In the wake of an abrupt end to the State of Emergency, prominent figures in this country are comparing the implementation of ‘safe zones’ to South African apartheid even as we record our deadliest day yet with 28 deaths, including the first child to die from this virus.
In this context, I can understand why some might decide to rebel at the level of the final bit of power they have left: personal bodily autonomy.
What I don’t understand is why ✨this✨ is the bodily autonomy hill that has been selected to die on.
Hidden behind the air of “welp, we tried”, is an alarming shift towards returning to business as usual without ensuring that the most vulnerable members of our population are properly protected.
How does one account for the strange dissonance in telling parents that their unvaccinated children couldn’t attend in-person school while also failing to ask teachers if they’d been vaccinated?
We talk endlessly about being cosmopolitan but we rarely take stock of what that means, of the whole that is made up of so many parts blended together in a way you won’t find anywhere else.
Against the backdrop of SEA results released last week, in which almost 7% more students scored under 30% than last year, I wonder if we grasp what kind of whirlwind we’re preparing to reap if we continue to ignore the ways we’re allowing children to tumble into the gaping chasm between those who have the good fortune of meaningful educational support and those who don’t.
What does it even mean “pro-life” in a world where so many seem comfortable with an ever-climbing death toll at the hands of a virus if it means they get to enjoy their lives as they see fit? The same people aren’t particularly bothered by extrajudicial police killings, maternal and infant mortality rates, or even making sure that children have enough to eat.
I have to ask what it is Trinbagonians really want at this point of the neverending shitshow. The hard truth that our big, hardback, 59-year-old nation needs to fully face is that this is a PANdemic and it is not over.
Authority does not exist in a vacuum. People vest power and authority in individuals and organisations so they can fulfil their responsibilities. We give them the authority so that they may serve in our best interests.
It’s one thing to be caught in a terrifying global scenario and understand the need to hold strain until things get better. It’s another thing entirely to sit and watch as other people’s (thoughtless at best, selfish at worst) actions extend everyone’s suffering nearly two years later. Even as the tools to improve everyone’s circumstances are right there.