I know that it’s not only me that is upset and embarrassed by Guyanese in the US who put on this sick show that they are ‘all-American’, but when the time comes refer to their Guyanese heritage like if it’s some lost but exotic feature they hold dear. Many people have confessed their grievances about their fellow countrymen who act this way, and I am no exception. The reason why I am angry at this type of behaviour is because I am Guyanese, and I am proud to be Guyanese, however, I hate the image that these immigrant Guyanese tarnish about our people and our culture. It is true that in our own land that people, especially the younger generation, are becoming more and more westernized due to television, mass advertisement, foreign policies, and major intervention. This causes many weak-minded Guyanese to break down into some kind of false, plaintive image of his or herself. I don’t know which is sadder – to see a Guyanese who really knew the better decision, but because it was too hard – they conformed to the psychological change in dress, accent, and behaviour in general, or to see a Guyanese who knew no better do so.
But, in any case, the question most should be asking is why is it so hard not to change, why is it so hard to be yourself in any foreign industrialized, white country? In my personal experience, most of the Guyanese who I’ve met who were foreign based have changed to something other than Guyanese.
We even see this type of behaviour in children. Young children from Guyana under the age of ten actually choose to conform to the US accent. In most cases, the US child doesn’t have to change his.

But getting back to the question: ‘Why do Guyanese act the way they do, as is the case with these sorry ‘Americanized-Guyanese’?’. Surely, the answer varies from person to person. But why does a perfectly normal Guyanese, as soon as they touch US soil, start to ‘walk the walk’ and, most annoyingly, ‘talk the talk’? I believe the answer lies in advertisement – ads through television. The famous television has become a ‘must have’ commodity in every single household. It can be a great source of information, entertainment, but most harmful – the intake of ads. Television can make you a drug fiend hooked on entertainment and creates a medium by which you can be exposed to hours and hours of ads. Of course ads may seem harmless – everyone has a smile in them, they normally have a cute little theme song that you find yourself humming to on your way to work sometimes, everyone in the ad normally has to have certain ‘good-looks’ or traits, and everything is just perfect to get you to consume. Ads can be serious, or they can be calm, joyful, or sad. And basically it is a form of mind control that gets you, ultimately, to spend your money on something you don’t need and only want because you saw it on… guess what? Television.

So what does this have to do with Guyanese becoming Americanized? Well, I think we should all know by now that basically we don’t have our own television, or even radio (except Radio Rorima). Everything we see on television is foreign and has become even more so with the introduction of ‘direct TV’ and ‘cable’. Now more and more Guyanese are being exposed to ‘junk television’ such as ‘mtv’, ‘bet’, ‘cartoon network’, etc. Which is truly all trash for the mind and body. Such nonsense suspends weak minds in front of it and eventually what happens is that we have Guyanese who behave as though they were US residents or citizens, just in a different location and climate. Television becomes like the food they eat, which, by the way, most likely consists of quickly fried hormone saturated chicken fat dripping with oil – yet still tasty to the ignorant and careless consumer.

The sad part of this whole scenario is that there is no one willing to spread the word to Guyanese that these big co operations like ‘kfc’, ‘direct TV’, and the ‘cable’ company, really don’t care about the people, everyone else benefits so much more than the consumer in these cases, because, in short, this is how it works:

>First – everything starts with an ad (we already discussed how these work with the pretty people and all smiles, etc.).
>>Consumer goes out blindly to buy the advertised entertainment from ‘cable’ or ‘direct TV’.
>>>Although these companies will benefit greatly from your long term use and monthly payment, and so much more – they will charge you for the dish, box, and an installation fee.
>>>>The shows on the air benefit from the advertisement agencies, which pay to advertise during the most viewed show.
>>>>>You go out and buy the product advertised, again consuming unnecessarily.

So, in the end, how does the whole picture look? Well, you pleasure big co-operations by consuming their products for extremely expensive prices, while they have a threesome with you in the middle. Some people don’t care once they get what they want. But at what price is this happening? Eventually you become a walking zombie without a character of your own, because since you watched so much western television everything is ‘like, totally not you anymore…’ Young teens generally have their entire culture wiped from their slate, and something new takes over – something that is not traditionally Guyanese.

Surely if you live in Queens or Brooklyn you may have noticed this many of these degenerates. Usually teenagers and younger – they are at the stage of development where peers and looking ‘cool’ is everything. And whatever society, other peers, or Jay-Z says or looks like – automatically becomes ‘cool’ for them. Most of them do not have a strong enough character to develop it on their own, so they decide to take someone else’s and perfect it.

The US has mastered the art of playing on people’s emotions to get them to forget, forgive, and, most importantly, continue to consume. This game is being played on their third world supporters so blatantly but no one seems to be seeing it. They make you think that everything in the US is perfect – opportunity, freedom, democracy. Haven’t we all heard that before? Yet, it is known that the white man still runs the country, more black males are in jail than in collage, and even though there are billionaires, there are also thousands of homeless people on the street starving for food.

So why do youths of Guyana in Guyana and in the US want to emulate the US lifestyle… Mostly because they simply know no better. The information fed to us so profusely to the more fortunate classes of society is nothing but brainwashing material, and Guyanese and many other nationalities have governments that could care less about culture and nationality – the welfare of the entire country. This is the major factor in the atrophy of our society and culture.

Therefore, it is our duty – the people who believe in our true culture and lifestyle to enlighten the youth, not only so they may help themselves, but also so they can help others like themselves. It is up to us to help preserve our rapidly dying humanism.