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By Selwyn R. Cudjoe, Ph.D.
June 4, 2024
In the early days of our democracy, Eric Williams and CLR James, founders of the People’s National Movement (PNM), looked to Greece as a prime example of a well-functioning democracy. Williams elaborated on this theme in a speech at the 1959 Rome Black Writers’ Conference.
“Nowhere in the history of Western civilization is this truth more evident than in ancient Greece. Although it was founded on the fundamental fact of slavery, the Greek civilization was passionate about freedom, and its people actively and directly participated in the governance of their cities…
“The symbol of a highly civilized democracy is the recognition that the political leader is a cultured person—not an abstract culture or BroadCast Unitedlectual sophistication, but the culture of the entire nation, the culture of the entire city-state, of which he is the representative.”
James explores similar themes in Every Cook Can Rule, discussing the relationship between ordinary people and government. “Perhaps the most striking aspect of Greek democracy was administration… which was based on what is known as categorization, or, more simply, selection by lot. The vast majority of Greek officials were chosen by putting their names into a hat and appointing the person whose name was drawn.”
The Greeks refused to believe that ordinary citizens “could not accomplish almost all the business of government… For the Greeks, the word isonomia meant equality and was used interchangeably with democracy. For the Greeks, the two words meant the same thing.”
In How the World Made the West, Oxford professor Josephine Quinn shows how democracy was practiced in the fifth century B.C. She cites Herodotus to support her view: “When the people rule…offices are chosen by lot, the holders are accountable, and all decisions are submitted to the people.” She concludes: “The fundamental principle of ancient democracy is that every free man (women have no vote) has a direct say in the government; that he may be appointed to government office, regardless of his class, views, or experience; and that he is then accountable.”
Regardless of professional status, everyone has the right to express their opinion on the government every day. No one can serve in office for more than a year or so. At the end of their term, they must answer to the voters, and if the voters are not satisfied with their response, they may be exiled.
Today, we see it differently. Our grieving leader hops on a plane, travels to Ghana to attend a party, and comes back with news that Ghana offers good business opportunities for the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. He then travels to India to discuss setting up a cricket academy while the Indian Prime Minister is busy with his own elections. He returns to the island, takes the site allocated to the Trinidad and Tobago National Movement to build a national headquarters, and gives it to the Indians because a small committee of the Cabinet agreed to do so.
Who authorized that small cabinet to give these lands to Indian businessmen to build a cricket academy? No one seems to know. The cabinet must have been right to do so. I don’t think any citizen was consulted on the matter.
South Africa’s African National Council is paying the price for this arrogance as the country’s president, Joseph Zuma, sold out the country to three Indian entrepreneurs.
In the midst of a war with Russia, Ukrainian President Zelensky fired his defense minister for not meeting his goals for defending his country. The head of the Russian Empire, Vladimir Putin, faced with the possibility of losing a war with Ukraine, made similar changes because his country was not meeting its war goals. Our national security minister has been failing at his job for the past seven years. He is still the head of the NSA.
Trinidad and Tobago has a bad record when it comes to crime. A white Canadian YouTuber (Christopher Hughes) came to the island and found and videotaped some of the “worst” people on the island over a two-week period. He was charged with sedition. His crime was: “He allegedly posted videos of people claiming to be gang members.” He did what our law enforcement officers have been unable to do for the past decade.
Question: How could a stranger with a camera find such heart-wrenching and painful scenes, while our long-serving law enforcement officers turned a blind eye to these things? Or, are they really unaware of them?
Has our democracy become alienated from the people? Have our professional politicians failed to involve ordinary people in the governance of our country? These are questions we all must answer.
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