ERROL ANTHONY

TWO NEWSPAPER reports on May 21 should make for depressing reading for all those who care for our future.

In the first story, three senior ministers expressed distress over the murder and mayhem coming closer and closer to so many of us. They sounded helpless and hopeless.

The first was Housing Minister Camille Robinson-Regis. She reportedly “pleaded in prayer” to “Jesus, my Saviour” because of her “helplessness in the face of injustice, crime and violence, unforgiveness and intolerance.” She urged God to “help us identify those who will be our strength and support in…moments of helplessness.”

Next was National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds who lamented the deadly choices so many youths are making. He told us that “a thousand thoughts around solutions constantly go through my mind,” but he said there was no silver bullet.

He rejected the poverty excuse, spoke about the “wages of sin” and pointed to drug use as a factor. He was grieving: “I feel sad for their parents, their families and friends. I feel sad for us.” He wondered “who is chaining up” the deviant youths.

Education Minister Nyan Gadsby-Dolly continued the theme of the many available “opportunities” that Hinds introduced. She talked about those whose minds are “tainted by the get-rich-quick” culture. Preventing the tainting process had to start at primary school level, hence more Student Support staff for those schools. She had a grim observation: “By the time they get to secondary school it’s too late for some.” Too bad for them and their future victims.

But wait, there’s hope in the other newspaper report. Kamla Persad-Bissessar has the silver bullet that Hinds does not have: give law-abiding citizens access to guns and pass a stand-your-ground law, like what they have in Florida and Texas. A “UNC government would stop the criminals and take back the country.”

There you are. Government and government-in-waiting officials lamenting violent crime.

Here’s the thing. It is easy to offer public and private prayers. It is easy to wonder why the youths are not seizing opportunities and talk about choices and the wages of sin and personal responsibility. It is easy to say give everybody a gun and “we taking back we country.” What I know is that these are politically safe responses to a hard problem and they will not get us very far. They are glib, fast-food responses and they are offensive because they are as empty as the greasy chicken and fries so many of us love.

I also know that if our political parties were to propose solutions that attempt to tackle the problem in a serious, rational and innovative way, like mandatory national service up to age 25 or comprehensive sex and family life education in secondary schools, we the people will chase them out of office real fast. So they know why they are offering us half-baked and bogus solutions and cliches. That is what we want to hear. Let the mess continue.

Just when I thought it was safe to press “send,” up came two more leaders talking about crime. First, Prime Minis