Dear Editor,
Martin Heidegger, in trying to uncover the ground for the possibilities of everyday human existence, said there are two ways in which humans can take up existence in the world: authentic (their own; someone choosing their lifestyle) and inauthentic (not their own; someone fulfilling pre-designed roles in society). Expounding further, Heidegger espoused that both authentic and inauthentic ways of existence exist and both have existence of their own but the former involves an element of choice.
When we survey the landscape of human beings, which of the two ways of existence observed ostensibly forms the general structure in which humans exist? During our wanderings and periods of psycho-geographic drift, frantically searching for ourselves, how often do we encounter a pocket of individual consciousness that has been separated and remains uncontaminated from the ways and banalities of the herd and collective? What does the ratio of authenticity to inauthenticity computed from our survey tell us about our enduring struggles and pain to be unique? Evidentially, we seem to have and often display an aversion to having our spirit’s malleability remain independent and free from the influence of others.
To be an individual, to go out on a limb, requires courage, a fearlessness to confront its biggest and only rival, that of the original life movement of social and political power (State, bureaucratic, business, technological). The prevalence of inauthenticity is an instrument of social control that commands a sort of statis often accompanied by boredom and perpetual repetitions, which fiercely resist the presence of anything original, new or fresh. But how can we live an authentic life while we are still in ignorance and pursuit of who we are? How do we spot or discover the uniqueness of our individual selves in the absence of meaningful tools such as Foucault's archaeological shovel with which we can unearth all the layers of morals, values and psychological burdens that have been weighing upon our actual self?
Maybe we ought to transcend all the values and interests that have been imposed and bequeathed to us thus far. We probably need to explore the transvaluation of the very values that has hitherto stripped us of our individuality, ejecting from us the creative artistic brilliance that nourishes our “I” and keeps at bay that dreaded state of inertia and recurrence that characterises inauthenticity. Our authenticness ought to have the visceral sensations of bravery devoid of timidness. The strength to be an individual and to feign and scoff at the disinterested nature of conformity should be such that it hastens our creativity to invoke its powers of self-formation, self-realisation and autonomy.
As individuals we become masters of our journey having removed ourselves from the flock, becoming our own shepherds, mastering the whole spectrum of human potential both good and evil. Our talents and powers are no longer in the employ and furtherance of the dreams and pursuits of others; we now choose what form we are going to assume independent of external influences. This newfound state of self-mastery and self-discovery together with our heightened sense of self-consciousness enables us to shift our gaze and recuse ourselves from the illusory comfort and security of the crowd. Our spirit now rejoices more than ever in its once dormant inner strength and creativity, so much so, that it welcomes life in its entirety on earth.
In us no longer exists the life diminishing need to be members of the herd, as individuals our awakened originality revels in the defiance and non-conformity to the laws of collective motion. We now ascribe greater value to the particular and private instead of the communal. Our spiritual muscles are now enviably toned and fortified bursting with infinite joules of latent energy enhancing our intestinal fortitude to the point where we can willingly will the whole gamut of our past suffering all over again; this is how strong we have become as individuals. Our self-reliance is so vibrant and alive now that our spiritual sustenance is no longer at the mercy and discretion of the whole.
The huge returns on the mental and spiritual labours we have invested to acquire our distinctive selves is so pleasurable and blissful that it overwhelms and ousts the presence of the imitative, dull and monotonous nature of inauthenticity. As victor the individual is now equipped to embark on an odyssey fully aware of the freedom to leave original footprints along the way.
Orlando Patterson
Honourable Minister Samuel,
Despite the unfortunate circumstance of COVID-19, many lives have been forced to change, some significantly, some slightly. While we adjust to this new change, we still have to maintain a certain level of humanity with and among each other and take the interest and health of others into deep consideration.
As teachers of the Catholic School Board, we don’t believe our lives and the lives of the children are being taking into any consideration whatsoever. While education must continue, there are ways to ensure those involved are considered. Amongst the staff there are persons with underlying considerations, as well as families with underlying conditions that they have to go home to. Beside all that, the fear that teachers have hanging over their heads of keeping 20-plus children safe as well as themselves is already a task on its own. Still, our wellbeing doesn’t count.
While other schools are taking their teachers’ and students’ lives at heart, this is not happening with the said school board. Teachers are confused, scared, overwhelmed and the list goes on because of the uncertainties of our reality.
