So I was on my daily endeavors minding my own business when a sumthin’-sumthin’ drop in my inbox. Upon reading it, the rant turned into the most on-point, assertive commentary I’ve heard about the Panama Canal referendum and Panamanian society in general. I’ll post the original article written by fellow writer and old friend Carlos Wynter, which came to me via e-mail and then made its way to Daigoro today and then I’ll summarize what it all means for non-Spanish speakers and chip in my two cents on the matter:

Las riquezas de nuestro país están distribuidas con muy poca equidad; así lo demuestran las cifras económicas. Y es una desigualdad que persiste de año en año y que guarda sus proporciones en las familias no importando que una generación concluya y otra empiece. Siguiendo este orden de ideas, debemos aceptar que los panameños respondemos a una clasificación que perpetúa la riqueza en unos y la pobreza en otros.

Imaginemos que somos los encargados de entrevistar a una serie de candidatos para un puesto de trabajo. El modo en que los clasifiquemos de acuerdo con sus tipos y datos determinará las oportunidades de obtener un trabajo digno. ¿Qué definiciones rondan usualmente nuestra nuestras cabeza? ¿Las mujeres son más responsables y dedicadas que los hombres? ¿Las personas de tez oscura son perezosas y de mal vivir? ¿Los blancos atraerán más clientela que los mestizos? ¿Los rubios son inaccesibles y pedantes? ¿Los indios no tienen educación? ¿Mientras más adulta sea la persona más resistente será al cambio? En general, ¿los panameños no son emprendedores?

Algunos podrán objetar, basados en sus experiencias, que muchas de los postulados de arriba son ciertos. Pero el problema es que, en nuestro país, no hay estudios estadísticos y cifras que sustenten ninguna aseveración sobre el comportamiento humano. En otras palabras, juzgamos a priori y con muy poca información. Un ejemplo es que se ha puesto de moda solicitar personal menor de treinta y cinco años pero, ¿podríamos probar que desarrollan mejor el trabajo que sus mayores? ¿Existen estudios estadísticos al respecto?.

Y esto no sería un problema si nosotros mismos no nos encasilláramos. Pero lo usual es que nos “pongamos el saco” de los estereotipos y de las definiciones infundadas. Eso hace injusta nuestra sociedad.

Repetimos hasta la saciedad que el panameño no lee y que los eventos culturales tienen públicos escasos. Sin embargo, ya hay varios ejemplos que muestran lo contrario. Estemos conscientes de que una creencia negativa apaga los esfuerzos y desanima el progreso.

¿Queremos conocer la raíz de nuestros problemas sociales? Estas líneas buscan demostrar que si no tomamos conciencia de nuestras propias trampas psicológicas, la injusticia somos nosotros.

You might or might not know this, folks, but there’s a vote coming up that will decide if the Panama Canal is modernized or not. Simple as that; the Canal rakes in billions of dollars but according to the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) the time is coming that the Canal will become obsolete the way it is, paving the way for bigger, newer passages to take our clients and steal our cash. Now, due to some really shady behavior by our government this crazy plan to expand and modernize the canal was approved by the ACP, and quickly rushed to congress which approved it as well. The only thing standing in the way now between the Canal and modernization is the Panamanian people, since we all own a piece of the Canal as citizens who pay our taxes. The story of the people not trusting their governments is not new, but when it gets in the way of progress then it becomes a real problem.

I could go on for weeks about a Panamanian’s uncanny ability to beat himself and everyone around him down. Watching the news is an excruciating affair, because not only are there killings on the streets and murders that make me think I’m living in the “City of God” universe but whenever the news gets political it’s a “whodunnit” of biblical proportions… the day a Panamanian politician actually admits they fucked up then I say you should pack your bags for hot weather, ladies and gentlemen, because our day of judgment is here and it has arrived with a red sky full of flying pigs while a fat lady sings at the top of a mountain. It’s when really thoughtful, intelligent people such as Carlos that call people on their shit like this that makes me think we really are worse of as a society than I thought. We’re a blooming, modernized city with small town problems and small town mentality and it’s eating us alive without us being aware of it… I’ve made it a policy not to save what I vote for since I exercise my right to not divulge my stance on matters of the state but sometimes you run into real idiots and people like Carlos, great folk that deserve better, get fed up and have to speak out.

Who gives a shit if the government already made up their minds about what’s best for the Canal? Who cares if they’re going to steal the money? They can’t do it even if they tried; the eyes of the world will be all over us if this project gets the green light. Hell, I think the government is just as incompetent as the last (though for a whole different set of reasons) but that doesn’t mean I’ll vote “NO” out of spite… that’s quite possibly the most moronic thing anyone can do at this point. They all piss me off. The idiot workers unions that have no room for negotiation (or better yet, their definition of “negotiation” is that of sitting down and if the outcome is any different than what they wanted before the meeting then it’s been a failure. Assholes) nor vision to realize how much moronic they seem when they go speak on TV and radio and the government who I believe is operating as a totalitarian state when they’re working with a democratic system, which sounds about coherent considering that Martin Torrijos’ dad was, as great as he may have been for the country, a dictator. All of these people are scumbags, all of them… why would anyone believe a word any of them say? If you’re gonna vote, please do so because you believe in the choice you’ve made and, if possible, are able to back it up. No politics, no unions, no outside opinions… nothing. Just you and the ballot. We’ll just see what happens on October 22nd when we have to go out and put an end to this once and for all.

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