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Me Tarzan. You Basically Words


There are certain words and phrases that never gets old; "I love you" is one such word, "Your cheque's ready" is another such word. Words like, "If elected i promise..."... Not so much.
Elections have become a nuisance to my soul and a pestilence to my ears. Unfortunately, elections are akin to a year long Christmas to most; I find that disturbing.

Gifts, gifts for all! Improvements everywhere! The things that you should have been given for four years, you receive on the fifth. It's like how earth creatures think that poor people only eat at Christmas. Take apples! Stuff your face with grapes! Eat, eeeeeeat! This is how I view elections and all the gift giving that follows. Mind you, these things that the populace continues to get excited about are considered basic amenities. This means it's not parade worthy to get what you're supposed to be getting already.

You're SUPPOSED to have adequate housing. You're SUPPOSED to have more than decent healthcare. You're SUPPOSED to have schools that are infrastructually and intellectually sound. You're SUPPOSED to have a decent working wage and have acceptable standards for living for the elderly. These things are called BASIC for a reason. So if these are basic, why then are our voting patterns still based on them? Why do we still get excited upon hearing that our prospective candidates want to 'give' us these amenities? Shouldn't we - after 50 plus years of independences- be looking forward to an actual future?




Recently I said to some friends that what I'd like to see in a manifesto is not more houses or laptops; not increased pensions and the like. I'd like to see, "we intend to position Trinidad and Tobago as the authority on scientific research in the Caribbean by 2019. Starting with..." (list policies, plans etc). This is not to say that houses and running water isn't important but it's what I hear bandied about every five years. It's getting old.


How about a national server where school work can be uploaded and downloaded thus maintaining productivity in a country that never finishes school repairs on time.


How about (as my friend and sister, Stacy said) electronic textbooks so children wouldn't have to chug 200 books a term (that becomes obsolete after week four).


How is it that we still don't have viable, hassle free WiFi hotspots across the country?
How about a space programme? I keep harping on it because an energy economy with the intellectual capital we possess CAN and SHOULD invest in a space programme. Might sound far fetched to some but isn't that the point; to boldly go, to boldly THINK beyond the norm?

Aren't you fed up clapping like a seal for the same promises and general election rhetoric? Don't you want more? Don't you DESERVE more? As elections heat up and the manifestoes are being written up, please consider some new words. Please.

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