Get a life, Bro!
"Get a life!" is an oft heard refrain used in rebuffing a persistent contemporary whose criticism one finds disconcerting. It is easy to resist controversy by deflecting the subject to a more malleable circumstance. In a recent criticism I suggested that the new opposition party in Belize lacked an independent, progressive platform on which to construct its position vis-a-vis the views of the two established political entities that have dominated internal discourse in this country going back to before independence. The present ruling party has changed its name, but not its substance. And obviously, both parties have replaced their leaders, though none has retained the stature of bygone administrators. The present Prime Minister has displayed impressive acumen and foresight, but poor health may be restricting his tenure. In rejecting my criticism, the new political opposition has stated categorically that they do indeed have a manifesto; independent and unique, and they would be happy to have me peruse it, if only I can comprehend Spanish. In fact, there is something here beyond Spanish that I do not comprehend. Why would an aspiring opposition party publish their manifesto in Spanish and not in English? No matter how many refugees from foreign turmoil we assimilate, English remains the official language of this country. Spanish is the official language spoken by our adversary, by our only adversary. The only entity on this Earth that does not wish us well. The fact that they, and a large segment of our own population, speak Spanish should not be significant, except that our adversary uses that convenient fact to undermine our self-interest and independence.
though there are many other indigenous languages spoken within its borders, Spanish is the official language of the oppressive minority that dominates that country. And given half a chance, would dominate and undermine our independence equally. There are several other languages spoken within Belize's borders as well. But their users and their usage, though they be minorities, are not segregated. And their distinctions are celebrated. Though their magnificence lies in our pre-history, their descendants are still among us. And the enduring structures that they constructed still grace our landscapes and attract our admiration, and that of tourists alike. Wherever we go throughout this varied land, in the mountains, or at sea, we find reminders of past industry that created the civilizations that flourished within the mosaic of agglomeration. Just a few miles north of my present domicile, in a marshland of steaming, undistinguished swamp and mud-flats, I was fortunate to witness the excavation of the location of an ancient cottage industry that produced salt for the many masses who occupied the hinterland surrounding Altun-ha. A major commercial and religious center in antiquity, that could not have excelled without the provision of such basic commodities as produced by those who toiled amidst the mud and mosquitoes. Sea-salt is much harder to extract than the salts commonly used today, but was all that was available to the residents of this area, and was valued almost equally with jade. Fortunately, ironically in those days, though they had the mosquitoes, they did not have the malaria that accompanies the pest today. Malaria came later, with visitors from Europe and Africa. In fact most of the debilitating diseases that haunt Belize today, came with the visitors from Europe and Africa. Because they were alien, the diseases I mean, and the Maya had no immunity to their contagion. The indigenous Maya must have said "get a life" to the lackadaisical colonizers who luxuriated on the sweat of their indentured laborers and slaves, and they, the Maya, must never have once thought it could be their own lives they were loosing.
In America today, with three hundred and thirty million people crammed into half a continent, there is little room for life giving expansion, or individual expression. There is room only for industrial mass production, and the mindless consumption that keeps the machines turning, grinding individualism into dust. The framers of the constitution could never have envisioned a time when the sheer weight of population would crush entrepreneurial enterprise into oblivion. Just as they could not have prepared for a monarchical millionaire who would use his power to subjugate unfavorable races, and even lock their children in cages, to be dispersed at random with little hope of reunification with their families. In a land where being poor is a curse, and only the wealthy are afforded the luxury of self-expression, democracy is bartered like a commodity, sold to the highest bidder, and discarded with impunity. And even the supreme court, the final arbiter of justice, is not immune to prejudice, as evidenced by a recent spate of state level anti-abortion bills aimed at undermining that high court's Roe V. Wade decision of over forty years standing. In a bid to rationalize his re-election in the year twenty-twenty, this president is also modifying his posture, taking on a humanitarian aspect, granting visa-free entry to the United States for citizens of a number of countries, including Belize. But the sheep's clothing cannot disguise the wolf, whose recent attacks on the nation of Iran demonstrate yet again his electoral posturing. Get a life Donald Trump, Iran is one WhoYou egg you will be sorry you picked-up, for your inability to put it down will be your undoing.
Having a life in the Tropics may appear easy, with no winters to contend with, but sustaining it through adversity can be hazardous. The balmy weather disguises treacherous under-currents that beguile the unwary, and entices the fool-hardy into treacherous bacchanalia, while stealthy conspiracy relieves them of their treasure, and subjects them to the basest degradation of mind and spirit. Imagine the fastidious Englishmen who came to Belize with nothing but empathy in their hearts, yeah right! only to be confronted with naked mischief and purgatorial remonstrative frivolity. Granted exemption from their simple puritanical upbringing, they recreated Port Royal at St. George's Caye, and doused their machismo with sugarcane juice from the rum-mills of Orange Walk, amidst the drumbeat of puntamania. Belize was not a homecoming, but a rebirth of ancestral beastiality that compensated for their less than distinguished patrimony, and afforded them the courage to cohabit with the comely indentured proletariat. Producing a polyglot diaspora of congenial nation-builders. That Belize is a diverging mosaic of multi-racial, multi-lingual agglomeration proves the strength of the adhesive that binds us into a functioning democracy. Guaranteeing that for at least the present eternity, the 'Land of the Gods' will remain the 'Land of the Free'. A polyhedral monument celebrating diversity in an adopted homeland inherited from the architects of antiquity, and exhibiting the very same ambition as the man-in-the-street in the overdeveloped super-power that is America.
