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The hypocrisy of crime
Betty Ann Blaine
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Dear Reader,
In the interest of my country, I must tell you that I am willing to give the new JLP government a chance to prove its ability to govern, and I would be the last person to tear down any idea that can help move our nation forward. What I am not prepared to do, however, is to engage in hypocrisy or dishonesty about the serious state of crime and violence that is stifling all of us and sucking the lifeblood out of the country.
I listened to a statement made last week by the minister of national security Derrick Smith about the escalating crime problem, in which there seemed to have been an inference of a deliberate plan or conspiracy to ratchet up crime since his government took office less than a month ago. I am not so naïve to believe that this could not happen. After all, it has happened before in this country. I would caution the minister, however, if that was in fact what was implied in his statement to be careful about going down that road.
Political sabotage or not, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that crime in Jamaica is bound to increase. So why are politicians playing games with us? With almost one-half of the population made up of young people under 30 years of age, with youth unemployment at staggering levels, with abject poverty spreading across the country, with the crisis in education, and with the almost total breakdown of the family unit, who in their right mind doesn't expect crime to grow, and grow exponentially?
I am sorry, Mr Minister, if this is a game that is being played, then we wish to tell you that this is not the time for that, and you ought to know that the country is now sick and tired of the same old foolish talk.
We might as well put the cards squarely on the table. It was nether ordinary citizens nor young boys who introduced guns into Jamaica for political gain. As far as I know, they were brought by politicians to secure power, and to this day, guns and gunmen play a crucial role in securing the political balance of power. As far as I am concerned, since the politicians started it and understand better than most of us, the mechanisms of the "divide and rule" game, then they ought to take the lead in offering solutions for how the monster is going to be slain.
It is no longer fashionable for politicians to say that they are associated with gunmen. What does that actually mean? If I understand it correctly, gunmen are criminals who should be immediately brought to justice. Are we supposed to interpret "associated" to mean "harbouring and abetting"?
I am definitely not one of those who seem to want to shift the blame from politicians to the people by suggesting that the monster has grown beyond the size and reach of their influence. While that might be true to a certain degree, it certainly does not exonerate politicians from taking responsibility for the problem, and certainly from cleaning up the mess they created.
The most puzzling question of all is, how is it that with the type of "person-to-person" politics that is practised in this country, where "dons" are well known to their political representatives, and where the bonding between politician and constituency is so successful that one member of parliament could say, "I love them and they love me", that none of our politicians are able to provide the authorities with any information whatsoever about the source of guns and ammunition?
I am absolutely baffled about how tightly people's lips are sealed about the availability of guns and the source of entry into the country. There is no doubt that these weapons of mass destruction are Jamaica's best kept secret. The question is, how much do the politicians know, and if they don't know, why don't they?
I believe the time has come for Jamaicans to ask the tough questions, and demand forthright answers. We cannot continue to be held hostage by criminal elements who are unreachable and untouchable, and whose livelihood seems to be very well protected. Everybody knows that teenage boys don't have the wherewithal to buy guns and bullets, nor do they have access to the type of sophisticated networks through which these killing machines are entering our country.
What is ironic is that our adolescent boys and young males, who are used to sustain the business of guns and death, are the same ones who become victims of this bloody enterprise. As the body count mounts, the youngest and fittest among us - young men in the prime of their lives and the seed of the nation - are being cut down , and simply used as fodder in an arrangement that they didn't start and certainly don't control.
But for me the most vexing aspect of the situation is the hypocrisy of our politicians and their apologists, who would want us to believe that their hands are clean in the matter. To defer, to scapegoat and to place blame elsewhere are all a part of the game they play, while our beloved country continues to sink in blood, even the blood of our babies.
With love,
bab2609@yahoo.com
Betty Ann Blaine
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Dear Reader,
In the interest of my country, I must tell you that I am willing to give the new JLP government a chance to prove its ability to govern, and I would be the last person to tear down any idea that can help move our nation forward. What I am not prepared to do, however, is to engage in hypocrisy or dishonesty about the serious state of crime and violence that is stifling all of us and sucking the lifeblood out of the country.
I listened to a statement made last week by the minister of national security Derrick Smith about the escalating crime problem, in which there seemed to have been an inference of a deliberate plan or conspiracy to ratchet up crime since his government took office less than a month ago. I am not so naïve to believe that this could not happen. After all, it has happened before in this country. I would caution the minister, however, if that was in fact what was implied in his statement to be careful about going down that road.
Political sabotage or not, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that crime in Jamaica is bound to increase. So why are politicians playing games with us? With almost one-half of the population made up of young people under 30 years of age, with youth unemployment at staggering levels, with abject poverty spreading across the country, with the crisis in education, and with the almost total breakdown of the family unit, who in their right mind doesn't expect crime to grow, and grow exponentially?
I am sorry, Mr Minister, if this is a game that is being played, then we wish to tell you that this is not the time for that, and you ought to know that the country is now sick and tired of the same old foolish talk.
We might as well put the cards squarely on the table. It was nether ordinary citizens nor young boys who introduced guns into Jamaica for political gain. As far as I know, they were brought by politicians to secure power, and to this day, guns and gunmen play a crucial role in securing the political balance of power. As far as I am concerned, since the politicians started it and understand better than most of us, the mechanisms of the "divide and rule" game, then they ought to take the lead in offering solutions for how the monster is going to be slain.
It is no longer fashionable for politicians to say that they are associated with gunmen. What does that actually mean? If I understand it correctly, gunmen are criminals who should be immediately brought to justice. Are we supposed to interpret "associated" to mean "harbouring and abetting"?
I am definitely not one of those who seem to want to shift the blame from politicians to the people by suggesting that the monster has grown beyond the size and reach of their influence. While that might be true to a certain degree, it certainly does not exonerate politicians from taking responsibility for the problem, and certainly from cleaning up the mess they created.
The most puzzling question of all is, how is it that with the type of "person-to-person" politics that is practised in this country, where "dons" are well known to their political representatives, and where the bonding between politician and constituency is so successful that one member of parliament could say, "I love them and they love me", that none of our politicians are able to provide the authorities with any information whatsoever about the source of guns and ammunition?
I am absolutely baffled about how tightly people's lips are sealed about the availability of guns and the source of entry into the country. There is no doubt that these weapons of mass destruction are Jamaica's best kept secret. The question is, how much do the politicians know, and if they don't know, why don't they?
I believe the time has come for Jamaicans to ask the tough questions, and demand forthright answers. We cannot continue to be held hostage by criminal elements who are unreachable and untouchable, and whose livelihood seems to be very well protected. Everybody knows that teenage boys don't have the wherewithal to buy guns and bullets, nor do they have access to the type of sophisticated networks through which these killing machines are entering our country.
What is ironic is that our adolescent boys and young males, who are used to sustain the business of guns and death, are the same ones who become victims of this bloody enterprise. As the body count mounts, the youngest and fittest among us - young men in the prime of their lives and the seed of the nation - are being cut down , and simply used as fodder in an arrangement that they didn't start and certainly don't control.
But for me the most vexing aspect of the situation is the hypocrisy of our politicians and their apologists, who would want us to believe that their hands are clean in the matter. To defer, to scapegoat and to place blame elsewhere are all a part of the game they play, while our beloved country continues to sink in blood, even the blood of our babies.
With love,
bab2609@yahoo.com