I SHALL RISE, AND YOU CANNOT STOP ME - Have a read, HL!

[Karl]

Yuh start off nice and then mess up.

The system cracked. What dem call teachers nowadays is by and large NOT what me and you had back in the day. The standard drop big time and that needs fixing first.

The nose in the air argument is better pointed at the stupid "uptown mentality" that pervades Kingston!

Now that I see TVJ via the internet, it shocked me what is going on in Jamdung. The adverts (showing wonderful life for the few priviliged uptown kids) while the majority of our kids live in a state of privation is hard to take. Also the twanging that goes on in most commercials (normally phone companies - thus not actually productive enterprises) sicks me to the stomach. Is like seh we are a bad copy of America to raaganaut!

Is pure 'top up cell phone minutes' and lotto type prizes for 'topping up' mi si. If not that then its Singer and Courts chance to win something if you buyt more...As for the Digicel Rising Stars, them mek American Idol look real professional and talented!!!

Poor Jamaica, so far from God, so close to the United States!

mmmm?
So is it a 'chicken and egg' situation?

Back in the days - poor education environment --- responsible for what came out of the education institutions ---- who then go into the poor education environment --- to produce? ...and so on?

I am convinced the Minister of Education must strive to improve 'the situation'. He must start with improving the physical conditions (physical plants, equipment - curriculum, library facilities, science labs, reading labs, computer labs, etc., avenues to aid improved teachers (every last single thing that goes into that in-service courses/seminars, access to move on to higher education and gaining additional expertise on how to present subject matter to kids with 'the tremendous range within which a class of 15 - 20+ find individual unique way of being motivated (to learn/become terribly interested in what is being taught) ...including piece of mind on being able to survive financially....etc.

Ofcourse the system is cracked! ...that is the point. ...and the silly Minister is acting in a manner that shall make the
crack(s) wider!

Aside: Back in the days - %age kids advancing to higher education...as opposed to day?

If today is awful...back in the days 'hit waus wosser'!

[Willi]

Why attack this minister?

Is he better or worse than his predecessors (of all parties)?

[Peter R]

I was going to point out to Karl the same thing...who knows exactly where , when and how the rot began but it certainly did not start two years ago.

Whe I look at my old JC magazines (early to mid 70s) over 90% of the teachers had at least a Bachelors DEGREE and many had a Masters... I don't know if we have have quality of teaching staff today in terms of their knowledge... do we? Karl?

The point though is the system needs to be radically changed...

[Don1]

Partisan toward who exactly ?

Part of the problem ??

I did not know Mutty was a comrade... since when ?

LOL !

Any partisan is a problem... the side doesn't matter. Partisanship is Jamaica's blight.

Perhaps one day you will wise up.

[Don1]

He is on point about UWI though.

UTech has another problem...its no longer Technically driven. Its becoming an expensive diploma mill.

Perkins has no solutions to offer for national issues... only (petty) pet peeves and opinions which focus on personalities rather than issues.... he's not focused on problem solving.

He's pretty useless as a commentator as far as I'm concerned.

[Muadib]

You are a confused fellow:

"Social COMMENTARY is the act of rebelling against an individual, or a group of people by rhetorical means. This is most often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace about a given problem and appealing to people's sense of justice.

Two examples of strong and bitter social commentary are the writings of Jonathan Swift and Martin Luther. Swift exposed and decried the appalling poverty in Ireland at the time, which was viewed as the fault of the British government. Luther initiated the Protestant Reformation against practices of the Catholic Church."

Mutty is leaving a space for 'problem solvers' like yourself to make an impact.. he is diligent at his chosen role, you need to follow up....

[Willi]

When I look back at faculty in the Mid 1970s, we had a German, Austrian, Russian, Israeli, many Caricom (St. Lucia, TnT, Dominica, Vincentian, Grenada, etc) Filipino, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, several Indians (Hindu and Christian), Americans (including the Boston priests, Jesuit superiors, deacons, seminarians and bishops), English, well qualified Jamaicans of course, West Africans, etc. No Aussies or Candaians though. No Brazilians either, though the rumour was we were close to getting a Brazilian football coach (hehehe).

At least 16 nationalities for high school. My general science teacher from India was on that team that detonated the first atomic bomb in India in 1974. Can you imagine the attention he got from students when he told us that?

