Peter Polack

By Peter Polack

In the grey and nuanced world within which we exist one of the few absolutes is trust, for which, like virginity, there are no degrees, it is unadulterated. Often falsely presented in scenarios where confidence is limited to certain situations or levels, nothing could be further from the truth. It is or it is not.

From couples that have divorced, children abandoned by their parents, parents abandoned by their children, tribal war in families, institutions that have failed their customers or citizens, governments that lack true support or minuscule majorities to hold on power or their leaders that simply lack belief or genuine support, there is no trust and ultimately, zero confidence.

People fool themselves into believing banks that have no deposit insurance, state institutions that demand the greatest scrutiny of citizens for whom they serve and leaders that speak to us like ignorant children, have our confidence. They do not.

Although the word trust is often thrown around, banks or other groups require greater security than you borrow, debt documents that follow you to court or the grave, disclosure of all private information and zero umbrellas when it rains.

Banks are like many police, they are not there to help you, just to fulfill their mandate.

You are not a trusted person. It is just business or duty and who you are, what you are and how you reached today is of no consequence. To be fair, in many personal and other  situations, your history is irrelevant. Perhaps Shakespeare had it right, good is oft interred with their bones.

Many governments of the Caribbean lack a sincere trust by a majority of their citizens, often found in situations of low voter turnout or small margins of election for seats or party.

In this, Caribbean governments are often like a bad boyfriend you keep going back to, until something tragic happens, like a hurricane or high court criticism of repeated malfeasance by state actors and leaders.

Even Bad Bunny or Benny Blanco are more reliable and have true support in their music, not so the politicians.

Truth is stranger than fiction.

Peter Polack is a former criminal lawyer from the Cayman Islands for several decades. His books are The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War: South Africa vs. Cuba in the Angolan Civil War (2013), Jamaica, The Land of Film (2017) and Guerrilla Warfare: Kings of Revolution (2019). He was a contributor to Encyclopedia of Warfare (2013). His latest book is a compendium of Russian espionage activities with almost five hundred Soviet spies expelled from nearly 100 countries worldwide 1940-88. 

His views are his own.