T&T can be creative, resilient

Independence week is an ideal time to invite citizens to embrace a broader sense of responsibility and a deeper perspective on nation-building and national identity.

But a meaningful national identity can only resonate when it reflects people’s lived experiences. Citizens are more likely to share responsibility and work together when they feel secure, when they have a common purpose, or both.

This raises important questions. When do people feel secure enough to reach out beyond themselves? How does a diverse population find common ground? How do individuals summon the will to engage with their communities, and how is collective will mobilised to achieve a common good?

Speaking to a large audience at the University of the West Indies in 1975, Nobel laureate VS Naipaul reflected on the challenges of nation-building by drawing on the work of Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset. Naipaul wanted to convey the difficulty of creating national cohesion, and he referenced a thinker writing about a country that had experienced both imperial power and the devastation of civil war.

In Invertebrate Spain, Ortega y Gasset observed: “People do not get together just like that, out of nothing and by chance; that a priori cohesion exists only in a family. The groups that make up a State live together for something: they are a community of purpose, of yearnings, of great utilities. They do not live together merely by being together, but in order to do something tomorrow.”

What was Ortega y Gasset suggesting? While interpretations vary, his central idea appears clear: families, despite their conflicts, are generally bound by ties that nations do not possess. A country requires more than shared territory. It requires a shared endeavour, a common project that gives meaning to collective life. In a 2007 interview in the Journal of West Indian Literature, Naipaul spoke about the need for countries to have a “guiding idea” that gives them a sense of “moral purpose.” This theme recurs throughout his work, including Argentina and the Ghost of Eva Perón, India: A Wounded Civilisation and The Mimic Men, set on the fictional Caribbean island of Isabella.

Taken together, the ideas of these two influential writers suggest that simply talking about a shared national project is not enough. Such a project must have genuine meaning. Societies often unite in times of war because the presence of a common enemy creates a clear, collective purpose. The lesson is that healthy societies exist not merely to occupy the same space today, but to achieve something together tomorrow.

Trinidad and Tobago’s national watchwords are Discipline, Production and Tolerance. We have repeated these words for decades, but we have done little to transform them into action.

Discipline is demonstrated by those citizens who strive for excellence in their chosen fields. Production remains a challenge, as T&T’s productivity levels are low by global standards, weakening our economic competitiveness. Tolerance, meanwhile, is often understood passively, as little more than coexistence.

Yet passive tolerance cannot create unity.

Tolerance becomes meaningful only when it is translated into civic action, when citizens actively build relationships, strengthen institutions and work together in pursuit of fairness and opportunity. Unity cannot be achieved simply through the absence of conflict.

As long as we define unity as the absence of tension rather than the active pursuit of justice, equity and inclusion, genuine national cohesion will remain elusive. People do not rally around passive tolerance. At best, they coexist.

Diversity is a reality that must be managed thoughtfully. The challenge is to honour our various traditions and histories without allowing them to become barriers to collective progress. Our many identities, whether cultural, ethnic, religious or historical, should enrich the national experience rather than constrain it.

T&T’s diversity is not a weakness. Properly harnessed, it can be a powerful source of creativity, innovation and resilience. The question is whether we see our differences as permanent fault lines or as sources of energy that can be channelled towards a common purpose.

Yet diagnosis alone is not enough. Citizens also need a compelling vision of the future. A shared sense of purpose, backed by practical action, may provide the urgency required for people to work together in shaping their collective destiny.

As we celebrate another anniversary of independence, the challenge before us is not merely to remember who we are, but to decide what we want to become.

With imagination, courage and a common purpose, T&T can build a future that is not only united, but also creative, resilient and worthy of its rich diversity.