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.... but Jamaica's visionless misleaders continue to have the people perish...as their tribal sycophants applaud naively from the sidelines.... uncritically seeing "positives" in every politically self serving "announcement" by said visionless politicians....
Reconstructing the modern Jamaican state
Franklin W Knight
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Periods of political crises such as Jamaica is enduring are also periods of political opportunities. In William Shakespeare's dramatic reconstruction of the conspiracy and assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, Cassius declared to Brutus, a former friend of Caesar, that "men at some time are masters of their fates". He also added sagely, "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings." According to the logic of Cassius, people control their destinies and pro-action was superior to reaction. The same may be said of countries. No country, regardless of its natural resources, is predetermined to be poor. Underdevelopment and social malaise should not be blamed entirely on external factors such as imperialism, the legacy of slavery or globalisation, as is so often done among talking heads in Jamaica.
No one denies that poverty, economic underdevelopment and persistent social malaise are major factors in Jamaica. But the sources of these conditions cannot be placed on history and globalisation. Slavery ended in Jamaica 173 years ago. Almost six generations of Jamaicans have no personal experience with the institution. Formal imperialism ended almost 50 years ago. And as a number of scholars have demonstrated - including Raquel Romberg's brilliant study of Puerto Rico - globalisation is not necessarily overwhelming. Even small countries can find a niche and exploit the forces of globalisation.
Jamaica today finds itself at a terrible crossroad. Social and economic progress has been seriously eroded for a very long time. The encouraging gains of the 1950s and 1960s have been patently reversed. The state, instead of promoting conditions consistent with human happiness, finds itself in a Hobbesian situation where life appears generally nasty, brutish and short. Leadership is scarce, not only at the political level but also throughout the society at large. The situation could become worse. But it could also become better by careful analysis and applied action.
Simple wishful thinking and hoping for some external Santa Claus will not make Jamaica better. Jamaicans have to take the bull by the horns and forge their own future. That requires collective action on a scale never before attempted and will undoubtedly be costly and difficult. Yet it is quite possible. Extraordinary achievements are not accomplished by the faint of heart. In Jamaica's case it is less a matter of resources than of political will.
Many countries have found themselves in the parlous situation of contemporary Jamaica and have pulled themselves together. And it invariably seems darkest before dawn. Spain experienced a savage civil war between 1936 and 1939 and found itself in an isolated and dismal condition until the mid-1960s. Nevertheless, according to the 2005 Economist Intelligence Unit's quality-of-life index, Spain ranked ahead of countries such as Canada, the United States, Great Britain, New Zealand, France, and Germany.
Within the Caribbean, Barbados finds itself in the most favourable situation at position number 33 (out of 111 countries ranked). Jamaica at position 64, sandwiched between Lithuania and Morocco, is ahead of the Dominican Republic. Cuba, The Bahamas, Puerto Rico and other Eastern Caribbean countries are not ranked owing to insufficient data. Yet the purpose of improving the general condition of Jamaica is not for the competitive ranking on international charts. It deserves to be done because it is just better for all Jamaicans.
Any ameliorative plan should include a way to improve overall leadership in all sectors of the Jamaican society. Leaders require a broad, sensible education as well as sound management skills, so the plan should begin with a specific experimental geographical zone where these qualities can be developed and practised. Specifically, the government could begin by delineating an area spanning the parishes of Trelawny and St James within easy access to the underutilised sports complex to begin a model for the rest of the island.
The government should coordinate an integrated educational system that begins at the elementary level, includes the secondary level and terminates with a degree-granting institution whose graduates are competently prepared to train citizens in the knowledge, skills and values of public administration and social development. At all levels, working with the local communities must constitute an integral part of the educational and training experience.
Students at all levels should do appropriate compulsory public service. The physical structures of the institutions should double as local community centres. Graduates would be expected to improve standards of management in all public services, at all levels of education, spearhead community development and organisation, as well as engage in research while providing technical assistance to all levels of government.
Colombia did something like this in 1958 when it was emerging from a decade of civil war. It created the Escuela Superior de Administración Pública (ESAP or Advanced Institute for Public Administration) in Bogotá and Medellin to improve the quality of civil administration across the country. With some 18 centres spread throughout the country, ESAP has been markedly effective during two generations of disastrous domestic unrest in maintaining and improving civil society, especially in metropolitan areas. Since ESAP is designed for college graduates, perhaps a better model might be the scholarly communities being constructed by the Colombian city of Cali for all levels of students in that region.
