“You will be surprised, then, to see that most likely the person driving this brand-new car filled with the wrong gas lives in a house that, in comparison, is far beneath the status of the car; and if you were to ask why you would be told that the banks are encouraged by the government to make loans available for cars, but loans for houses not so easily available; and if you ask again why, you will be told that the two main car dealer- ships in Antigua are owned in part or outright by ministers in government” (Kincaid, 7).

I found this part of the reading to be very powerful because although Kincaid focuses more on the long-lasting impact of colonization, especially by the British, she also highlights the corruption and the lack of compassion that leaders feel towards their people in many undeveloped countries. She mentions how the Antiguan government supported the availability of bank loans only for cars, and not for a comfortable place to live in. This was only because the same cars, filled with leaded gasoline, a detrimental substance that has devastating health impacts, came directly from dealerships owned by ministers in the government. This goes to show how little abusive government leaders care about their people sometimes and how much they care about themselves. They name the airport after themselves, they give special privileges to the people who are close to them (like Evita, for example, who was the girlfriend of a government official), they go to New York “to see a real doctor” whenever they are sick, and ultimately leave the remaining part of the population to fend for themselves in horrible living conditions. In a way, it is almost as if colonialism never left the island, and Antiguans are still taken advantage of by their own.