Dear Editor
Neo-colonialism is the use of economic, political, cultural, or other pressures to control or influence other countries, especially former dependencies.
Regarding the recent unrest regarding the imposition of the PPRN against our brothers and sisters in the north, this might not be the most popular of opinions but I think I have passed the point of wanting to be popular. Popularity never brought about change so my goal is to challenge our thinking because I believe that in doing so we can really make a difference and this is the way I know how to do that. I know that this is something that isn’t popular but it is necessary if we want to see any real change.
I remember seeing this very moment two years ago when I posted on my Facebook timeline that “divide and conquer” is the oldest destabilization tactic in the book and we played right into it on both north and south sides.
Disclaimer: I have no issue with people resisting. I am all for it. What I am not for is resistance sans a plan. If we were to be completely honest, this kind of resistance really won’t make any difference. Today it’s PPRN, tomorrow it’s something else. Why?
The last time I checked there were French flags flying high in the north. So, we can jump high all we want but when we come back down the reality is that we are landing on French property and they can do what they want with it. So, when the next issue after the PPRN comes up, what are we going to do? Strike, riot, and destroy the country again? They already don’t respect us and that reaction will not earn us that respect either. The brutal and harsh truth is that we are still a colony. The mere fact that the local government found out same time as the rest of the public shows that they view us all the same. The state forcefully imposing their will makes this fact even more clear. That is classic colonialism, because a rose by any other name is still a rose.
Allow me to digress to briefly talk about the relationship between the prefect and colonialism for a moment. To do that we have to examine part of the definition of colonialism which is “the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country… .”
In other words, the colony is not present in the same location as the settling country and the French president is not going to leave France to come here to make sure that his agenda is carried out. So, in order for them to maintain political control after they’ve acquired it means that there must be a system in place to ensure that happens.
This is the reason for the appointment of the prefect. The prefect is not accountable to the people in the colony, so if they decide to not speak to you, they don’t have to. They are only accountable to the state in the person of the president.
So, it doesn’t matter what is happening in the colony, the prefect’s responsibility is to the state. They may empathize and maybe even sympathize with the colony but that is as far as it goes because they have a mandate and instructions to carry out in accordance with that mandate regardless to their personal feelings.
The point I am making is this: it doesn’t matter how you feel about the prefect or whether or not you believe they have to go, the reality is as long as they are executing the will of the state, they’re not going anywhere.
Okay, back to my original thought.
A wise king once said whenever there is no clear outlook of the future people will behave without restraint. By the way things have gotten out of hand recently, clearly, he was right. Anyone who really knows me knows that I’m about strategy. That is why one of my favorite books is The Art of War. That whole book echoes one of my all-time favorite words of Paul’s advice in Scripture to not be “ignorant of the enemy’s tactics.” Of course, the enemy here is the European powers so my question is: did anyone study the enemy’s tactics?
Did we ever stop to think that this is the response they were hoping to elicit so that they could be further justified in their “takeover”? Can we answer how is this really helping the cause? What is the response we expect to get? So we burn a few things, block a couple roads, and lick down some gendarmes, then what? What was the outcome of the last protest that was held? What makes us think this outcome will be any different? What’s the plan?!? Did we really think this through?
This cannot be compared to the civil rights movement of the ’60s or Garvey’s movement of the ’20s because MLK, Malcolm X, and Garvey were strategists. This was chaos, plain and simple. Emotions never win long-term wars. Emotional armies will always have the highest casualties. We have to take our emotions out of this in order to think logically and be strategic. If we are totally honest we would admit that until we are willing to give up everything which keeps us tied to them, they have all rights to do what they want. That’s the bottom line.
Resistance with no clear vision for before, during, or after the resistance will always be futile. This is why they will always be 50 moves ahead; they are proactive while we are reacting to what they’ve already predetermined to do. They’re playing chess while we’re still playing marbles. They already have it planned out, because the only reason for the aggressive implementation of the PPRN is because this is just a phase to be completed in the overall plan.
One of the major tools in the arsenal of the oppressor is the maintenance of ignorance and that is what they’ve been capitalizing on from both local government’s side and public side. Ignorance doesn’t mean stupid, it simply means lacking the proper information in order to make sound, rational, and strategic decisions.
Thomas Jefferson is credited as saying: “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” With what has been going on recently, I agree that resistance is definitely necessary. Unfortunately, whenever people hear the word “resistance” they immediately think of fighting, rioting, and violent protests, not realizing that there are different forms of resistance. The resistance I am advocating is strategic resistance. This involves learning the diplomacy of civil and amicable engagement that gets the job done tactfully and skillfully as opposed to the diplomacy of violent and disorderly protest. These riots are hurting us, not them.
Saint Martin! I know we are better than and way more intelligent than this. I know we have the intellectual capacity and capabilities to handle this without resorting to violence. Let’s use it! Don’t continue to play into their hand anymore and don’t be predictable anymore.
When we were left to fend for ourselves between the abolition of slavery and right before the tourism boom of the ’60s, they didn’t expect us to last long without them but we made it work! We did it without them then and we for sure can do it without them now. We don’t have the military power or force that they do but we do have a brain with enough intelligence to be strategic. Let’s use that to our advantage.
How I see it, after this there is no way to go back. The state has shown that the local government has no authority to make any decision whatsoever, so the only decision government can make on their own now is the call for independence. No matter how we feel about it, the state showed us that this is not our country, it’s theirs and as long as their flag is flying over it they will govern it how they want. Period.
So, I will continue to say that if we want real change, at some point we must gather the courage to respectfully give them back their burgundy passport while saying, “Thank you, but we can take it from here now,” and learn to handle our affairs ourselves. Until then, while we’re busy rioting and burning stuff the systematic takeover will continue and then we’ll wake up one day to find out that the entire country has been overrun and there is nothing we can do about it.
Always remember: the right thing done the right way brings peace and stability. The right thing done the wrong way brings chaos and confusion. Let that settle with you as you continue on about your day.
Darren Wilson
Forever an independence advocate
