by Nicholas RAINER

I?m going to tell you about a paradox that rather irks me. One needn?t search too far to hear about the dastardly effects of colonialism. This government has been particularly deft in championing the cause of emancipation from the White Man?s burden. Just look at how many ministerial speeches are infused with fiery, yet ultimately hollow, revolutionary rhetoric. Call it the Importance of Being Ernesto.

Yet, when the long overdue opportunity arises for us to free ourselves from the final legacy of colonialism, namely our economic dependency on Europe, what do we do? We entrust a minister with the mission of scouring European capitals with a begging bowl and then scowl in horror when those inhuman bureaucrats from Brussels deny us the manna we were demanding. This philosophy is but a variation of the perverse Stockholm syndrome whereby hostages feel sympathy for their captors and actually refuse to be rescued.

Self-victimization is all very well and good?for a while. But the time soon comes to get back up and confront reality. Just look at how the countries of Southeast Asia bounced back from the crippling recession of the end of the 1990s. Their resilience befits their tiger status. Evidently, the only feline species Mauritius can currently be compared to is of the paper variety.

The International monetary fund (IMF) recently issued a Public information notice in which it bandies around its concerns for the country?s economy. Are we going to let that get to us? The IMF is hardly the most credible of international institutions and, although it remains powerful, its influence is certainly waning. Brazil and even Argentina, which is still convalescing from the crash of its economy, recently liberated themselves from the serfdom of IMF loans. Shall we follow their lead or remain chained to an international order that has repeatedly cheated the developing world?

Sadly, our leaders are misleading us and, worse yet, we are misleading ourselves. As of yesterday, the ministry of Education still hadn?t finalized the details pertaining to the reinstatement of the selection process for admission to the nine national colleges. Imagine the fiasco! The technicians of the ministry of Education are fumbling with a formula that mortgages the future of thousands of children simply because a minister, who has been in office for only six months, decides that it must be so. There really must be more safeguards against such executive excess.

The real blame though lies elsewhere. Through our complacency, laziness and refusal to get involved in the vital processes that regulate our lives, the system has become distorted beyond recognition. The ills of modern society, such as corruption, abuses of power et al., can no longer be ascribed to a few rotten apples. Today, we are all part of the huge fruit salad that allows this status quo to endure. The same logic applies to war, as Donovan eloquently argued. ?He?s the universal soldier and really is to blame. His orders come from far away no more. They come from here and there, and you and me. And brothers, can?t you see? This is not the way we put the end to War.?

So please, if you aren?t prepared to change then don?t bother complaining.