Freedom!

“The highest patriotism is not a blind acceptance of official policy, but a love of one’s country deep enough to call her to a higher plain” – George McGovern

On Saturday, Guyana celebrated its 43rd anniversary of being a Republic. We, the Guyanese people, celebrated our 43rd anniversary of being a Republic. Thousands of people celebrated one event. They celebrated one of the most momentous days in our country’s history.
And sure, there was some excessive vulgarity and all, but at least people from all of our diverse cultures were out there celebrating Guyana. And anyone studying history would notice that the common thread between all of the successful countries was that they were united. And isn’t that why one of the most popular colonial strategies was to ‘divide and conquer’? It still works – notice what the EU did with our sugar in the ACP. It’s much harder to tear down a united country than a divided country full of people who’re suspicious and wary of each other.
But that’s not to say these ‘united’ countries became “utopias”. After all, even the word ‘utopia’ comes from the Greek words ‘ou’ meaning ‘not’ and ‘topos’ meaning ‘place’. Together they form “utopia”, the place that cannot be. Unity is a necessary but not sufficient condition for progress.
Successful countries must have citizens who can put aside their differences and personal vendettas long enough to make sure that their country is moving forward in the right direction. They must have enough foresight to see that squabbling in the present wouldn’t guarantee them a secure future. In fact, it might just guarantee them not having a future. We’ll just have to bury the hatchet (to use a cliché) and do what’s best for the development of our country.
And we saw a bit of that here in Guyana on Saturday.  Thousands of people, from all of our cultures were out there celebrating our country. And for most, the only thing that defined them was their nationality. Saturday, the only identity that mattered was being Guyanese. All other subgroups – race, religion, whatever – were put aside. Saturday, everyone was busy celebrating their country as a whole.
And if that attitude of ‘putting aside differences’ could be translated to everyday life, wouldn’t that be great. I mean, think about it, even if you take one step forward with your right foot, you still can’t move forward if your left foot is dragging you backwards. You’ll just be left standing there, like a pillar of salt, looking fairly ridiculous with two feet that refuse to agree on anything.
So Republic Day has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean that spirit of togetherness we all felt should depart as well. We need to capture that feeling of being Guyanese. Capture that feeling, remember it, savour it and use it to remind ourselves why we need to work together to develop our country. Our country is worth a lot more than having citizens who’re constantly fighting and bickering with each other.
Guyana’s a wonderful place to live – no earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes. We have a lovely rainforest, spectacular rainforests – we’re El Dorado (minus the gold-paved roads and golden temples, of course). Location-wise, our chunk of Earth is pretty great. And we’re a free chunk of Earth – we’re Republic!
Our ancestors worked to get us free, to make us a Republic, now we need to do our part to work together to develop Guyana.