Need for a basic and humanitarian lifestyle

THE EDITOR: Those of us who were born in the sixties and before can perhaps recall that when we heard of machines, what came to our minds were devices like sewing machines and candy machines. Upon reflection, nature’s natural ways provided us with much self-contentment, to the extent that we would have probably envisaged ourselves as human machines. With much dexterity by way of their hands and limbs, both the young and the old proceeded to go about their daily affairs with majestic pride and efficiency. Gone and almost forgotten are those delightful halcyon years of fragrant and luscious roses, when the hearty laughter of feministic exuberance prevailed throughout the splendid atmosphere. Shopkeeper arithmetic, a common characteristic of the hustle and bustle of daily business activity, was a major ingredient in keeping minds alert. The business of making guns was far remote from men’s minds.

Therefore crime was neither something to be unduly feared nor bothered about. Elderly folks who were well respected and formed the village courts did not need to have a university doctorate to act as key mediators when conflict arose. Very simple individuals such as the village midwife and the rubber man, brought a sigh of relief to villagers. In that era, the answer to diseases and physical injuries lay in medical herbs which mushroomed almost everywhere. In the sixties and before, stores were hardly heard of and children considered the natural resources of their surroundings as things to be played with. Crime was almost unthinkable in those utopian years. The church was one of the main centres of community activity and people lived what they preached. A/Gay Relationship’ was something to be spat at and promiscuity was something to be reminded about mainly in films and magazines.

Unity in diversity was showcased in almost every section of the community. It is true to say that the haunting spirit of conditional love, humility, tolerance and forgiveness was embraced almost continuously. When one used the word jam, he or she indicated that it meant a sweet jelly-like substance to be consumed at breakfast, lunch and supper. Now a ‘sexual jam’ is highly preferred by most promiscuous individuals. Pollution was never a main topic on the media and in books. Today it is a negative factor that adds impetus to the declining global climate. The sea was regarded as a mother and persons refrained from casting their curses upon her. However, in recent times there is declining respect which is shown in the way people interact with each other and how they relate to the environment. A “bleak futuristic” tomorrow awaits us unless we return to a basic and a humanitarian lifestyle. What we sow we shall surely reap thereafter.

LINDSAY L RAMPERSAD
Tacarigua