…of Harris and Muckraker
Adam Harris is an old head when it comes to propaganda. He’s been spinning lies for almost half a century now – first for Burnham and the PNC at the Chronicle and then for The Mook over at the MuckrakerKN. But if day in and day out you’re mixing lies and truth, at some point you’ll end up not knowing which the heck is which. Or you end up believing your own BS. Or psychotic (psychosis??).
Take Harris’ column in MuckrakerKN. The man bemoaned the murders committed in Guyana. But then he had the unmitigated gall to complain that “news agencies” and now the “electronic media even publish the gruesome photographs”!!! In “chilling detail”, he complains! Here’s the fella who led the way – with his untutored “boss man”, as he fawningly refers to The Mook – in destroying the sensibilities of the Guyanese people with photos of headless bodies and bullet ridden children. And now he calls them “gruesome”?
It wasn’t gruesome when he and the Mook decided to print them. The money made from the public’s morbid fascination dulled the gruesomeness. “There was a time when the public made known their displeasure at the publication of these photographs in the newspapers,” Harris wrote. “Today, the country is taking these things in stride. In fact, the younger people actually rush to see these photographs with ghoulish glee. SOMETHING MUST BE WRONG WITH MY COUNTRY.”
Something IS definitely wrong in Guyana. And it’s that people like The Mook and Harris can be allowed to get away with killing the moral fibre of the people of this country with their publication of filth and titillation. And now complain about it!! We had long warned about this effect: that people would begin to see the horror as the norm. This is a normal human reaction – how much horror or filth can you put up with? You sit in a latrine for a while and pretty soon you don’t even notice the stench. You even read the newspaper.
And the danger we pointed out before – to no avail – is if people don’t become outraged by a horror, then that horror will never be eradicated. It is the norm. We don’t even hold our noses. But the willful blindness of Harris doesn’t stop there. He goes on to lay blame for the people’s incapacity for moral outrage. And guess whose behind he rubs his doo-doo on? The police!!!
We know the police aren’t choir boys but making children “rush to see these photographs with ghoulish glee”? This is being certifiably psychotic.
…of stakeholders in budget
From some media reports, there seems to be a big disjunct between the government (specifically the Finance Ministry) and the “stakeholders” in the budgetary process. The latter act as if their name means they’re “holding stakes”, which they’re supposed to plunge into the heart of the finance minister. As if he’s Count Dracula. They’ve forgotten that they got their name because they’re supposed to have a “stake” (a part) in the outcome of the process.
The opposition’s the greatest culprit here. They want to control and write the entire budget – not surprising (but illegal), since they want to take over the executive. So they aren’t even showing up for meetings to discuss their suggestions. But the recent meetings with the GPSU and FITUG – the representatives of workers – indicated that they somehow expect the Finance Ministry as bound to adopt their proposals – lock, stock and barrel.
Everybody better understand this: the Finance Ministry has to consider the welfare of the entire country – not just special interests. The whole is greater than even the sum of the parts.
…on Caricom
The Caricom secretary general claimed “reforms” are under way. Who’s he kidding? Until we have a Caricom executive body with teeth, we’re just spinning wheels. And wasting money on inflated salaries and perks.