‘Subject’ is a word that’s used in monarchies to describe people.
I’ve never liked this use of the word.
In a monarchy, the monarch is the actual or symbolic source of authority, and it’s in his or her name that all legal power in civil and military law is exercised.
The people are the subjects of the monarch. They are His Majesty’s subjects, or Her Majesty’s loyal and faithful subjects, etc. They see his or her face all over the place, embedded deeply and deliberately in the psyche and ethos of each successive generation. And, very intriguingly, all over their money.
Now, while we know that things have changed significantly over time, the same ‘contract’ exists today that existed centuries ago in places like the United Kingdom, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, etc, that is, you pay allegiance to your monarch, you submit yourself to being a good subject of your monarch, and you become entitled to the protection of the Crown.
It’s this symbolism which comes with the submission and subjugation of being a ‘subject’ that I find most odious and offensive. It’s as if the Head of State is more important, and more powerful, than the body politic.
It comes across as being elitist, rather than being populist.
The leaders of the American Revolution fought successfully to remove themselves from the submission, subjugation and ignominy of being subjects of the British Crown, in their quest for nationhood and real citizenship.
I invite you to read the US Declaration of Independence.
I also invite you to read its Constitution, which, I think, has only 7 Clauses and 27 Amendments, and which is the shortest and least wordy national Constitution on the planet. And its central objective is to define the relationship between the State and the people, with the high cards intended to be vested in the hands of the people…the citizens.
Of course, the affairs of State and of the people of the USA have, over the centuries, not been without stain. But nobody ever said that social justice and democracy, and the demands of real citizenship, can be taken for granted.
Steady vigilance and agitation are necessary. And, as is stated in the US Declaration of Independence, whenever a Government becomes destructive towards people’s inalienable rights, ”it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish” (that Government), and to install a new one which must be made to function in pursuance of the people’s safety and happiness.
And what we see in America today, after 239 years of independence, is an ongoing, unextinguishable and obvious determination of citizens to fight for, and to defend, their constitutional and human rights in their quest for safety, success and happiness, and that determination is set at the very core of being a good citizen.
Now while I don’t for a moment deny that a British person can be as much a citizen as, and can be as passionate about it, an American, I love the connotations of ‘citizen’ as much as I hate those of ‘subject’.
I’m sure that you recall a certain person describing the people of St. Kitts & Nevis as his ‘subjects’? And, of course, you recall what you did to him three months ago. And your action on that day confirmed that you are citizens, not subjects! Well, the majority of you anyway.
I raise this matter of subjects and citizens in relation to comments that I’ve made publicly since the last election. Comments which seem to have made some people uncomfortable.
You see, like you, I am a citizen. I am nobody’s subject. And being the citizen that I am, I have the moral and civic responsibility to be vigilant and to agitate, to question, to agree or to disagree with the present Government, and to keep my eyes, my ears, my mind and my heart open.
Some people believe that once you disagree, you do not support. It is that type of illogical nonsense, nurtured intently and intensely by the recently defeated regime, that has us entangled in the tribalistic mess that we’re in today.
But being agreeable just to show my allegiance would turn me into a subject, and I ain’t going there.
So some of you have invited me to go easy on the new Government, as if I’m being hard on them.
My support for Team Unity is well known. Indeed, and I say this humbly, before there was a Team Unity, Operation Rescue’s Richard Caines, Washington Archibald, Terry Adams, Shervyn ‘Forest’ Jeffers, Carlton Dupont, Calvin Beach, Alwali Mohammed, and others, including myself, were preaching Unity. I’ll go further and say that there might’ve been no Team Unity Government if there’d been no Operation Rescue!
And, interestingly, some of those who’re inviting me to ease up on the new Government ( and, to be fair, no Cabinet member or other person in a leadership position in Government has expressed concern to me about my comments) were among my most robust cheerleaders in my commentary on the former Government. They wanted me to talk then, but they want me either to share my views behind closed doors, or to say nothing.
Be assured that a citizen’s silence and lethargy are the enemies of democracy and good governance. His silence constitutes the biggest threat to the safety, security and happiness of himself and his nation. I can vouch for this.
When Labour got into office in 1995, some of us began seeing red flags with the leadership of Denzil Douglas. But history will record that, as a collective, we waited too long, and despite all of the Cabinet retreats, etc., that were held in an effort to improve the situation, it all added up to being too little, too late.
The result was that a Government with enormous potential turned progressively sour and self-serving, and in the end, 20 years later, it was removed.
Greater vigilance, agitation, action and honestly speaking truth to power by supporters and friends might’ve resulted in the preservation of democracy and good governance within the Party, and in Labour still being in office today.
And I don’t want the same fate to befall Team Unity. I don’t want them to become a repeat of the former regime, increasingly sour, undemocratic and self-serving.
They’re human beings just like the rest of us, and a deliberate and unapologetic effort must be robustly made by all real citizens, especially supporters of the Team, to discourage any temptation on the part of anyone in the pecking order, from captain to cook to cleaner, to become complacent or blind-sided by opportunists, manipulators or corrupt characters; to become full of himself or herself; or to become abusive of the sacred privilege of leadership entrusted to him or her, whether by election or appointment.
And it’s with all of this in mind that I express my disappointment that the man who refused to respond to letters from the then Opposition Leader, who refused to call the Parliament to debate a Motion of No Confidence which was allowed to linger and rot for over two years, and who showed pure and utter contempt for Team Unity in Opposition, will be reading the Throne Speech to open the first Parliament under a Team Unity Government.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not at all comfortable with him being the custodian of our nation’s Constitution. And I’m saying so!
Further, if after three months in office, Team Unity still has not repositioned known, notorious, ill-intentioned, obstructionist, opportunistic Douglas operatives from critical decision-making positions that they occupy in the public sector, then what does a real citizen like me do? Shut up? Suck it up?
No. That ain’t going to happen!
I’m a citizen, not a subject. I’m beholden to no man. I’m no blind follower.
And whoever might be upset with me for expressing this opinion, then let them be upset.onomy. This is the foundation of a prosperous nation or we will create the foundation of a prosperous nation.”
Disclaimer
This article was posted in its entirety as received by SKNVibes.com. This media house does not correct any spelling or grammatical error within press releases and commentaries. The views expressed therein are not necessarily those of SKNVibes.com, its sponsors or advertisers.
