ARE YOU BETTER OR WORSE OFF THAN YOU WERE 8 YEARS AGO?

 At the end of the day, self-interest is the biggest motivator of all. Wouldn't it be great if that statement was true? Unfortunately, like so many things  in this country it is heavily nuanced by external factors. Take the coming elections on August 14th for example: if you are better off under the PNM then you can be expected to vote for that Party. If you are worse off then you can be expected to vote for the UNC. That is why I used the word "unfortunately", because things are not necessarily what they might seem.  Many PNM voters feel worse off under the Rowley regime but the available evidence suggests that they are not ready to decamp 'en masse' but instead will voice their displeasure by simply not turning out to vote.

You might think that this then would be a great time to be a supporter of the UNC. After all, your Party should win. But this is far from being a 'done deal' for Kamla and her supporters. There is a great deal of rumbling and discontent in the ranks of the UNC (although  it seems that the discontent is not as high as with Dr. Rowley). In addition, that crucial element in T&T politics, the swing voters, do not seem to be enamored with either side. A careful reading of the newspapers  shows that the various editors (answering to their bosses, the owners) seem to understand this and are betting that the PNM will survive this election, although it will be a close run thing; closer than it would  or should be if the issue of race was not a determining factor.

Let's face it: the country is (generally speaking) worse off than it was 8 years ago. In any normal political environment, the Government of the day would be blamed unless it was so very obvious that it wasn't the fault of the Government. That's more than a little hard to do when you have been running the show for 8 years ...  because things aren't good at all  Even though it is not being discussed openly, a devaluation with all its adverse consequences is looming on the not too distant horizon. But the PNM certainly appears to be stronger than one might expect and a cursory reading of the newspapers doesn't appear to show much concern about the crashing economy. If anybody can give a reason other than race, I'd love to hear it.

For the record, I understand why the newspaper reporting is as incompetent as it appears to be. The editors have to answer to their bosses ... who are heavily invested in the PNM. Therefore, there is very little 'wiggle room' for these editors, even when they see things going down and crashing all around them. Money talks and you know what walks!! So we come back to the age old question: are you better or worse off than you were 8 years ago? The answer to that question should dictate what you should do. What you will do is  a different story.