OK, so what now? What happens next? The truth is that I have no idea, and neither does anybody else. We try to make predictions but we are really guessing, trying to make what is called “an educated guess.” This means that we base our guess on past events and on accumulated knowledge, but it is still just a guess. Every now and then somebody compiles a list of past predictions from supposedly knowledgeable people and “experts” in their respective fields. It is amusing to see how far off base most of those predictions really were.
I often wonder why Belizeans seem to be so passive towards the power structure. The crime statistics sure show that Belizeans are hardly passive towards each other, I mean look at the staggering number of violent crimes that occur in such a small country with such a small population. The killings, assaults, jackings and rapes in Belize City alone must be some sort of a record for a community of approximately 70,000 people, but when it comes to the power structure Belizeans seem extremely reluctant to challenge it with force. Some of the things that have gone on here would have resulted in a popular uprising if they had taken place in another country. A five-cent increase in bus fares in Jamaica, for example, has brought the island to a standstill.
Maybe it has something to do with our history. Certainly we had slave revolts – four major ones, to be specific. The slave owners lived in constant fear of violence as they did in every other slave holding territory, but by and large, slaves ran away from Belize rather than revolt. Although escape was not easy, it was more than possible. Our location on the mainland, surrounded by Spanish colonies, may have made escape the preferred means of resistance.
The Spanish colonial administration let it be known that slaves who escaped from the Belize settlement would be granted their freedom. This had nothing to do with the Spaniards’ love of black people: it was simply a convenient tactic to weaken the British presence on the Central American mainland. Be that as it may, so many slaves took advantage of the offer that the slave owners in Belize left many written documents in which they expressed their fear of financial ruin because of runaway slaves. The majority of the Caribbean possessions were islands, making escape extremely difficult. The slaves there had to stand and fight. They had no other option!
Yet we did have rebellions, and not only during slavery. There was violence in 1894, 1919, during the 1930’s, the early fifties and again in 1981, but there never seems to have been a sustained attack on the power structure. There were quick bursts of anger, followed by what can only be characterized by sullen acceptance. What didn’t occur in the past, though, is the kind of self-destructive internecine violence that we see today. It’s as though we are willing our own demise as a people. The crooks are stripping us blind and we respond by killing each other!
This article is certainly not a call for violence against the system. I’m sure that some will try to twist it that way, but I have long ago stopped caring about what those people say. The plain historical fact is that there has never been a “peaceful revolution.” It doesn’t exist. It is the ultimate oxymoron. The dictionary defines “revolution” as “deep and sudden change (by force) in the government of a country.” I often wondered about “the peaceful, constructive Belizean revolution” during the 1970’s. The person who thought that one up deserves a prize for one of the greatest con games in Belizean history!
The hard facts of history show that people who have the guts to stand up and fight for justice are the only ones who stand to benefit even a little from their efforts. The facts also show that most revolutions only swap one set of masters for another. It is almost a heads they win, tails we lose situation. With all the knowledge and the scientific advances we have made in recent history, it appears that we have not, can not master our inner demons. The better things have the potential to be, the worse they get! Humans have to be at war with someone. If that someone proves to be a difficult target, we go to war with ourselves.
I saw a young man on the news last night. This young man graduated from school last year. I taught him. He is a likable young man and I have talked to him on a number of occasions during the past several months. He just couldn’t find a job no matter how hard he tried. Why? Because there are not enough jobs out there for our increasing number of high school and university graduates. A young man or woman who can’t find a job is a walking powder keg. Your opportunity to do anything without money is zilch, zero. A person in that situation becomes depressed, so depressed that anything, and I mean anything can happen. I have been worried about that particular young man for a long time now, because I know what can happen to severely depressed people. None of it is good.
That’s what apparently happened here. It makes me very sad, because it is happening over and over. It is going to get worse. This society is producing large numbers of young people with high school diplomas and college degrees. The economy can’t absorb more than a fraction of them. They are tossed out into a world that can’t help them, and the “social safety net” – migration to other countries, has closed. They were made to believe that their education was the door to “success” and when they realize the truth, they become depressed.
They become angry. It is the educated, disillusioned and angry youth who lead revolutions. Think about that while you pray for peace this holiday season.