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Will the real Jamaican please stand up?
Lloyd B Smith
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Juxtapose the Armadale fiasco and the Dudus affair and it becomes crystal clear that politics takes precedence over everything else in Jamaica. The responses of the Bruce Golding administration so far to both issues succinctly indicate where our priorities lie as a country. The potent question to be asked, therefore, is who is going to chase those crazy baldheads out of town?
The Rev Al Miller disappoints me. While I respect his views on the Christopher "Dudus" Coke extradition matter, a man of his influence in the public sphere, who has been given the task by Prime Minister Bruce Golding to help transform Jamaica in terms of values and attitudes, should have kept his mouth shut. Divisiveness has become the order of the day in this country and so those who are supposed to be symbols of national unity and transformation must be mindful of the bigger picture and not get carried away with headline-grabbing pronouncements.
Unfortunately, by taking the Dudus controversy to Parliament, Prime Minister Golding has, whether wittingly or unwittingly, brought into sharp focus the raison d'être for seeking political power in this country. It is not about the greatest good for the greatest number, as it ought to be. Rather, as the PNP's Maxine Henry-Wilson has been quoted as saying, it's all about who gets what, where and when (or words to that effect). And it was her fellow parliamentarian Dr Peter Phillips who declared that in this country the man who plays by the rules gets shafted.
Against this backdrop, it is safe to say that the real Jamaican among us has become an endangered species. Ironically, while we deal with one another in a most callous and cruel manner, we smile and kowtow to the tourist. Recently, Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett reinforced the point that has been made over and over again, that the main reason why so many overseas visitors make it Jamaica again and again is the friendliness and warmth of the Jamaican people. Our legendary hospitality cannot be surpassed anywhere else in the world, yet at the same time we have been dubbed one of the world's murder capitals!
What the tourists experience is what the real Jamaican has to offer. Visit especially many rural communities that have not been corrupted and spoiled by the dancehall culture and insidious partisan politics and you cannot find a more courteous, honest, God-fearing, loving and industrious set of people. Yes, there are still many real Jamaicans in our midst but they have been put to silence out of fear and intimidation, thanks to a political system that elevates dons while denigrating those who dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone.
It has been said that a country's worth can be truly assessed by the way it treats the very young and the very old. The Armadale inquiry has laid bare findings that are almost reminiscent of Hitler's treatment of the Jews: the old and infirm as well as those who have fallen through the social safety net are treated with such impunity and callousness. Just look how the nurses and their quest for a better quality of life is being treated by the government.
When this Golding administration came to power in 2007, it vowed to fight crime and corruption. If we are to go by the recently released United States State Department report, we are fast becoming a narco-democracy as well as heading towards being dubbed a rogue state in the international community. Hundreds of Jamaicans almost daily are seeing their constitutional rights trampled on in one way or another. Do they have a voice in Parliament? Who speaks for them? Who defends them even if it means losing political capital? Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive!
Outside of the tardiness with respect to the crime-fighting bills that are being held up indefinitely, there are other pieces of legislation that are critical in the "context of strengthening governance and control of corruption", if I may quote from a preferably unnamed source at this time. Among these are the funding of political parties (Political Party Registration and Funding Act); the Amendment to the Libel Law, the Whistle-blower Protection Act; the repeal of the Official Secrets Act which will necessitate an Amendment to the Access to Information Act as well as the Gazetting of Regulations for the Plea Bargaining Act which must be affirmed by a parliamentary resolution. Instead of focusing on this crucially important legislative agenda, we note the alacrity with which our politicians have set about to increase the number of seats in Parliament, which means more taxpayers' money must be found in order to distribute scarce benefits and spoils.
In another two years time, 2012, Jamaica will have marked 50 years of having gained political independence. In 1969, one of our esteemed founding fathers, Norman Washington Manley, charged that it was the responsibility of the succeeding generation to ensure that the country achieve economic independence. Based on IMF projections as well as those emanating from domestic sources such as the PIOJ and the BOJ, at 50 Jamaica will still be in the throes of persistent poverty. So much for independence! If it is not to founder on the rocks of corruption, crime, indiscipline, incompetence, a lack of patriotism and a fixity of purpose, then some of us will have to be prepared to pay the ultimate price. I am sick and tired of people approaching me and saying, "Is what kind of things dem dat you writing, you don't fraid dem kill you?"
There is nothing to fear except fear itself and if we must die let it not be like hogs penned in an inglorious spot (if I may so paraphrase these two well-known quotations which became the rallying point for patriots during World War II). Lest we forget, Jamaica is indeed at war. It is time that the real Jamaicans begin to stand up. Too many of us prefer to play to the gallery or pander to the lowest common multiple. To Bruce Golding I say, "Beware the Ides of March, yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look." As for those in their ivory towers, seemingly far from the world of woe, "Fire deh a mus-mus tail, him think a cool breeze!" I am prepared to stand up; are you?
