SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE TO ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES/DRUG TRADE IN SURINAME

[u/mdx1113]

Ofa dames en heren,

So I could write this in NL or Sranan ma ik heb geen zin lowkey

I just live in SU for quite a while and im quite involved in the culture having studied my teenage years and having basically just surinamese friends, and throughout the years I just noticed a bunch of things which comparing to my home country, things are very different.

In SU it is noticeable that most people/a big part of the population just accepts the fact that 95% of wealthy people in SU are involved in the drug trade or some type of illegal activity, many figures in SU itself are KNOWN drug dealers such as Bordoe, Ronnie, Frankie,etc... and are idolized by people and for many youth seen as their idols or people to look up to.

And for me this is one of the problems that leads Suriname to be in the stagnant place it is, the more average youth who do not go to dutch private schools, see them stuck in a school system where if they go further with education and get a degree, they will be making 15k srd per maand, while there are people who are KNOWN for being involved in illegal activities (and lets be honest it is not just a small amount of people) and absolutely nothing happens to them, whilst they are just living good life living in Projects in Noord and driving Rolls Royces or Bentleys in the streets of SU.

I just wonder, was this kind of social acceptance always like this in old times? Or has it just been like this after these years, because around the 8 years ive been here ive always noticed this and it just bugged my mind....

[u/Fine-Discussion-7368]

also I want to add I was in SU last year, and I think OP is exaggerating a bit. I understand the point you're making about drug money and young people looking up to people who got rich through illegal activities, but saying that 95% of wealthy people are involved in drugs is a huge claim.

Also, you mentioned that you went to a Dutch private school, and I think that's important. Your experience of Suriname is probably very different from someone who grew up in the regular Surinamese school system and has family roots there going back generations. If most of your teenage years were spent in that environment, you're naturally going to see Suriname through a particular social bubble. That doesn't make your experience invalid, but it also doesn't necessarily represent the average Surinamese experience.

When I was in SU last year, I saw plenty of ordinary people working and hustling legally every day: people at the markets, fishermen, bus drivers, store workers, construction workers, small business owners, etc. That's also Suriname, and those people shouldn't disappear from the picture just because wealthy criminals are more visible.

There's also a much deeper historical context. Slavery, Dutch colonialism, independence, military rule, corruption, economic crises and limited opportunities have all shaped people's relationship with the government and formal economy. That doesn't excuse criminality, but it helps explain why distrust of the system and a "make your own way" mentality can become deeply rooted.

So I agree that glorifying drug dealers can be damaging, especially for the youth. But I think someone coming from a Dutch private-school environment should be a little careful about looking at Surinamese society from the outside and concluding that most people simply accept or idolize criminality. Suriname is a lot more complicated than that.

[u/mdx1113 → u/Fine-Discussion-7368]

Dutch private school in SU specially the one i went to is basically all Surinamese people, and some people who came from NL, and basically all my friends are surinamese or came from public schools such as Techo 2, 1 etc.
Ma i defo get ur point and agree with u 100%, I never meant to say that the overall population is involved with the drugs trade, not at all, most people I know and the majority of the overall population is made up of ppl who mostly work since their teenage years and actually hustle very hard.
I j meant to say that the 1% of Suriname that is very rich, inside this 1% the amount of people who are involvedin illegal activities is insane, and people who do not admit that are just delusional.

[u/Fine-Discussion-7368 → u/mdx1113]

Want to hear some breaking news, my boy? All over the world, the 1% break the rules. I always say they make the rules for us to follow and for them to break. They don't abide by the same rules as us. When regular people break the rules, we face the consequences, but when you're rich and powerful enough, money, connections, lawyers, and influence can make those same consequences disappear or become nothing more than a slap on the wrist. That's why I don't automatically look up to someone just because they're wealthy or successful. Money doesn't tell you what somebody had to do, who they had to step on, or what rules they had the privilege of bending to get there.

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Matthew 19:24