The details require attention. The important observation is that change is possible and time is of the essence. In the play Julius Caesar as Brutus and Cassius were contemplating strategies to resist the armies of Octavian and Marc Anthony, Brutus reflected on the fluctuating nature of power and opportunity:
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
For Jamaica the urgent need is to contemplate a total reconstruction of society, not merely improve the political system. After all, a good society is the best foundation for efficacious leadership.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1AANUhKCB
Reconstructing the modern Jamaican state
Franklin W Knight
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Periods of political crises such as Jamaica is enduring are also periods of political opportunities. In William Shakespeare's dramatic reconstruction of the conspiracy and assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, Cassius declared to Brutus, a former friend of Caesar, that "men at some time are masters of their fates". He also added sagely, "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings." According to the logic of Cassius, people control their destinies and pro-action was superior to reaction. The same may be said of countries. No country, regardless of its natural resources, is predetermined to be poor. Underdevelopment and social malaise should not be blamed entirely on external factors such as imperialism, the legacy of slavery or globalisation, as is so often done among talking heads in Jamaica.
No one denies that poverty, economic underdevelopment and persistent social malaise are major factors in Jamaica. But the sources of these conditions cannot be placed on history and globalisation. Slavery ended in Jamaica 173 years ago. Almost six generations of Jamaicans have no personal experience with the institution. Formal imperialism ended almost 50 years ago. And as a number of scholars have demonstrated - including Raquel Romberg's brilliant study of Puerto Rico - globalisation is not necessarily overwhelming. Even small countries can find a niche and exploit the forces of globalisation.
Jamaica today finds itself at a terrible crossroad. Social and economic progress has been seriously eroded for a very long time. The encouraging gains of the 1950s and 1960s have been patently reversed. The state, instead of promoting conditions consistent with human happiness, finds itself in a Hobbesian situation where life appears generally nasty, brutish and short. Leadership is scarce, not only at the political level but also throughout the society at large. The situation could become worse. But it could also become better by careful analysis and applied action.
Simple wishful thinking and hoping for some external Santa Claus will not make Jamaica better. Jamaicans have to take the bull by the horns and forge their own future. That requires collective action on a scale never before attempted and will undoubtedly be costly and difficult. Yet it is quite possible. Extraordinary achievements are not accomplished by the faint of heart. In Jamaica's case it is less a matter of resources than of political will.
Many countries have found themselves in the parlous situation of contemporary Jamaica and have pulled themselves together. And it invariably seems darkest before dawn. Spain experienced a savage civil war between 1936 and 1939 and found itself in an isolated and dismal condition until the mid-1960s. Nevertheless, according to the 2005 Economist Intelligence Unit's quality-of-life index, Spain ranked ahead of countries such as Canada, the United States, Great Britain, New Zealand, France, and Germany.
Within the Caribbean, Barbados finds itself in the most favourable situation at position number 33 (out of 111 countries ranked). Jamaica at position 64, sandwiched between Lithuania and Morocco, is ahead of the Dominican Republic. Cuba, The Bahamas, Puerto Rico and other Eastern Caribbean countries are not ranked owing to insufficient data. Yet the purpose of improving the general condition of Jamaica is not for the competitive ranking on international charts. It deserves to be done because it is just better for all Jamaicans.
Any ameliorative plan should include a way to improve overall leadership in all sectors of the Jamaican society. Leaders require a broad, sensible education as well as sound management skills, so the plan should begin with a specific experimental geographical zone where these qualities can be developed and practised. Specifically, the government could begin by delineating an area spanning the parishes of Trelawny and St James within easy access to the underutilised sports complex to begin a model for the rest of the island.
The government should coordinate an integrated educational system that begins at the elementary level, includes the secondary level and terminates with a degree-granting institution whose graduates are competently prepared to train citizens in the knowledge, skills and values of public administration and social development. At all levels, working with the local communities must constitute an integral part of the educational and training experience.
Students at all levels should do appropriate compulsory public service. The physical structures of the institutions should double as local community centres. Graduates would be expected to improve standards of management in all public services, at all levels of education, spearhead community development and organisation, as well as engage in research while providing technical assistance to all levels of government.
Colombia did something like this in 1958 when it was emerging from a decade of civil war. It created the Escuela Superior de Administración Pública (ESAP or Advanced Institute for Public Administration) in Bogotá and Medellin to improve the quality of civil administration across the country. With some 18 centres spread throughout the country, ESAP has been markedly effective during two generations of disastrous domestic unrest in maintaining and improving civil society, especially in metropolitan areas. Since ESAP is designed for college graduates, perhaps a better model might be the scholarly communities being constructed by the Colombian city of Cali for all levels of students in that region.
The details require attention. The important observation is that change is possible and time is of the essence. In the play Julius Caesar as Brutus and Cassius were contemplating strategies to resist the armies of Octavian and Marc Anthony, Brutus reflected on the fluctuating nature of power and opportunity:
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
For Jamaica the urgent need is to contemplate a total reconstruction of society, not merely improve the political system. After all, a good society is the best foundation for efficacious leadership.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1AANUhKCB
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