The most favored phrase in American democracy these days is "checks and balances" as it pertains to fast eroding "oversight" of the tripartite functioning of governance. A tripartite structure which is the bane of the current office-holder, whose desire for unfettered access to the tools of manipulative power, align him more with the aspects of a dictator. And he has been fortunate in his daring, by finding an Attorney General who was willing to subjugate the will of the people to the whim of his connivance. But the bell tolls for his wayward administration, as the courts close in on his arrogant presumptions and reject his attempts at dominion. For him to assume that the courts would permit him to overlord the other co-equal branches of government shows his lack of historical perspective, and his ignorance of the power of congress. He is the only president in generations who has refused to disclose his true income or returns for taxation. It has been an established practice that all incoming presidents forsake external income, as it might prove a source of undue influence. But this present president has placed himself apart from procedure, and denied congress access to even the simplest exposure. In response the House Ways And Means Committee has demanded compliance, and the courts are beginning to enforce his acquiesce. A potentate whose time is occupied in avoiding due process, cannot effectively administrate the office of Commander-In-Chief of the most powerful military on earth. He must either bend to the pressure of compliance in a triumvirate of House, Senate, and Judiciary; or abdicate his authority and be ejected from the halls once occupied by the likes of Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. Which latter is his source of bitterest resentment. That a president of color should have excelled where he falters, exposes him as a caricature of the statesmen who preceded him.
His latest misadventure is in taunting Iran, for he knows that creating a conflict with that Persian country, if it continues into twenty-twenty, would distract the electorate from his many other nonstarters, and enhance his chance of being reelected. Don't touch that WhoYou egg for it will consume you. Listen to the old Belize-Creole men if they say: "when fish come from river bottom, say alligator have belly-ache, believe them!" Don't go messing with that alligator, especially if he does have belly-ache, for his bite will surely be fatal. Creole legends though crude, are often insightful and forbearing. Guiding simple men through complex matrix, while lightening their loads and distracting them from the painful reality of life in a third-world economy. Though many may question Belize's third-world status, as having abundant lands and a small population gives us advantages elusive to many. And elusive not only to third-world countries, but elusive even to the super-powers and latter day giants like France, Spain and Great Britain. Where over-crowding, while necessary for mass production, is stifling cottage initiative, and creating hoards of human automatons. Men who go to work everyday and bring home the bacon, but never in their life have seen a pig running free and unfettered. Men who, if given a chance in a place like Belize, would blossom with unimaginable potential. For the adventurer in man is as inborn as his DNA, and struggles to break free of convention.
The persistent question of abortion raises its taciturn head in American social discourse once again. And my experiences in that combustible field have not been without controversy. Yet I uphold a woman's right to control her own destiny, and dictate the terms under which she will enable a family. There can be no doubt that a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest should, most often be terminated. But one culminating from lust and passion is another question, and should be given serious consideration. Passion is not the exclusive prerogative of the wealthy, though they are better suited to absorb its repercussion. A passionate misstep in the life of an indigent young woman could be devastating, yet in a compassionate community, could be rewarding. Should her family gather round to alleviate her misery, bringing a new life into her world could give her existence purpose. And direct her energy toward bettering her community for the sake of her offspring and its continuity. But should that atmosphere not pertain, then her choice to terminate must be accepted as reasonable and considered. Threatening damnation on a frightened young woman is cruel and unusual, and no Christian religion, nor Buddhist, nor Hindu or Sikh, would condone its perpetration or justify its application in the name of piety. True Christian empathy embraces all in its warmth, even the undeserving. And a child born out of wedlock bears no sin of its own creating.
And what could be more undeserved than the dignity given a usurper of power, whether he acted through chicanery, theft or deception? Office wrongfully accrued, disgraces not only the usurper, but the entire system he abused, and the people he misrepresented. In the fullness of the time spent in plotting and executing his deception, lie hours wasted that could better have been used to promote constructive introspection. Formulating a plan going forward to address the inefficiencies inherent in any human activity. Only by constant perusal does the architect unmask the cracks that appear in his superficially sound construction. An oxidized re-bar hidden in the concrete will pass for years undetected, but will eventually bring about the collapse of the entire structure it supported. Another Creole proverb holds that one rotten egg will cause the demise of the entire nest of its co-habitation. One Pot-Licker in a brood of thoroughbreds spoils the whole litter and debases its pedigree. Dr. Ben Carson in the Trump administration, a Black monkey-man peeping through a white-washed fence, the HUD secretary who does not know the difference between REO, a foreclosure term meaning 'real estate owned', and an Oreo cookie. Woe-is-me, I cannot bear the humiliation. Me, son of a proud Black superhero, and brother to Belize's first Rhodes scholar, must observe the degradation in quiet contemplation of what could have been, if only we stood together. Instead like crabs in a bucket, we fight one another, and none can escape the confinement.
Howard A. Frankson -- Belize