Who eh dead, badly wounded

Have you ever considered what the ubiquitous stories of murder and images of dead bodies have done to our society? It is a question that I have been asking myself recently, and I believe that all the murder surrounding us has severely wounded our citizens, our communities and our society — not physically, but psychologically and economically.

Bodies are dropping like flies; and while we can probably fit some murders into the “gang related” category, many of our innocent compatriots have lost their lives senselessly and in the most gruesome ways. We have been left baffled by the “who would do this?” in most of these murders, but it’s the “why?” that creates the greatest anxiety amongst our citizenry — it is what foments the greatest amount of distress. That unknown factor has us feeling that anyone, anywhere, anytime, can be killed for almost anything by anyone, and because of that, we live in complete fear all the time.

When there is a murder, we focus on the victim; everyone wants to know the who, when and how. And as long as we’re satisfied that it isn’t someone close or known to us, and especially if we pass judgement and determine that person’s guilt posthumously, it’s on to the next body — the next story. We have become numb to murders, and for this reason, there is a psychological impact on our society, which we either haven’t yet noticed, or maybe decided to overlook.

With murder everywhere, our society now feels as though it has become more violent and intrigued by death.

This is not what Trinbago used to be like.

The psychological impact of crime’s omnipresence on us interferes with our daily lives and it challenges the fabric of our society.

When crime is this pervasive, our sense of safety is shattered, so we feel unsafe, insecure, vulnerable, helpless and powerless, which in turn makes us feel angry and frustrated. The majority of the population lives outside of the real hard-core areas that those people who wear police uniforms label as “hot spots”; but yet we all feel those same emotions; so just imagine the psychological impact on the residents who live in the heart of crime-ridden communities.

In addition to the psychological effect of crime on society, the country is wounded and suffers from the hefty price we pay – literally. In terms of tourism, the Prime Minister continues to feed us his asinine master-plan of Sandals in Tobago; however, as many countries do all they can to discourage travel to our country, it will be the greatest magic trick ever to get those rooms filled.

Then the budgetary allocation for national security over the last three years was approximately $25 billion and we have nothing to show for it.

Apparently, the more dead people we see, the more money we spend without a plan or purpose, at the taxpayer’s expense. Murder is putting a serious strain on the public purse, while every other area of government remains in deplorable condition.

Citizens lose valuable family time simply because they are stuck in hours of traffic every day while those in parliament zoom up and down the bus route. Patients languish in hospitals and mothers die giving birth, while politicians fly out for medical treatment. And while we consider trading in our vehicles for Venetian gondolas when there’s a drizzle, the streets of Westmoorings look like a duck’s back when rain stops.

As a society, we need to start understanding the holistic impact of an out-of-control murder rate. Everything and everyone suffers. So if you believe that a random murder on the other side of the country doesn’t affect you, think again because it is a national reality: who eh dead, badly wounded.