Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
May 06, 2013 Letters
Dear Editor,
I have a question: Would you rather be very wealthy but live in Guyana, or not be so wealthy but live in America a comfortable middle class life?
I have friends who live in Guyana who are extremely wealthy and enjoy living there. They have no problem living in a developing country with all of the bribery, corruption, lawlessness, unethical behaviour, garbage problems, flooding problems, poverty, and sexual abuse of young girls.
My friends tell me that they are happy as long as they’re making money. They don’t let any of the weaknesses of the country bother them. They get use to it because they lived their entire lives in it. They don’t like it but, they adapt to it. The bottom line for my friends is the money they’re making. For them, the money triumphs over everything else.
On the other hand, I’m not as wealthy as my friends, but I live comfortably in America. Even though I was born in Guyana, I have lived most of my life in America, so I’m not use to living a developing country. For example, I’m not used to blackouts, bribery, lawlessness, and seeing young girls taken advantage of by rich men just because of poverty. This is why I prefer to live a middle class life in America than be extremely wealthy in Guyana.
I have a difficult time understanding how my friends can drive expensive vehicles and everyday see so many poor people and garbage everywhere. I have a hard time understanding how they can live an affluent lifestyle while so many live in deep poverty. I suppose a person can adapt to anything, if you live in it for a long time. If I was living in Guyana, I would have adapted too. But when you’re not used to living in a developing country, it’s more difficult to adapt. In Guyana, they understand how things work. They don’t understand how things work in America. I understand now how my friends would choose to live in Guyana rather than America despite all its negatives.
This is what one of my wealthy Guyanese friends told me, explaining why he preferred to live in Guyana: he likes living in Guyana because in Guyana he is a big fish in a little pond. But in America, he is a little fish, in a big pond. I agree with him because I witnessed the experience of a wealthy and prominent businessman traveling from Guyana to New York.
At Guyana’s airport, he was able to bypass Immigration, and he was given special treatment because everybody knew him. On the other hand, I wasn’t given special treatment and I had to go through Immigration because nobody knew me. At Guyana’s airport, he sat in the VIP lounge before he boarded the plane, while I sat in the general waiting area with all of the nobodies. On the plane, he was seated in first class while I sat in economy with everyone else.
But when we arrived at the New York’s airport, things were different for this businessman and me. He had to join a line, which he didn’t have to do before. There were two lines for incoming passengers. The longer lines were for non-citizens. The shorter for US-Citizens. Because I am a US citizen, I was given the preferential treatment to join the shorter lines. He had to join the longer lines. I wonder how this businessman must have felt being given special treatment in Guyana and no special treatment in New York.
In Guyana, he was treated like a celebrity but not in New York. In New York, no one knew him. He was a little fish in a big pond. He wasn’t given any special treatment like he was given in Guyana. This is why I believe many wealthy people in Guyana remain in Guyana because in New York they’re not given any special treatment but treated like everyone else. Which do you prefer, let’s hear your thoughts?
Anthony Pantlitz
Please share this to every Guyanese including your house cats.
Apr 19, 2024
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