Richard "Torpedo" Thompson placed seventh in the Olympic 100 metres final in London, establishing clearly that he still stands among the world's best — but it was his tweet to us, after the race, that really lifted my spirit.

"Sorry T&T, unfortunately, seventh was my best. No medal, but opportunity to let the world see our flag flying among the world's best," he tweeted.

As if responding on our behalf, soca singer, Nadia Batson replied: "You represented us well, no need to apologise. You are our hero."

In that brief exchange — Thompson's apology, Batson's reply — I saw a new young generation's recognition of what it means not to just occupy, but to fully embrace this land.

Here was our youth displaying character, showcasing both the values of a national self and an attitude towards the larger community of Trinbago.

It seemed to me that Thompson, in that tweet, showed that he understands that every athlete standing on the field embodies the aspirations of a nation — a compelling responsibility, particularly when that nation struggles to define its independence.

I discovered that last year he also demonstrated that responsibility when he donated $100,000 of his earnings to Newtown Boys' School and QRC — in recognition of the contributions the two institutions and the teachers made to his early life — and to two charities.

Significantly, in that tweet I also discerned a broader statement which was being made on behalf of his Trinbago teammates.

It seemed to have gone even further — beyond an apology, stepping back 50 years to embrace the vision of Dr Eric Williams — the Father of this Nation, likely to be declared an "un-person" in the Government's rewritten version of our history.

At the moment of writing, Thompson may not have realised it, but he showed he had internalised the Independence message that Williams gave to the youths of the day, urging that they should "make honesty the guiding principle" of their lives.

He urged them: "Let your ambition be the development of a nation which, whatever its limitations, is distinguished in the eyes of the world by the honesty and integrity of its citizens."

Williams appealed that they should never allow anyone to desecrate the National Flag, destroy the National Bird or disrespect the National Anthem.

"They are your Flag, your Bird, your Anthem. It is your nation, even more than it is the nation of your parents. You are the future; we are at best the present, at worst, the past," he declared.

In 1962, I was one of the youths that Williams gave that charge to. So today, I carry that responsibility seriously, interpreting Thompson's message with deep sensitivity.

George Orwell, who penned the classics Animal Farm and 1984, summarised it for me in the essay, "Why I Write".

"I write," he wrote "because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is getting a hearing."

Fifty years after Williams' declaration, it appears that every day there is a lie, or a "fact" which must be approached with serious "concern".

Along the way, the insightful social scientist, Lloyd Best warned us of the coming "ghetto-isation" of Trinbago. Many observers scoffed at Best, dismissing him as an alarmist, and a phrase-monger.

Today we see, in detail, the accuracy of Best's conclusion. In our national conversation, one can sense many are despairing, while others quietly express deeper feelings of powerlessness, alienation, and fears that we heading towards anomie.

It is as though the country is being reduced to a stage audience, witnessing up front a political reality television show — a tragi-comedy located in the ghetto that Best foresaw.

One can hope that the Foreign Minister will put a decisive end to the national embarrassment that Ambassador Therese Baptiste-Cornelis has become.

But then there is the Minister of National Security; who is going to rein in his behaviour or plaster his lip? Politically, he is becoming a danger, not only to the Government, but to himself.

His critics shout "integrity in public office"; he hears "plot". Basdeo Panday had to deal with the buffoonery of Minister Dhanraj Singh; Calder Hart and the "prophetess" were Patrick Manning's milestones.

One would have expected that the Prime Minister would have learned from those two experiences. Instead, her Government blissfully proceeds to establish a Constituency Development Fund, a new recipe for "state banditry".

So in 50 years we have had to deal with corruption in a now long list of state enterprises, and "ghost gangs" in URP. Now comes a national slush fund in which each MP will be allowed to dispense financial patronage at will.

Jamaica on its 50th anniversary hails Usain Bolt and its Olympic team as embodying their national spirit.

Here I stretch Nadia "Na-dey" Batson's salute: "To all our Olympians, you are our heroes!" Thanks for lifting our spirits. A special "thank you" to Keshorn Walcott for his special lift.

• Keith Subero, a former Express news editor, has since followed

a career in communication

and management