When a house is not just a house

The issue of where the Prime Minister is going to live has become a bit of an issue, especially in light of an article by BC Pires called 'A House for Mrs. Bissessar'.
In the article, the author states: As long as Kamla could discern that the palace represented Mr Manning and all he stood for, the People's Partnership had a chance of really being a partnership for the people; the moment Kamla began to see the palace as ‘a residence befitting a modern Prime Minister', she herself became changed; and I sensed another opportunity for greatness slipping out of her hands, and that of the people of Trinidad & Tobago.

How could something so succinctly put be divisive eludes me.

There is a difference between loyalty and lazy stupidity, and blind loyalty is the most ridiculous of all, because, not only do you have to surrender reason, you have to surrender the will to have an independent thought on the whole.

What's my rant about?

We've all heard the saying: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." That is not the whole quote. It goes on to say: "Great men are almost always bad men. There is no worse heresy than the fact that the office sanctifies the holder of it."
What was Baron Acton trying to say? The same thing British Prime Minister William Pitt meant when he said: "Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it"

Where the people abdicate their responsibility to question their leaders, Fascism grows.

It is precisely this breakdown in public policing that lead to the abuses under Patrick Manning.
Having positioned himself a King within the PNM, subject only to blind support of loyalists who owed their very existence to the Maximum Leader, Mr. Manning began a journey of excess and abuse without restraint.
Patrick Manning (re)arrived into Government on the heals of the break up and collapse of the then UNC Government on thunderous allegations of massive corruption on all fronts within the Government. He was heralded in as some sort of savior for the country (does this irony not stir within you, not even a little bit?) and was going to save us from the tyranny of Basdeo Panday and his corrupt organization.
With no authority to keep him in check save for his own intentions, and with a broken Opposition fighting among themselves for power, Patrick Manning got drunk with his own delusions of grandeur and allowed himself to be corrupted absolutely.

The rest, they say, is history.

They also say: "Those who do not learn from history are condemned to relive it."

Trust me, there are no saints in Government, and there never will be. We the people, are supposed to tell the Government how we wish to be treated, and what we will and will not accept while they are in our employ.
With the power to elect kings, democracy requires the people's participation for the system to work. That includes disagreeing with your selected officials from time to time.
My suggestion, at the very least, insist that they stand by what they promised you to get into office while they are in office.

Politicians only lie because, by our actions, we agree that it's okay.
It's not. We need truth in our affairs to restore dignity to our institutions.

If Kamla Persad Bissessar moves into the Palace Manning built with our consent, we would have just agreed to the decline of the new dispensation and surrendered the moral victory to the other side.
Why? Because what Patrick Manning did was wrong, and that building is a symbol for that wrong. It is a symbol of disrespect for the will of the people, and a testimony to dictatorial governance.
Kamla moving into the house doesn't save it, it taints her.

It should be repurposed and used effectively for something else, not necessarily grander, just more in keeping with democracy.

We have to use this opportunity wisely. This could be a turning point in our history if we let it.
We need strong statements to underscore this.

The 2M flag needs to be lowered, it's pole removed, it's foundation marked with the planting of a tree, something very Trinidadian (Poui, Chaconia?), and garnished with a plaque declaring the people's right to good governance.

NAPA needs to be renamed and given to the people as a free space for cultural and artistic expression. Their money built it, so it's only fair.

The Church in Guanapo should be seized, and repurposed into something else, again with the people in mind. A hospital for the mentally ill seems so appropriate it's almost funny.

Look, if we hope to change the politics, don't do it only with words. Let our actions and our symbols cement our position and declare it to the future. That our democracy is for the people, governed by people that are of the people.

Let's get her another house, more in keeping with the high ground we joined hands to walk to. Otherwise we're just bullies, and all we did was take Manning's toys away for us to play with instead.

Something to think about...