Two standards of morality

THE EDITOR: This nation ought to tip its collective hat to the redoubtable Ms Gillian Lucky and Dr Fuad Khan for putting their political ambitions at risk by making the point that there can be no two standards of morality in this country. Mr Yetming too has distanced himself from the concept although he appears to be still willing to sit in the lion’s den while calling the lion names. It is people like them who make me feel proud to be a citizen of TT in the face of all that is taking place in this country on a daily basis. I suppose it must be distressing to them beyond words that their principled stand had to be taken in the face of a not surprising comment; by their own political leader, that politics and by extension politicians operate by a different (let’s not mince words — a lower) standard of morality than the rest of the society.

When we consider that that gentleman once held the high office of Prime Minister and, more fearfully, is aspiring to return to that office we should quiver with trepidation at the possibility. I was disappointed to hear on a talk show this morning that more than fifty percent of respondents to an informal call-in poll agreed that politics has its own morality, a view shared by at least one of the programme’s hosts. I hope that that result was the consequence of poor framing of the question which went something like this: “Mr Panday is reported to have said that politics has it own morality, do you agree or disagree, yes or no, that politics has its own morality?”

It seems to me the issue cannot be whether Mr Panday was right in saying that politics operates by its own standard of morality or even whether it is the perception of the community at large that that is so, but whether we as a people ought to accept that they should. How could the criminal madness that is bedeviling the country today surprise anyone when that is the state of mind of people at the highest levels of authority? Mr Montano’s attempt to assuage the disgust felt by many, by asserting at a news conference, that he supported the comment in the context in which it was made while categorically refusing to share with the population at large the details of that context, to enable us to feel the same confidence he feels did not help his image.

The dilemma of this quixotic concept of dual standards of morality is that the criminal element and indeed the rest of the society might feel justified in saying that if politicians are prepared to operate at a lower standard why not them? The danger of course is that if we should join the politicians, they’re likely to be prompted to go even lower to maintain the principle of dual standards in tact. It does not take a genius to see where this will lead us. It will not be long before the morality of the population at large has gone to zero and that of the politicians, not to be outdone, somewhere minus zero! What a thing! My mother would have said had she been alive.

A MERVYN RAWLINS
Diego Martin