The board has decided to take all students back in full, classes of over 20 students; even though we are told to social distance and stay away from large gatherings. We have children from over 300 different homes with different backgrounds.
How do we do this in a small room with this much persons?
How do we properly ensure that all students’ temperatures are being taken upon entry of the school, when over 300 children are coming through the gates?
How do we ensure all students are properly sanitized before heading to class?
How do we ensure safety in playgrounds?
There has been a significant rise in COVID-19 cases since the schools have re-opened. There are many other options that we see fit as many other schools are using these methods as a way to maintain the safety of teachers and students. We are, however, concerned why this is not happening with our Catholic schools? Some members of our staff are in fear for their lives.
Name withheld at author’s request.
Dear Editor,
When I was 12 years old a pharmacist who worked in the Lago hospital gave me an English dictionary with a little more than 370 pages. The story goes like this. Every Sunday after church we had to pass by our grandmother before returning home. At that time I was 9 years old.
One Sunday my grandmother sent me on an errand by the neighbor and I saw this big book and was amazed. The neighbor (a pharmacist) saw my reaction and asked me if I liked it . I told him I had never seen such a big book before, so he told me it was a dictionary.
Immediately I thought of my father because my father never answered us when we asked him the meaning of a word. He would say to us “Look it up in the dictionary.” He could see the reaction on our faces and would explain to us, “When you ask me the meaning of a word and I tell you, you would only know the meaning of that one word, but while looking up the word in the dictionary you will come across other words of which you probably did not know the meaning and your curiosity would make you look up the meaning of that word also. In doing so one word of which you did not know the meaning would be the reason that you learn the meaning of more words.”
At that time the forming of the Netherland Antilles was in full swing and the word “preambule” was used frequently. When I saw this dictionary and that gentleman asked me if I liked it I immediately asked him if could open it . So I went straight to find the meaning of the word “preambule” which I found out later was actually “preamble” in English.
But in paging through that dictionary looking for the word “preambule” I came across the word “peremptory”. I read the meaning of the word and when I asked the pharmacist to explain to me what was written he told me, “As you grow older you will understand the meaning clearer, but for now just do it. Don’t dilly dally.”
For many years that word stuck with me and I never ever used it in all my writings. Lo and behold, in reading the letter to you “The hypocrisy of the Dutch exposed”, “peremptory” pops up in front of me.
To continue my story, three years after, when that pharmacist was getting ready to go to the United States to live, he left that dictionary for me with my grandmother. When I told my father the story about the dictionary he told me to write the word “peremptory” in the front and I will always remember the occasion.
I write about “peremptory” but I hope that after reading this piece your readers will revisit that article, because it is an important piece of history.
“The hypocrisy of the Dutch exposed”. In discussing this with a lady, she said to me, “But all Dutch people ain’t bad.” My answer to her was, “Exactly, but those who are bad do not take the people of the Dutch Islands into consideration when they are taking it out on their fellow politicians.”
I will repeat: Why should 250,000 to 300,000 people have to bear the consequences for the activities of about 200 to 300 politicians?
Russell A. Simmons
Dear Editor,
It is early evening in Sandy Ground in the mid-50s; inside the little house, before she retires for the night, Miss Francis is smoking her clay pipe. A sweet pungent scent is coming through the cracks around the closed door behind us; it is oozing out, into the air, onto the steps where my friend and I are seated. It is early evening in Sandy Ground, long ago, in the innocence and ignorance of youth.
I can’t speak for my old friend Michel Augusty who I last ran into a while back; we were shuffling along in Kooyman, strangers, and then our eyes met; he is grey – like I am, but that smile of his is just as warm as it was way back then. There at Kooyman, it was neither the place nor the time for revisiting, for reminiscing. And besides, my old friend would, most likely, be surprised to learn that the scent of tobacco from his Granny’s clay pipe is stowed away in my brain.
The aroma cannot be experienced at will on recall, with the scenery; it is not there when I go back in thoughts to us sitting on the steps. The sharp sweet scent oozes back, seemingly, only to usher in relief, some reassurance, consolation or comfort in rare times of intense anguish or great stress, like the one I’ve been wrestling lately: my concerns over liberty, democracy in the USA. Last night, while I was back on the steps with Michel, the aroma from the old clay pipe oozed forth, sweet and pungent, uplifting like a great sunrise when it clears the hill and spreads its rays on Sandy Ground.