Lloyd B Smith
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Juxtapose the Armadale fiasco and the Dudus affair and it becomes crystal clear that politics takes precedence over everything else in Jamaica. The responses of the Bruce Golding administration so far to both issues succinctly indicate where our priorities lie as a country. The potent question to be asked, therefore, is who is going to chase those crazy baldheads out of town?
The Rev Al Miller disappoints me. While I respect his views on the Christopher "Dudus" Coke extradition matter, a man of his influence in the public sphere, who has been given the task by Prime Minister Bruce Golding to help transform Jamaica in terms of values and attitudes, should have kept his mouth shut. Divisiveness has become the order of the day in this country and so those who are supposed to be symbols of national unity and transformation must be mindful of the bigger picture and not get carried away with headline-grabbing pronouncements.
Unfortunately, by taking the Dudus controversy to Parliament, Prime Minister Golding has, whether wittingly or unwittingly, brought into sharp focus the raison d'être for seeking political power in this country. It is not about the greatest good for the greatest number, as it ought to be. Rather, as the PNP's Maxine Henry-Wilson has been quoted as saying, it's all about who gets what, where and when (or words to that effect). And it was her fellow parliamentarian Dr Peter Phillips who declared that in this country the man who plays by the rules gets shafted.
Against this backdrop, it is safe to say that the real Jamaican among us has become an endangered species. Ironically, while we deal with one another in a most callous and cruel manner, we smile and kowtow to the tourist. Recently, Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett reinforced the point that has been made over and over again, that the main reason why so many overseas visitors make it Jamaica again and again is the friendliness and warmth of the Jamaican people. Our legendary hospitality cannot be surpassed anywhere else in the world, yet at the same time we have been dubbed one of the world's murder capitals!
What the tourists experience is what the real Jamaican has to offer. Visit especially many rural communities that have not been corrupted and spoiled by the dancehall culture and insidious partisan politics and you cannot find a more courteous, honest, God-fearing, loving and industrious set of people. Yes, there are still many real Jamaicans in our midst but they have been put to silence out of fear and intimidation, thanks to a political system that elevates dons while denigrating those who dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone.
It has been said that a country's worth can be truly assessed by the way it treats the very young and the very old. The Armadale inquiry has laid bare findings that are almost reminiscent of Hitler's treatment of the Jews: the old and infirm as well as those who have fallen through the social safety net are treated with such impunity and callousness. Just look how the nurses and their quest for a better quality of life is being treated by the government.
When this Golding administration came to power in 2007, it vowed to fight crime and corruption. If we are to go by the recently released United States State Department report, we are fast becoming a narco-democracy as well as heading towards being dubbed a rogue state in the international community. Hundreds of Jamaicans almost daily are seeing their constitutional rights trampled on in one way or another. Do they have a voice in Parliament? Who speaks for them? Who defends them even if it means losing political capital? Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive!
Outside of the tardiness with respect to the crime-fighting bills that are being held up indefinitely, there are other pieces of legislation that are critical in the "context of strengthening governance and control of corruption", if I may quote from a preferably unnamed source at this time. Among these are the funding of political parties (Political Party Registration and Funding Act); the Amendment to the Libel Law, the Whistle-blower Protection Act; the repeal of the Official Secrets Act which will necessitate an Amendment to the Access to Information Act as well as the Gazetting of Regulations for the Plea Bargaining Act which must be affirmed by a parliamentary resolution. Instead of focusing on this crucially important legislative agenda, we note the alacrity with which our politicians have set about to increase the number of seats in Parliament, which means more taxpayers' money must be found in order to distribute scarce benefits and spoils.
In another two years time, 2012, Jamaica will have marked 50 years of having gained political independence. In 1969, one of our esteemed founding fathers, Norman Washington Manley, charged that it was the responsibility of the succeeding generation to ensure that the country achieve economic independence. Based on IMF projections as well as those emanating from domestic sources such as the PIOJ and the BOJ, at 50 Jamaica will still be in the throes of persistent poverty. So much for independence! If it is not to founder on the rocks of corruption, crime, indiscipline, incompetence, a lack of patriotism and a fixity of purpose, then some of us will have to be prepared to pay the ultimate price. I am sick and tired of people approaching me and saying, "Is what kind of things dem dat you writing, you don't fraid dem kill you?"
There is nothing to fear except fear itself and if we must die let it not be like hogs penned in an inglorious spot (if I may so paraphrase these two well-known quotations which became the rallying point for patriots during World War II). Lest we forget, Jamaica is indeed at war. It is time that the real Jamaicans begin to stand up. Too many of us prefer to play to the gallery or pander to the lowest common multiple. To Bruce Golding I say, "Beware the Ides of March, yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look." As for those in their ivory towers, seemingly far from the world of woe, "Fire deh a mus-mus tail, him think a cool breeze!" I am prepared to stand up; are you?
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