“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.”    (William Butler Yeats)

”The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe.
You have to make it fall.”    (Che Guevara)

Sometimes I feel like I’m living in an alternative universe, one where there is no such thing as objective truth, and all facts are merely viewed as matters of opinion.

An OPINION—which we all have about things in general—and which is formed by our knowledge of and experience in the world, is different than a FACT, which is commonly thought of as a thing that is indisputably the case: reality—what goes up, must come down. We’re entitled to our own opinions, but we are not entitled to our own FACTS.

A man might think that ambitious men and women view a career in the legal profession as a good way to climb the ladder of financial success and heightened social status—I suppose that’s why there’s so many of them. Here and there you might encounter an exception, but for the most part an education in the law usually means you’ve learned little other than the codifications necessary to navigate your chosen workplace—where anything goes— in the Tower of Babel.

In the U.S. you’re innocent until proven guilty; in Mexico you’re guilty until proven innocent, and in corrupt Belize, where the ends—self enrichment—always justify the means, you’re never guilty if you have the appellation “Honorable” attached to your name. The same is true if you’ve managed to weasel your way into one of the Ministries where lies are deemed nothing more than “alternative facts” (?). Maybe men like Penner, Castro, et al, are like “Gapi” Vega, who once defended himself by saying, “I’m not like ordinary Belezians.” Oh… I’ve heard farts that make more sense than this lot.

It’s difficult to say what will be required to keep Belize from circling the drain. “Are you a Government or a gang” read some of the banners of protest currently railing against the monarchy (!) of King Mohammed VI of Morocco, son of the previous King (!). Moroccans complain of corruption, unemployment and failing schools; sound like anyone you know? The Moroccan man in the street, like his Belizean brothers, knows why he can’t catch a break.

Staying positive in Belize isn’t easy, but those who oppose this corruption must make their voices heard. Are not laws greater than individuals.

The Editorial of 7-21-2017 hits on all cylinders…big up.

Russell Czarnecki