Some persons in Antigua and Barbuda have formed such strong emotional attachments to certain beliefs that although a little rational reasoning would reveal how ridiculous those beliefs are they are unable to recognise the obvious. One example of what I like to call self deception, is the notion that we have “government by the people for the people.”
What we have is disguised dictatorship, because under the Westminster System of government real power lies in the ability to make laws, not the ability to vote. In our system the Prime Minister has almost all the power, because he or she alone decides who gets a ministry. As a result these ministers are very likely to support any action or decision of the Prime Minister. Because of this the Prime Minister can get parliament to pass almost any law whether or not the majority of the people approve. The Prime Minister can even take the country into war against the will of the people. We can do better.
Rupert E. Henry
A former police officer who is a member of the adult red-shirt gang, also known as the big red machine, asked me if I meant to compare the Antigua Labour Party and the United Progressive Party with the gangs of young people who have been engaged in violent crime? I replied that I did, because words can be weapons, and can be used to incite persons to fear and hate each other.
One only has to listen to some of our radio stations to hear the disgusting, disgraceful, disrespectful things that we say about each other. This can cause neighbours in a peaceful country to turn against each other, it can divide families and communities, it can cripple and render ineffective institutions such as the police and the courts and in some cases it can lead to violence. When this type of violence erupts the dead are usually counted in hundreds or thousands. We cannot afford to let this happen.
We could use these same radio stations in meaningful ways, for example, to disseminate public information and provide further learning for adults.
Although I am concerned about the behaviour of our youths and their involvement with gangs, I am afraid that any effort to solve the problem will fail unless we also look at the behaviour of us adults. A gang could be described as a group of individuals, juvenile and or adult, who associate on a continuous basis, form an allegiance for a common purpose, and are usually involved in delinquent or criminal activity. The gang may range in size from a small group of individuals who hang around together and commit crimes together, to a large formal organization with a leader or ruling council, gang colours, gang identifiers, and a gang name.
While we focus our attention on the small groups we ignore the actions of the larger ones but the young peoples behaviour is just a reflection of our adult behaviour. The two largest adult gangs in Antigua are the Antigua Labour Party and the United Progressive Party, and it is the war between these two gangs that is preventing us from been able to find ways to mobilize effective forces for corrective changes in order to rebuild our families and communities.
