Bricktop: Taking This Upstairs

[Historian]

Batistuta used to machine gun the entire stadium after scoring goals for Fiorentina. Not sure what that has to do with violence in society

Bricktop, I dread reading threads after a certain point because, for me, things usually begin to get muddy as a result of multiple posts. Also, I’ve posted a final paragraph (dancehall women) which might provide avenue for a divergent discussion.

First though, in response to your comment (which I’ve quoted above), I’m fully aware of what Batistuta used to do, but I’m not concerned with either Argentina or Italy at this point.

Gun violence has long ago desensitized Jamaican society, including students, to the value of life. The last thing we need is another mode of glorifying this. Like I said in the other thread, Bricky, think man! Based on your posts over the years, you are clearly an intelligent person, and I strongly suspect that deep inside you love your native country very much .

I’m sure that you and every well-thinking Jamaican realize that major changes have to be made in certain aspects of our culture if we are to move forward as a society. If we had begun to seriously address similar issues since the ratchet knife-toting days of the 1960s (for example, through education and equitable distribution of resources), then we would most likely not be faced with today’s seemingly out of control crime monster!

Jamaica’s Dancehall Women: By the way, while those women on the dancehallreggae.com web site generally look very good, is it that our women are losing their pride and their self-respect, or is it that they are in fact losing their sanity ? As a dancehall man, I suspect that you visit that forum, and so you (or any other reader here) might have a comment(s) to make on this last paragraph of mine.

[Hortical]

Ghetto girls have always behaved like that in our country and they do not represent the typical Jamaican lady. If you believe those women represent the best of Jamaica, I would suggest skipping the rum bar until late afternoon. Did you ever own a toy or water gun as a kid? Sometimes we see a causality when it often does not exist.

[Historian]

Agree To A Point

Ghetto girls have always behaved like that in our country and they do not represent the typical Jamaican lady. If you believe those women represent the best of Jamaica, I would suggest skipping the rum bar until late afternoon. Did you ever own a toy or water gun as a kid? Sometimes we see a causality when it often does not exist.

Maybe a good point, Hortical, although I’m not sure if many of those women are in fact “ghetto girls” (although on the other hand, you may be fully correct and most of them are in fact so-called “ghetto girls”).

Also, I was by no means suggesting that those ladies represent “the best of Jamaica,” because they certainly do not. Rather, they represent an aspect of Jamaica that is most visible worldwide, thanks to entertainment and the Internet. The “best of Jamaica” rarely makes the YouTube videos or popular Jamaica-related sites like YardFlex, dancehallreggae.com and others.

I’m a bit surprised that you do not acknowledge that the enduring image that many foreigners have of Jamaican society and culture is based not so much on reality as on these images I’m referring to. Do you think the word “Yardies” carries a positive connotation in the minds of many non-Jamaicans?

By the way, your apparently sardonic query about ownership of a toy or water gun as a kid escapes me .