No wonder on of my classmates from back then is a Mission leader at NASA!

[Don1]

You are a confused fellow:

"Social COMMENTARY is the act of rebelling against an individual, or a group of people by rhetorical means. This is most often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace about a given problem and appealing to people's sense of justice.

Two examples of strong and bitter social commentary are the writings of Jonathan Swift and Martin Luther. Swift exposed and decried the appalling poverty in Ireland at the time, which was viewed as the fault of the British government. Luther initiated the Protestant Reformation against practices of the Catholic Church."

Mutty is leaving a space for 'problem solvers' like yourself to make an impact.. he is diligent at his chosen role, you need to follow up....

Perkins is a rabid political partisan interested in seeing his political favourites in power and those he opposes powerless.

People (like you) are free to follow and even celebrate him as you see fit.

Others are free to think for themselves.

[Muadib]

A rabid political partisan ??

LOL !!

Why is that ? Because him harshly and appropriately criticize your party during their 18 year assault on the country ?

What is curious is given the reign of the Gods that there were not MORE Social Commentators raising alarm... I guess they were busy building troughs...

LOL !!

How do you rationalize the rabid partisan criticizing the current Govt ?

Poor yuh.
..
Litmus Test: What do you think of Jamaicans for Justice... mi did hear seh dem was an arm of the JLP.. ah true ?

[Don1]

A rabid political partisan ??

LOL !!

Why is that ? Because him harshly and appropriately criticize your party during their 18 year assault on the country ?

What is curious is given the reign of the Gods that there were not MORE Social Commentators raising alarm... I guess they were busy building troughs...

LOL !!

How do you rationalize the rabid partisan criticizing the current Govt ?

Poor yuh.
..
Litmus Test: What do you think of Jamaicans for Justice... mi did hear seh dem was an arm of the JLP.. ah true ?

Perkins is what he is... a rabid partisan. The type exists on both sides of the divide.
Blind, unbalanced partisanship is the bane of Jamaica.

I criticize as I see fit.... and I see much to criticize in both JLP & PNP... they are both regressive organizations.

However since the JLP is in power it is much more important to scrutinize them constructively ... and point out where they are wanting... as in the confused enrgy policy... or more accurately the lack thereof.

The PNP is relatively irrelevant at the moment... I generally don't waste my time with that entity.

[Muadib]

Does Perkins the 'rabid partisan' criticize the JLP ?

[Don1]

Does Perkins the 'rabid partisan' criticize the JLP ?

Perhaps.

Even partisans have moments of sanity or create a smokescreen masking their true nature.

Maybe that confuses or comforts you.

[Muadib]

or.. maybe the person is simple NOT a rabid partisan..

Mi warn yuh bout di hyperbole.. employ more reason and critical thinking.. proper data collection is useful.. do not argue from a point of conclusion backwards..

Nothing about Perkins commentary labels him as either rabid or partisan.. He is on the contrary quite rational and consistent..

[Muadib]

Learn bout Mutty Perkins:

Motty has numerous views on how things should or ought to be. He feels strongly that we should value the lessons of history and use it as a guide to tailor the way forward.

"We cannot operate in isolation of events past and present, or be forever re-inventing the wheel," he said, "for that will determine how far we go and at what pace we develop as a people and a nation."

Motty is guided by the anthropological stance which says that material backwardness is a function of cultural isolation. He supports the view that cultural cross-fertilisation is what drives material progress. "We do not need to re-invent the wheel," he again emphasised. "We have to move from the point of accumulated experience, we must understand the whys of history and not get caught up with the events themselves. We need to understand why the Europeans dominated the world for 500 years. No need to get caught up with the sentiment of what was lost, focus on the psyche and the strength of the conqueror."

On the point of accumulated experience, he illustrated his point with a reference to Bee-thoven and the Internet. "Beethoven didn't start where the first musician started. The Internet is not a new idea. It is as a result of the accumulated knowledge and experience of thousands of years. If we do not educate our children, we are depriving them of developing their potential as human beings. We have to respect the principle of value-added. We are suffering from intellectual poverty. Our intellectuals should be helping us to understand our world and they are not performing that function," he noted.

"In Jamaica, we do not value ideas," says Perkins. "Our education is not geared towards promoting understanding. Jamaica's politics could not accommodate an educated population. This may have been by design but not necessarily a conscious one. And we are now suffering from that lack of vision.

