Monday, July 14, 2025 at 10:10 PM
I know that at times I can be very critical of the government of Belize, of the political class that sometimes become overbearing in their zeal for power. I know that I am sometimes critical of the police and the gangs and the excesses that prevail in some parts of our society. And all those criticisms are valid, plus I believe that being critical of our government is vital to keeping our democracy strong and functioning for every citizen of this precious Jewel. We are indeed very lucky to have been born and bred in this little sanctuary. There is suffering and inflation and poverty and corruption—no doubt about all that; but there is also a free press, a strong business community, good schools, a free people, and enough watchdogs to call out and to protest against anything that goes against the grain, that infringes on our rights as citizens.
I was watching a documentary on CNN about Live Aid, the music that British pop bands recorded, a song and the concert to help the starving in Ethiopia in 1984. It still seems so unbelievable that in modern times so many people died in that country because of politics, and a government that was so indifferent to the plight of its people and the state they were living in. The brutality of war and starvation was stunning in its scope. Live Aid brought worldwide attention to this tragedy, and money and aid poured in to save millions of starving people.
In Kenya today, under the presidency of William Ruto, who when elected in 2022, promised to free Kenyans from corruption and the hustler nation it had become, the politicians are brazenly showing off their newfound wealth, gained through corruption, to a population that is increasingly being constrained by poverty, higher prices and the curtailment of their freedoms, and especially the freedom of the press. This has caused mass protests, and the killings of protesters. Members of the press have also been disappeared by this government, which seems bent on going down that road to authoritarianism. Hopefully, the young people will prevail and bring down, or change, this system that only serves a few, in my opinion.
In America, we can’t figure out which way is up or down, especially where tariffs are concerned. Brown people are in hiding because of the Brownshirts under the leadership of Kristi Noem, Homeland Security Secretary, whose name rhymes with the leader of the original Brownshirts in Germany, Ernst Rohm. America, the land of opportunity, the land of migrants, the land of the Statue of Liberty, is today hunting, kidnapping, and disappearing people, mostly through racial profiling. And now we are opening concentration camps in the swamplands of Florida, and that is just the beginning. We have an out-of-control government that is trying to gaslight us into believing that its illegal and overreaching excesses are normal. Defying court orders, silencing the press, trying to control school curriculums, suppressing opposition, and again, disappearing people. All with the Crimson King’s new private army, ICE. Wat a ting!
And so, Belizeans, while you should protest, with all the emotion and enthusiasm in you, to protect this flimsy democracy we live in; while we should always be aware of the crime and corruption and excesses, we should also be grateful that we live in a paradise, compared to most of the citizens of the world. We are blessed, lucky that we live in relative peace, in a democratic society with laws that protect us from overzealous governments. We are not being gunned down in the streets by the authorities; we are not starving, or having our internet shut down. We still have freedom of movement, except for the gangs and their turfs. We are lucky that Belize is not Gaza or Ukraine or Sudan or Kenya or Texas or Florida, or Mississippi. I could name other states and other places, but the list would be too long!
Belize might not be rich or powerful, but it is blessed by nature with immeasurable wealth, fertile soil, the beautiful Caribbean Sea, rivers and lagoons and beaches, mountains and streams; blessed with yet to be discovered wealth, and especially with kind and loving and innocent people, generous to a fault. People who, for the most part, are unaware of how much envy there is out there in the world, of those able to live in a place like our Jewel!
Not perfect, but better than most, in my not so humble opinion.
Glen