When societies run wild

Not so for many columnists, editorials and hopeful letter-writers like Dr Errol Benjamin, Winston Rudder, Errol Cupid, G.A. Marques, Rudy Paul Chato, Steve Alvarez, Gordon Dalla Costa and recently, Kathryn Stollmeyer Wight. There is frustration over the society’s drift into wildness, unrestrained disorder, spite, lawlessness and corruption. Who could stop the decline? How, when ethnically-driven patronage subverts the Constitution? Up came my friend three weeks ago, Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA) president, Gregory Aboud, blasting the authorities and society for becoming not only uncivilised and disorderly but heading into “barbarism.” Chaguanas Chamber of Commerce president, Rishi Sookhai, attacked the security agencies for failing to halt the society’s wildness. The headlines added fury to these concerns, pressing Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley “to take charge.” How? The major point here is not only the decline of society, but more precisely the widening room for the society to run wild with anger, frustration and violence, one against the other – inviting wildish, oppressive solutions.

The society “going wild” is not everybody but a sufficient amount to subvert the institutions and civic values which should be protecting and serving the population. A situation worsened by long-standing top-level incompetence, broken promises and corruption. That is, when self-serving establishment elites lose their integrity, public trust and respect.

Things get wild.

Such openings energised the early campaign of Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump. His early attack on the “establishment,” embarrassed the early predictions of pollsters and editorials. “Middle America,” and its “core values” failed to block the Trump incursion.

A sufficiently large amount of people felt that the establishment – its institutions - had failed and so they resorted to the wild side of things – anti-Muslim, anti-immigration, ethnocentricism, stiffer law and order penalties, regional parochialism, “lock up Hillary” placards, etc.

Today, backed by thousands of angry, frustrated “anti-establishment” supporters, Trump is neck and neck with his Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, whose establishment credentials now appear as liabilities.

More dramatic is 71-year-old President of the Philippines, lawyer Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte who entered office, facing a society with overflowing drug trafficking, drug addicts, turf wars and corruption. Criminalised by drug-pushing gangs, the slums had reached a point of “no return.” The established institutions – legislature, police, courts, rehab programmes etc – had failed.

Duterte announced that criminals had taken over the country - the rule of law and due process failed, converting the country into “a narco state.” The society went wild. He unleashed a “Double Barrel” crusade headed by his Police Chief “to kill all drug traffickers and drug addicts.” Since June, over 2,500 were killed this way in Duterte’s “war against drugs,” promising death penalty for others.

Many are invited to surrender, confess and rehabilitate. Taking a page from the late Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first Prime Minister, who himself met a failed, corrupt establishment elite in 1959, Duterte last month “publicly accused more than 150 judges, politicians and senior military and public officials of involvement in drugs and corruption, giving them 24 hours to surrender.” (Economist, August 13). Short-cutting due process, Lee Kuan Yew had jailed a similar amount for corruption, then shaped the country into a giant economic force.

Duterte exclaimed “due process has nothing to do with my mouth.” Two weeks ago, Obama shrugged off Duterte’s description of him (Obama) as a “son of a whore.” Just his habit, replied Obama. Despite protests from the Pope, human rights groups and even Obama, Duterte continues his crusade to “kill drug traffickers and addicts to clean up society.” Barbarous or not, he remains wildly popular.

Yes, when constitutional bodies and established elites fail to carry out their duties honestly and effect i v e l y , ma k i n g promises that are b r o k e n time and a g a i n , this is w h a t happens.

The society runs wild. Let’s take care.