"As black people, we need to understand why five white faces and one Japanese represent the Group of Six (the six leading nations of the world). Why did Europe go to Africa and not Africa go to Europe? What enabled the Europeans to dominate for 500 years? These are the questions to which we should seek answers.

"We need to understand the principles of leadership and the underpinning of what propels a once underdeveloped nation like Singapore (the size of St. James) to move from a poor Third World country to a First World country with a per capita income of US$30,000 while Jamaica which Singapore once used as a model of development, now has a per capita income of US$1,500 or less. We need to have the vision to understand the strategy to follow the dictates necessary to move forward."

In the arena of world leadership, Motty admires most of the leaders of the American Revolution.

"I admire George Washington, who led the revolution to victory **** I admire Thomas Jefferson, who provided the world with the best definition of Government, which says that all men are created equal **** they are endowed by the creator with inalienable rights, among them the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and it is to secure these rights that Governments are instituted among men. This is the primary purpose for which Governments exist," he said.

EQUAL RESPECT

He feels strongly that the same respect is due to a man of high office as the handcart man. Individuals, he feels, should not be accorded respect as a result of their office, but that they should earn that respect as an individual.

On a point of the value of self-perception, Motty said there are many lessons to be learned from an individual like the eminent Colin Powell, United States Secretary of State and military leader. This man was able to rise through the ranks of the military to hold the nation's highest military post, in a country rife with racism. He did not internalise his blackness. He is confident, he knows his strengths. He forgot that he was black. He had high self-esteem and did not rely on the opinion of others to determine how far he went.

WOMAN POWER

Looking at the prospect of women to govern, Motty said, "I think women in Jamaica are quite capable." He explained that in today's world, it is only brain that is required, not muscle and body mass that gave men the dominant position. In the past, men assumed leadership position based on their ability to perform functions of hunting and protection. "The modus operandi," Mutty ex-plained, "has changed in today's environment. Women are in many ways different from men biologically and from conditioning. But they understand their strengths and the power of a teardrop."

Turning to an ancient story of Rome: "I recall a moment in history when Rome founded by Romulus and Remus raided the Sabines and stole their women. The Sabines in turn made a counter-attack. While the two warring factions were muscling up, it was the women who got in between and said to stop this nonsense. Women have an in-built capacity for exercising good sense. They do not have to go around beating their chests, their pride does not rest in machismo. Women have brain power to move forward into leadership," he posited.

Wilmot Perkins loves a conversation. He revels in his knowledge of history and his ability to place issues into perspective. "I want people to think through issues." That is why he has so dubbed his show **** 'The Thinking Person's Talk Show'. "My intention is to focus public attention upon the gaping hiatus between what is and what might be, and to do it within a broad historical framework that embraces not only the history of Jamaica, but the history of mankind," he noted. "There was never a quiet moment during my career through the media."

This outspoken individual has never been afraid to speak his mind. Whether out of pocket or not, Motty remains strongly opinionated. He has the guts to stand his ground without care for the consequences. He remembers several spats with Governments of the day as he is partial to none.

He recalls an interview with then Minister of Home Affairs, Roy McNeil, who had undertaken to use members of the Gun Club to substitute for policemen who were taking industrial action. Motty's question to the minister touched a nerve when he questioned the basis the gun club was being hired.

"Both groups had in common an interest in guns and shooting," he said. "Is this your view of the police?" he asked the minister.

Of course, he was asked kindly by the board to demit his post at JBC.

That was Wilmot 'Motty' Perkins then. I am sure he remains the same Motty today

[Don1]

or.. maybe the person is simple NOT a rabid partisan..

Mi warn yuh bout di hyperbole.. employ more reason and critical thinking.. proper data collection is useful.. do not argue from a point of conclusion backwards..

Nothing about Perkins commentary labels him as either rabid or partisan.. He is on the contrary quite rational and consistent..

You are entitled to your high opinion of Perkins... just as I am entitled to be dismissive.

Perkins is a Jamaican variant of Rush Limbaugh... maybe a little better spoken and more rational than that joker.

I never claimed he was irrational... just that he is partisan (as you are) and that I don't find his commentary very instructive for that reason.

Similarly I would reject people like Garnett Roper... too partisan for my taste.