Do You Know The Difference?
If you claim that you are “Trini 2 D Bone” read this see if it is the same as others. See it as a statement of you, and what you could do to affect change and develop your country. Charity still begins at home and so do other virtues.
It is in our community that we learn the virtue of being civic minded, understanding that we all share, live in a common space. We are all interdependent on each other for a safe, peaceful community. The government has certain responsibility but we do too, one of which is ensure that we live in a peaceful striving community.
For example is if you were walking and saw a boulder in the middle of a road civic mindedness will compel you to move that bolder. You are just concerned that it will cause damage to someone and it is the right thing to do. The opposite of that is to leave it and walk away caring very little for whoever gets hurt.
Another example is that you see a crime being committed and your initial civic mindedness will compel you to stop it if you can but barring that report it to the police. Not a very good idea today primarily because of an erosion of civic mindedness for understandable reasons.
Civics was very important to this country in the post independence era; it was taught in every secondary school. Today you would probably only encounter it if you studied sociology. Times have changed but we still consider ourselves to be patriotic, a people aspiring together to achieve together. No?
Patriotism is not merely running for political office, it’s not about spending money on favorable groups in the country, it not about shouting or fighting in defense of a slight to your country, it does not happen when you say “Ah Trini 2 D Bone”. Do we have to be at war to demonstrate patriotism?
Patriotism is a willingness to stand up and proudly represent your community. Patriotism is adding your voice in the chorus of voices requesting and demanding transparency in our state’s affairs when it is necessary. Unfortunately, today in Trinidad and Tobago we see very little genuine patriotism.
Patriotic people are the people who fight against the odds. These people stand out; they are not TV personalities, politicians or celebrities although they will all claim to be merely by virtue of who they are.
The real patriots are the community activists who cry for and represent their communities in so called hot spots like Beetham and Lavantille. They are our front line patriots, where murders and robbing occur regularly and they continue the fight with words of encouragement.
Others in every county in Trinidad and Tobago have stood up and represented their community with pride. The sad thing is that they, we are few and far in between when you consider the numbers that make up communities. We need more patriots; we need more people to represent their communities.
Take the first step to becoming a part of your country’s development. Add your name and email to our list of people who are truly “Trini 2 D Bon”
Look out for our next post entitled “What is the National Association of Village & Community Councils where we give a history of TTAVCC and why we exist.
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Hey and make a comment if you like, we open to feedback.
