality and double standards. Tell me who would want to follow in the footsteps of those rogue individuals, unless one loves improprieties they will see them as role models.
This is a very interesting quote from Plato the Philosopher as it reads: ‘The well-nurtured youth is one who would see most clearly whatever was amiss in ill-made works of man or ill-grown works of nature, and with a just distaste would blame and hate the ugly even from his earliest years and would give delighted praise to beauty, receiving it into his soul and being nourished by it, so that he became a man of gentle heart’ end of quote. I hate when politicians used heuristic technique defined as an estimate made without using adequate or complete information, or, more strongly, as an estimate arrived at by guesswork or conjecture no wonder why some of them are the laughing stock of the day. Their empty promises are based on guesstimation techniques and not logicism.
We need to take a page from the book of these various heroes that impacted and touched lives. These men were my role models and they are as follows: Sir Eric Matthew Gairy, Maurice Bishop, Tubal Uriah Butler, Theophilus Albert Marryshow, Thomas Sankara, Nelson Mandela, PLO Lumumba, Fidel Castro, Dr John Garang and Eric Williams. Those were the men who fuelled my passion in becoming a social advocate. The time has come for a new generation of young and innovative politicians to rise up here in Grenada and in the Caribbean and make differences. I have noticed over the years how SOCIO-CULTURAL CHANGE has been affecting us as a nation whether it be in a negative or positive way and we have learned to adopt to the various changes. We have grown tired of the lies and lack of opportunities for young persons. We have grown weary of the old guards that keep letting us down, they have fallen asleep many time guarding the gates and we cannot tolerate those behaviours.
I’m overwhelmed by a state of melancholy and nostalgia longing to see Grenada return to its glory days again when it was once a unified country with love, national pride and patriotism that was additional to what we had before.
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