Dear Editor,

I remember years ago asking: Why are construction workers writing stars and faces on their employee time cards? I was shocked to hear the reason: “Di boss. Is so dey can know is their card, they cannot read.”

I was surprised at the number of young men who could not read their own names. Recently I had a conversation with another group of young men, many had no idea about what was happening in the country politically, and they did not care. They lived from day to day, paycheque to paycheque, with no plans for tomorrow.

One guy did not care if he died in a few days, a few weeks, or a few years. He did not have any plans for a family or for life into his 40s.

Some young men are attracted to gangs not because they love a life of crime, but for their own survival and safety. They are hopeless. They reflect our generation’s failure to deal with issues confronting our youth.

Perhaps our greatest mistakes were to not find a way to inspire a lost generation and our desire to hold on to office and political power left no room for our young bright people to chart a developmental path for the country. Many of our brilliant graduates are now abroad with no plans to return home.

What is exceedingly depressing are the choices the nation faces for our future leadership. There are the ageing politicians who occupy the top political positions, guarding them like a fort, not wanting to mentor the next generation or even consider new ideas and approaches to our politics. Then there are the so-called popular younger leaders who already lack the moral and/or intellectual character to inspire anyone to vote for them. They say one thing today and another tomorrow and another just to make news or another just to seem relevant to the politics of the day. Their vision has no depth, they are one-man parties with no intellectual support base to inspire others to, at the very least, consider what they are presenting on the merits of sound research or academic inspiration.

Trinidad and Tobago faces a changing world, comprising differing economic models. The world of medicine, law, technology, and construction are changing daily and moving at such a pace that countries without the sagacity and desire to change will be left behind, descending into lawlessness, food insecurity, and varying levels of anarchy.

We must find a way to get our brightest and our best into the political fray; we must inspire our youth to believe that they have a part to play in the future of our nation. There must be an end to a political loyalty that supports the status quo. There must be the coming together of all our people to inspire new hope, new beginnings. Hopelessness is not an option.

Steve Alvarez

bilcoa@hotmail.com