Somewhat invigorated, I decided to go online in search of some more sunlight. I discovered four mighty dragon slayers: one of them, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Mr. William McSwain, cannot speak of any ongoing investigation his office is involved in, but he is the person who is now leading the identification and prosecution of Democratic vote frauds in the Philadelphia area before the votes are certified.
He has some experience and success in investigating politicians: on July 23, 2020, he accused a Democrat, Michael (“Ozzie”) Myers of “… conspiring to violate voting rights by fraudulently stuffing the ballot boxes for specific Democratic candidates in the 2014, 2015, and 2016 Pennsylvania primary elections (Justice News, Thursday, July 23, 2020). But this was election fraud among fellow Democrats, a common occurrence that got minimum press coverage.
The three other mighty dragon slayers are very outspoken and convinced that they have the proof which they are marshalling (preparing for presentation to the courts and the public); they declare that there was massive fraud in the presidential election, that President Trump is the real winner of the election. These are three individuals, each one of them with a great professional reputation.
There is Rudy Giuliani, a former US Attorney who busted New York City mafia bosses and, later, cleaned up New York when he was mayor of that city.
There is Attorney Lucian Lincoln (“Lin”) Wood Jr., a very famous, highly respected and successful lawyer; he is well known for having successfully represented Richard Jewell, the security guard who was accused in the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta. Over the years since that exploit, Attorney Lin Wood has successfully defended a great number of clients who have won hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements.
And there is Attorney Sidney K. Powell, maybe the mightiest of these four dragon slayers; she appears to be very familiar with the game that is being played, as well as with all of the players involved. And everyone, everywhere (including in the media) is careful, very careful not to tangle with her – that is strange, very strange, indeed. Attorney Powell served 10 years as an Assistant US Attorney; she is quite familiar with the US Department of Justice for having also researched it for her two important and influential books – Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice (2014), and Conviction Machine: Standing Up to Federal Prosecutorial Abuse (2020).
All of this makes Attorney Powell very well prepared to deal with the crocs in the deep swamp that is Washington and the US Department of Justice particularly. A few days ago, she stated that she will soon “release the kraken,” the giant squid: a deep sea monster that dwells in the cold depths of the sea off the coast of Norway. Reportedly, the kraken surfaces sometimes and attacks vessels in that area: it wraps its giant tentacles around the vessel, and pulls it down under, deep down onto the bottom of the ocean.
Gérard M. Hunt
Dear Editor,
One of the agenda points in the Central Committee meeting last week was a covenant signed between the government commissioner on behalf of Statia and State Secretary Knops for the realization of a new government administration building. This is a project that all island council members agreed is way overdue. Still there were, in my opinion, valid questions and concerns about the contents of the covenant by most council members.
First of all, the document was signed just a week before the inauguration of the new island council, which raises the question why one could not have awaited the new council to take office and include them in the decision-making process.
The covenant comes in the place of a covenant signed in 2014. Since none of the members have a clear picture of the contents of that earlier covenant it remains thus far unclear what has changed and what were the reasons for the changes. I have requested a copy of this earlier covenant to get a picture as to what has happened.
According to the new covenant the local government, for two thirds, together with the RCN will rent the building from “Rijksvastgoedbedrijf”. This entity will be responsible for the construction and for this purpose will borrow the financing from the Ministry of Finance. The local government has the opportunity to purchase the building at any point in time for the then-to-be-established market value. Although we have not yet read the previous covenant, it is the belief that this largely deviates from the old one.
It is still unclear what the financial consequences of this construction are for the local government.
A bone of contention for the island council in the covenant is also the inclusion in the sale by the national government of Fort Oranje, Voges House and Government Guesthouse. These properties came in possession of the national government after the split-up of the former Netherlands Antilles, which was the owner at the time. My belief and that of the other council members is that selling these properties to a third party may not sit well with most Statians. Many of us believe these monuments belong, at least emotionally, to Statia. One may also wonder why this intended sale is included in this covenant.
I hope that after receiving a copy of the old covenant we will get a clearer picture about this matter.
Koos Sneek
Island Council member
