Too Much of One Thing
Good for Nothing

14, Jun 1999
'The hangings shall prove to be no deterrent for the issue of crime requires much more in-depth treatment than the mere vengeance of administrative measures and it is intricately tied to the development process.'

There is a theory of "marginal utility" and there is a theory of "overproduction" which natural scientists and economists readily understand but which professional politicians seem unable to conceptualise far less to comprehend.

It is said that the increase in use or application of units of any one product results in "diminishing returns" per unit being realised.

Every spoon of sugar you add to your cup of coffee brings a lesser degree of "sweetness" per spoon. Note, it is not the total aggregate of "sweetening capacity" that is lessened but the returns you get per spoon.

In the same vein, the overproduction of any item realises quantities of supply greater than the required demand and the result is a drop in value of the item, in other words, the exchange-value of the item or product, its selling strength in the market place, is compromised.

Politicians, precisely because the vast majority of them fail to understand that they should aspire to be social scientists, are yet to see how these natural laws or theories apply to the processes of social development and the interplay between people and people.

The old folks in their wisdom, derived from centuries of keen observation, have always warned us: "Too much o' anything is good fuh nothing!" That "proverb" clearly indicates that the old folks understood the theory of "diminishing returns" and if they, the old folks, in their wisdom, integrated all the sciences in their way of "seeing" and "doing", then so too must we.

The backers of the regime in power have been of the view that they won the last national elections on the crime issue. Therefore in regard to political strategy and tactics they have developed a tunnel-vision: why change a wining combination?

In 1995, "do the crime and do the time" was their major slogan. The issue of crime was sheer political dynamite given the wave of criminal activity throughout the country, a lot of which was directly drug-related, and given the tender ages of most of the social deviants. It appeared as if neither church nor state nor any of the social agencies such as school and family unit could stem the criminal tidal wave.

The slogan "do the crime and do the time", in other words, none shall escape punishment, was also a coded, subliminal, ethnic solidarity message to certain people in certain parts of the country to close ranks and forge unity against "outsiders" whom, it was alleged, come into their communities to rape their wives and daughters and rob them of their savings for which they had worked hard to accumulate. It also allowed them to steal Hulsie's thunder and strip her of any political might that may have probably caused some distraction within their very strongholds.

"Crime" provided them with the only political platform that served to solidify their natural support within the constituencies which they controlled politically, socially and religiously and, at the same time, provided a beachhead into their opponent's territory. They gained governance after the elections and immediately set about dealing with crime and criminals, through legislation, plugging legal loopholes, and through administrative measures, such as making the police more mobile and establishing the "rapid response" unit. Of course, all the contracts given out as a result of this went only to their "kith and kin" and supporters but that is irrelevant to the point we wish to make here.

But after all the shenanigans of the regime, and in hindsight we understand now why Kamla could not be left with the Attorney-General portfolio, nothing seems to work in terms of reducing crime. The big issue that made them seemed to be frizzling out, fast.

The last resort had to be the hangings! The frenzy of nine to the gallows in one weekend. Ram some more "law and punishment" down the throats of the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. The exercise was geared to save the skin of their political backsides. And already it is becoming clear to those with insight that too much of anything amounts to nothing. Many of those who with glee supported the hangings initially were, by the end of the third day, sick to their stomachs.

The backlash of "diminishing returns" have struck hard. Especially after the announcement of the date of local government elections. But that could not be helped; they had pledged never to postpone local government elections from when it's legally due and they are not the ones responsible for dragging out the date with the hangman.

In the meantime crime continues, the hangings shall prove to be no deterrent for the issue of crime requires much more in-depth treatment than the mere vengeance of administrative measures and it is intricately tied to the development process. Much more on that later.

brenco@tstt.net.tt