Being among the politically disenfranchised through our societies’ undeclared anathematisation, there are many who will sit outside the door of honour. It is an oddity and a price that anyone will pay for being honest with their intellect and for being not beholden to acceptance or praise.

In former days under religious rule, the pontiffs or hierarchies simply declared persons who did not fit inside the order as heretics. Living under presumed modern secularism has not spared anyone the consequence of being honest; it just became normalised under veiled decree.

Being intellectually honest today threatens to become even harder since the November victory of Donald Trump and the unprecedented election campaign that preceded. The tilt in the world towards a tribal form of nationalism as opposed to a globalism threatens the ideals of pluralism and of an open world, and drives people into divided camps.

Society is now challenged to embrace an era of post-truth where winning and the appearance of success, or having the comfort of a constituency, become more important than principles, truth and values. Truly a time where receiving criticism and attacks must be considered as an honour for all those who dare stand up for principles.

There are many living in self-imposed exile owing to the invisible but effective nature of house arrest practised in my home country, where you can be made to exist as a walking dead. A country known for its politeness, as it gracefully excludes those whose status is secretly deemed “persona non grata” simply because you refuse to be a pawn or stooge for a political party.

Supporting logic or what is best for the country is treated as a crime rather than a feature of a healthy democracy. One needs only sample social media or the Royal Gazette bloggers to see attitudes that lead to victimisations by one of the extremes of our elite political society. Unfortunate for the extremist on opposite sides, whether far Right or far Left in political terminology, they see only in black or white, with receptors that do not pick up the myriad of shades and colours of an entire landscape that exists in between.

Even biblical narratives have similar discernment, which can be seen in the story of Jesus or James and their relationship within the Jewish society under Roman occupation. They, like in Bermuda and in other communities around the world, faced extremism varying from radical to ultraconservative, from liberator to oppressor, but as usual, an entire world lay in between, which will be either oppressed by their captors or crucified by their own.

For example, Jesus was indeed a revolutionary but his message was not aimed at the oppressor; it was a message of self-empowerment by character-building and liberation through self-development. Just before his crucifixion, when his own people were given a choice between which prisoner should be freed, they chose Barabbas instead of Jesus. Now Barrabas was also a revolutionary, but a nationalist type whose aim and methodology would provoke war against the oppressor. People seem always to choose that type of liberator, whom they believe to be a brave fighter and enemy of their oppressor, to deliver them from suffering.

History will show that these seemingly brave liberators, in too many cases, were what the French called “petit bourgeois”, or persons starving to emulate their oppressors, ie, they desired what the oppressor had.

History will also invariably show that the people were robbed blind by these so-called liberators. This is why Jesus was able to say: “All before me were robbers and thieves”.

This is a pattern of history and a sociological phenomenon that will be repeated continuously throughout humanity. The pattern of an unwitting and unholy alliance between the oppressors and the oppressed serves only to kill the true reformers.

In Bermuda, generations of benefactors have been destroyed by the hidden or surreptitious, economic sanctions and systemic non-cooperation imposed by the ultra right and the blatant ostracism, non-support and cruelty from the left wing. The black merchant middle class from the 1960s was very evidently targeted by the Left and the right-wing extremist.

The establishment was able to openly crucify individuals, while the Left gawked and mocked their demise. This destruction was easy because the right wing hated their existence in the marketplace and this hate was matched by the left-wing extremist.

Combined as strange bedfellows, they presided over the destruction of 150 years of black entrepreneurial and social development. The destruction was so complete that a little less than 60 years later, it is scarcely evident or imaginable that there was ever a black merchant domain. The sad thing is that there is clear evidence to suggest that the same victimisation continues. Bob Marley sang the words of Marcus Garvey in Redemption Song, where he asks: “How long will they kill our prophets while we stand aside and look?”

I do not expect any change or respite from the polar opposites of our political order; nor will I change from the “middle path”. I recognise my earthly existence as flesh and bones, which are subject to death and defeat, with no guarantee of acknowledgement or success.

The stabiliser for me is the recognition of the higher aspects of the soul and the unlimited realm of our true state. I have long identified with my unlimited self and that my words and aspirations are not bound by time.

If we do not succeed in this limited lifetime, I am comforted by the knowledge that one day, even if a 150 years from now, a generation will rise up with the same words coming from their souls to deliver the same hope that I have for my generation today.