PM: Don’t lose nation’s soul

Prime Minister Patrick Manning has warned that the soul of the nation is in danger of being stolen and has called for collaboration to fend off this threat, addressing the National Consultation on Social Development at Crowne Plaza yesterday.

He said globalisation now threatened our way of life and made it harder to achieve our social goals, being an extension of the oppression of imperialism and neo-imperialism.  Quoting 17th Century writer John Donne he said: “Foole this night they shall fetch away thy soule,” Manning said that writer Keith Buchanan had damned imperialism by saying, “Material impoverishment may well prove to be of less significance than the undermining of indigenous culture, the destruction of the personality and the stealing of the soul of those colonised.”
Manning alerted participants in the consultation to the harm caused by contemporary cultural imperialism, saying: “In Trinidad and Tobago today it is possible to watch television for almost 24 hours of every day of every week of every year without seeing a single frame of local footage.” He added that the consultation’s goals would not be achieved without hard work.

Inviting collaboration with the Government to help develop social harmony, Manning said: “We cannot avoid the formidable and vicious challenges now facing our daily lives: escalating crimes including murders, kidnappings and drug-trafficking; problems in our health sector; unemployment; youth delinquency and the like. However, we have the power today to voice our concerns and work out the solutions. Let us work together to make the difference.” He listed the social areas which the Government would intensify research into: the status of the family in TT, role and performance of males in the society, impact of alcohol and gambling on family life and national productivity, social implications of incest, social implications of the deportee problem, extent of child poverty, and poverty indicators. The ideas from the consultation, he suggested, would also assist to regenerate communities, raise education standards, combat crime, improve health standards, boost equity and social justice, and build ethical and moral standards. The consultation, he promised, would be an ongoing excerise.