Dear Editor,

The old idiom “don’t bite the hands that feed you” was first seen in print during the 18th century when political writer Edmund Burke said that “having looked to government for bread, on the first scarcity they will turn and bite the hand that fed them”.

Today, I want to approach that phrase differently. I want to suggest that if you do not want to be bitten, do not feed the masses. The people, if allowed and encouraged, would not only feed themselves, but also create enough to feed others in need. In Trinidad and Tobago, and in many other countries, governments seem to think it is their responsibility to feed the population. The result is usually the same; at the first sight of disruption from the norm they turn and bite the hands that fed them.

One can be led to believe that governments feed the masses for political mileage, popularity, and, more importantly, votes. We have grown accustomed to lines of poor people seeking to access food cards, hampers, and grants.

Both major political parties in Trinidad and Tobago have kept token employment structures like Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) and the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP), despite the fact that they provide only temporary assistance to a sector of our society that needs, and deserves, much more.

The unfortunate reality is that Trinidad and Tobago is a country that emerged from an ugly history of slavery and indentureship that dehumanised people and took advantage of their labour in return for basics like food, clothing, and shelter. Furthermore, one would think that an independent republic would see liberty of its citizens as a major focus of any government that has emerged from a structure of oppression.

That liberty will demand of Government deliverables such as the ease of doing government business, security, good health care, pertinent education, first-class infrastructure that ensures a reliable water supply, good roads, and access to safe housing plots.

Who would think that in a society like ours the two major political parties, each having had the opportunity to lead the country, would fail in delivering fundamentals like reliable water distribution, repairing of roadways, clearing of waterways to prevent flooding, and putting in place structures to allow citizens to pay for government services online?

Simple things like secured car licence plates; structured approach to agriculture, with food security as a priority; a modern approach to tourism; and laws to discourage corruption, illegal firearms, and abuse of citizens remain elusive.

Rather than seek to elevate and free our citizens to be their best, there seems to be a concerted effort to continue the exploitation of the masses by feeding them from the leftovers of greed and exploitation. Those who lead that way subscribe to another idiom that says, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

Steve Alvarez

bilcoa@hotmail.com