THE EDITOR: I remember years ago asking why were construction workers writing stars and faces on their employee clocking cards? I was shockingly told, “De boss, is so dey can know is their card, they cannot read.” I was surprised at the number of young men who could not read their own names.

Recently I had a conversation with another group of young men, many of whom had no idea about what was happening in the country politically and they did not care. They lived from day to day, pay cheque to pay cheque, with no plans for tomorrow.

One guy did not care if he died in a few days, a few weeks, or years. He did not have any plans for a family or for life into his forties. Some young men were attracted to gangs, not because they love a life of crime, but for their own survival and safety; they were hopeless. They reflect our generation’s failure to deal with issues confronting our youths.

Perhaps one of our greatest mistakes was to not find a way to inspire hope to a lost generation, and our desire to hold onto office and political power that left no room for our young bright people to chart a developmental path for TT. Many of our brilliant graduates are now abroad with no plans to return home.

What is exceedingly depressing are the choices that we as a nation are faced with for our future leadership. There are the ageing politicians that occupy the top political positions, guarding them like a fort and not wanting to mentor the next generation or even consider new ideas and approaches to our politics.

Then there are the so-called popular younger leaders who already lack the moral or intellectual character to inspire anyone to vote for them. They say one thing today and another tomorrow and another just to make news or another just to seem relevant to the politics of the day. Their vision has no depth, they are one-man parties, with no intellectual support base that inspires others to, at the very least, consider what they are presenting to be based on sound research or academic inspiration.

TT faces a changing world with differing economic models. The world of medicine, law, technology and construction are changing daily and moving at such a pace that countries without the sagacity and desire to change will be left behind, descending into lawlessness, food insecurity, and varying levels of anarchy.

TT must find a way to get our brightest and our best into the political fray, we must inspire our youths to believe that they have a part to play in the future of our nation. There must be an end to a political loyalty that supports the status quo. There must be the coming together of all our people to inspire new hope. New beginnings. Hopelessness is not an option.

STEVE ALVAREZ

via e-mail

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