Now, we all know that with loyalty to one, there is a bias against the other. This fact is highly pronounced when it comes to patriotism. Personally, I haven't met a single Trinidadian that did not love their (our) country. That said, once Trinidad is under attack, one can't help but be put on the defensive. It takes a high degree of maturity to observe such attacks objectively, and even more so to agree with them (given that they are indeed true) when made by an outside party. Per Saucy's blog post this morning, I had to endure a list of scathing insults to our twin island republic on part of a self-righteous, opinionated Jamaican writer who seems to be fed-up with Caribbean strategic business practices. Now, I do not pretend to know all the facts that contributed to the issue at hand. No country is perfect, and as wonderful as I believe Trinidad to be, it is by no means an exception. If it is a fact that we dealt poorly with the Jamaican industry, we can't help but acknowledge such, and own up to such. However, once you start blaming other islands for your own financial mess (Barbados also took a hit in said article), then proceed to pick at every other UNRELATED circumstance (some of which occurred a long time ago.... Note to the writer: When it comes to arguments, KAIROS is KEY...look it up), one should wonder if said writer really had anything worthwhile to say on the matter.
Here are a few ludicrous statements that were made:
"In the case of Trinidad, nobody wants to live down there because there are poisonous snakes and no mountains."
Aren't mountains the first thing you see when you fly down here (from the North).... as a matter of fact, weren't they the first things Columbus saw upon discovering the island (from the South), which led to it's very name????
"Murder down there makes a speciality of mutilation."
As if murder rates are the last thing your country deals with... oh wait... aren't you worse off in that department???
"It seems to me nobody would want to go there, except another Trinidadian."
To you only, dear.... The amount of Jamaicans that run to Trinidad Carnival every year... and boast to ME about going when I couldn't.....
However, those are laughable, childish insults. Here is what upset me the most:
"What the Jamaican Government must now have realised are baleful consequences of the Amerindian heritage of Trinidad. They are not Taino but Carib, and those were cannibals. We were not, and it's not part of our make-up. Murderous today, but still not cannibal."
Granted this is the most childish of all statements, but this is downright disgusting slander. What does our Amerindian heritage have to do with our business practices? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! If you had to resort to that crap to justify your sentiments on the matter, I have but two words for you: "GROW UP!!!"
Whew! There. I must admit, part of me is wondering why did I bother giving this nonsense the time of day. Shoot, Saucy herself called this article "insipid", and rightly so. However, as a PROUD Trinidadian, I will not take any misguided insults to our country sitting down, nor will I keep quiet when stupidity and ignorance run rampant within my midst. Ah done!
