by Colin Hyde
Sober people flat out ignore horrible parts of the RC Church—all the wars they were in, the extreme wikidnis of certain popes in the past. Yes, yes, we have heard the 666 charge, and we are aware of the absolute refusal of some to recognize all the great things that have come from the Roman Catholic Church.
At times the church’s leaders will stumble in the big shoes of Jesus. That’s how it is when you try to walk in shoes that are way too big for you. I’m not about too much measuring of popes, but it is for sure that we lucked into a truly great one with that Pope Francis. Wherever humans gather, they have to watch out for little people with crazy, narrow, and sometimes even dishonest agendas. If you breathe, you will have enemies, and he had his share. Ah, they say the far right faction was especially unhappy with him. You know that crowd isn’t too comfortable with Jesus. Their favorite Books end where Matthew begins.
It’s amazing that that racist Argentina, land where they say Hitler and his gang went to hide, gave us Francis and Che Guevara. I have heard it said that Che had white supremacist tendencies. I am wondering how one who grew up in that environment could be otherwise. Of course, Che had to go through a process to get the sense that, as regards races, he was brought up on nonsense. That’s my take there. I expect Francis, a football lover, rooted for Argentina in the World Cup. Well, I don’t root for Argentina ataal. But boy, I admire Francis. Thank you for all you did for roots people, Pope Francis. Whoever follows you has some madabig shoes to fill.
More caning
An elder told me that the time of the “cane” has passed; and while I fear that is so, I have hope that we can reset the sails and get back to that punishment that is far more civilized and practical than incarceration. The winds of change are blowing, some back to the past. Maybe the big dog of the world that is behind the shifting winds won’t notice if we went into the closet and dusted off the whip. They might even say to us, “If any of ours misbehave while hanging out on your turf, please give it to them gud, like Singapore gave that rude boy of ours who defaced their property”.
All over Europe, countries whose histories are steeped in murder and plunder, they have stopped using the cane in penal institutions. The ex-barbarians have made the anti-whip a crusade. For favorable treatment from them on the economic front, little Belize fell in line; and thanks to the indoctrination, we started singing that caning wasn’t civilized punishment for people who erred against the law. We ignorantly bought into incarceration as the preferred punishment for crime.
I really have to go and find the Ann K. Lowe column in the Amandala in which she said the white man said it was okay to take off the colonial yoke because it wouldn’t be for long, that soon we would be begging them to put it back on. I don’t have the quote down verbatim, but essentially here’s what the devil said: you see and hear them clamoring for self-rule, give it to them, and no fret, they won’t be able to handle it, soon they’ll come running back to us to run the show for them again. Yes, I had to say it twice. Aha, run back we have. Have you heard anyone say things were not like this in colonial days? Yes, you’ve heard it, and you might have said it yourself too.
Our intellectuals, all of them, you know where they were educated, and who educated them. Even at UWI, they didn’t escape the reach of the slave/colonial master. Our school system is geared to civilize us into the European view of the world. We were not to swallow everything they put in front of us. We were to reject what isn’t good for us.
It’s possible that the cane is less a deterrent to crime than incarceration. If our leaders believe that, and that is the reason why they choose incarceration, they should say so. To say caning is barbaric, uncivilized, and that’s why they champion incarceration, is bizarre.
Incarceration is sinister. It is a tool to be used only on individuals who present physical danger to others. On the barbarian scale, there’s some distance between the punishments, caning and jailing. Lashing causes welts, cuts, and it is humiliating. Well, here’s what incarceration does. It is humiliating, deprives the country of brain/labor resources, deprives a family of an earner, deprives children of supervision, takes away the attention of loved ones, puts a burden on the state’s treasury, causes mental deterioration, introduces people to homosexuality, causes health to deteriorate, especially if one has a chronic illness, deprives people of time which can never be recovered, puts people in a setting with hardened criminals, causes family break-ups, deprives one of wholesome conversation, makes jailbirds out of people. JAIL is sinister!
They gave us self-rule and took away the tools of discipline. On the road to development, the colonial master had jail, the hangman’s rope, and the whip. All they “allowed” us to navigate this thing is the destructive jail cell.
I don’t support hanging. I had “differences” with former Amandala columnist Janus about that. But I wholesale support his New Jurisprudence, which should apply to both murder cases and rape cases. This “adversarial” system doesn’t work for us. Let the state give defense lawyers a stipend. Both prosecution and defense should work to find the truth. Bah, how can it be in murder and rape cases that your “innocence” increases the more money you have to pay the lawyers? Are these people drunk? I can’t believe how people of color allow the Europeans to sell them such a farce. Bah, they watch Perry Mason. Bah, it works only on television.
After three years in jail, a man doesn’t know his family. The stable world he left behind is in disarray. If he had a job, he lost that; and if he had a business, the odds are heavy that that has crashed. Bah, these intellectuals that sit atop our system, they are European taffi. You have to be crazy or sadistic to champion incarceration.
We paid you for your efforts, Mr. ComPol
I don’t mean to single out Mr. Williams, but I think people employed by the people of Belize, when they leave office they should say thanks for the opportunity to serve, and thanks for the pay. Nobody in the public service is working gratis, and the ones with big jobs get as much pay as we can afford. This story about a farewell party from the people’s purse, are they serious? Are these division commanders underpaid why they can’t pay for the pig and flour tortillas, some cases of Belikin, and a zericote replica of a police officer in a helmet with a bully club in his fist?
No, this isn’t personal to Mr. ComPol. It’s just that there is so much news around this retirement. You are the rich and famous in our country, Braa. A “rich” people party like this makes me think of those poor animals who did all the work, being disturbed from their sleep by the raucous music and laughter coming from upstairs of Farmer Jones’ house, as the rotten, chaansi pigs made merry with the spoils from their labor. Let the government ministers and CEOs take up a collection fu dis party. Oh, congratulations on your retirement, and thanks for your efforts on the very difficult job, ComPol!