Don’t become intoxicated with your new spending power

Dec 12, 2024 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Every reasonable-minded Guyanese should appreciate the fact that the PPP/C has worked hard to safeguard a fundamental pillar for the advancement of their social and economic wellbeing; the Right to elect a government of their choice.

Securing this constitutional Right did not come easily, older Guyanese would know this. The younger generation would have witnessed the 2020 elections debacle where the APNU+AFC, in an attempt to defraud the electorate, was laid bare before them. Paying a heavy price to secure free and fair elections was not peculiar solely to the 2020 election, an even higher price was paid in previous elections particularly in 1973 when lives were lost.

And while some may dispute the fact that the PPP/C has established the most advanced type of parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean and that Guyanese benefit from of a much more prosperous economy they ever had in decades, yet a cacophony of noisy criticism, ingrained cynicism and expressions of unbounded skepticism can be heard on a daily basis emanating from known political circles and sections of the media, on balance, development projects outweigh the negativities.

That genre of political culture, coupled with the persistent expressions of extremist views and opinions tend to elevate misinformation to what some call a ‘sacred sphere’ used to communicate specious arguments that threaten the unity and solidarity amongst Guyanese and between government and the governed in a parliamentary democracy.

In contrast, sacred values such as commitment to hard work, contributing at the individual and at the community levels to upholding democratic governance; willingness to go the extra mile and to do what is required for the good of the nation as well as willingness to make sacrifice seems to have receded from one generation to another.

At the same time, Guyanese believing and upholding those values would have, no doubt, demonstrated by dint of example, their preparedness to support efforts aimed at improving the wellbeing of all Guyanese towards the achievement of a democratic and unified Guyana with its territorial integrity intact.

In the midst of the political culture nurtured and promoted by the political opposition, notwithstanding huge investments in social and physical infrastructure, they encourage a nagging sentiment by some, who claim that African-Guyanese are excluded from enjoying the benefits that flow from revenues garnered from oil and other revenue bearing resources. As a consequence, the proponents of those negative views show a closer embrace of, a readiness to outrightly reject and intentionally ignore all the sacrifices made and achievements of previous generations even up to this point in time.

As 2024 comes to a close, Guyanese should take stock and consider whether the provision of monetary resources and the vastly improved social and physical infrastructure provided by government has helped lift them out of underdevelopment and poverty. At the same time, they should not lose sight of the bigger picture characterized by a world in which the search for peace and development is under constant threat of all kinds of wars including military clashes, over territory, trade, the environment, religion, and cultural beliefs and traditions.

In October, Guyanese were made an offer they could hardly refuse; $100,000 dollars for each person 18 years and over in possession of an ID card. According to the Kenyan writer, Binyavanga Wainana, ‘It was an amazing thing, for one moment in a hundred years, to all feel the same way. And to feel that it was good.’

Throughout history, from time to time, needs and wants of the common people have been fused together by administrations who had the uplifting of the populace at heart and the resources to do so and did so. The opposition arguments against cash grants are like bad meat and poorly cooked vegetables unfit for human consumption. Any shred of plausibility of their argument quickly vanished when people across the political spectrum enthusiastically responded and welcomed the entitlement. Surely, it couldn’t be that Guyanese are so foolish and not smart enough to discern what is offered to them now bears no comparison whatsoever to what was promised to them in the past because of wrong economic diagnosis.

A World Bank Report on cash grants states; ‘We re-analyzed the data from seven randomized controlled trials of government-run cash transfer programmes in six developing countries throughout the world, and find no systematic evidence that cash transfer programmes discourage work.’ According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), ‘Evidence from seven experimental and non-experimental impact evaluations of government-run unconditional cash transfer programmes … There is no evidence that cash transfers translated into an overall reduction of labour supply or work effort — in fact, quite the opposite: the transfers were used to improve household income-generating activities.’

Furthermore, according to the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA);

‘Recipients of cash typically end up less poor and put cash towards improving different aspects of their lives. The evidence consistently showed an increase in total expenditure and food expenditure and a reduction in poverty measures … There is robust evidence that cash transfers increase beneficiaries’ savings, investment in livestock and, to a lesser extent, agricultural assets’.

In a market economy, democracy cannot function effectively without citizens understanding of at least some economics. It is the State’s responsibility to do so. These days, with the dominance of market-oriented economics, even decisions about non-economic issues are dominated by economic logic. Economics has a direct and massive impact on our lives.

Understood like this, economics affects us in many more fundamental ways than when it is narrowly defined – income, jobs and pensions. That is why it is vital that every Guyanese citizen needs to recognize politics as a concentrated form of economics. We should all get involved and become active economic citizens in our country where transformation is rapidly taking place, for example, by making it less cash-based. On the political side, I refer to Martha Gellhorn, American novelist, writer and journalist who wrote; ‘People often say, with pride, I’m not interested in politics. They might as well say, I’m not interested in my standard of living, my health, my job, my rights, or any future. If we mean to keep any control over our lives, we must be interested in politics.’

The political opposition’s penchant for misjudging and to underestimating the PPP/C’s ability to grasp the mood of the Guyanese populace and to formulate and implement political, economic and social policy decisions at government level, has clearly demonstrated the fundamental difference between ability to fulfill manifesto promises when compared to the knee-jerk approach fraught with disastrous results and failure to meet the needs of the people.

It must have been clear to reasonable-minded Guyanese that government’s policies are based primarily on rational assessments of the needs of the people and affordability on its part, while policy implementation is results-oriented aimed at maximizing the material well-being of Guyanese. Ultimately, the human beneficence such as; entitlement, kindness, generosity and cooperation between government and the populace is the glue that holds Guyanese society together.

Finally, a word of caution; as Guyanese across all walks of life enjoy their cash grant and ‘back pay’ and how to use it during the Christmas holiday season, as they prepare to welcome the new year, they should avoid becoming intoxicated with their new spending power and not take into account their future endeavours and what is required of them for a ‘rainy day.’

Yours faithfully,

Clement J. Rohee

(Don’t become intoxicated with your new spending power)

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• APNU+AFC, Binyavanga Wainana, Kenyan writer, new spending power, older Guyanese, PPP/C

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