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from one of her brightest minds:
(Chris Burns is deep; there is hope for Ja when you read , liten and learn from the likes of Chris Burns)
Yes and no, Mr Chairman
Christopher Burns
Monday, April 30, 2007
It is always thrilling to hear the passion with which Gordon 'Butch' Stewart speaks of Jamaica. His revolutionary foray into the hotel industry, his skilful development of brand "Sandals" and establishment of the prestigious Jamaica Observer newspaper speaks volumes about his keen business acumen. In addition, we are at one on the irrefutability that Jamaica is the most beautiful place on earth.
Butch Stewart has contributed immensely to community development projects and recently affirmed this commitment to the Flankers community. The very young would not know that it was Butch Stewart who played the lead role in driving government efforts, through the "dollar initiative" to improve the country's foreign exchange supplies in the early 1990s. Although Mr Stewart's views on national issues conflict sometimes with those held by others, I am sure he remains committed to and positive about Jamaica.
There should be no surprise that there are many divergences in views between us on some national issues. I disagree with him that "The best thing that you can give a human being is a job." Undoubtedly, Mr Stewart's declaration will continue to resonate well among the unemployed, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet. To them, a job could provide sufficient financial benefits to help them provide for their families. Mr Stewart's position can only be absolute if one assumes that a job, however unrewarding, oppressive, or restrictive always provides the greatest source of happiness and satisfies most human needs. The truth is we do not live in Utopia, and other variables are constantly at play that may hinder the things we do.
Consequently, a job by itself may not foster the environment for meaningful advancements or self-actualisation. I believe that it is better to give individuals the opportunity to unleash their potential, to develop and tap into their intellectual capital, and to harness their God-given talents and entrepreneurial skills; sufficient enough to allow them to go on to create their own employment. This is the type of paradigmatic shift and strategic thinking that is needed to encourage more Jamaicans to lead lives which are not so much dependent on the efforts or generosity of others, but on the premise and promises of their own ingenuity.
However, because Mr Stewart's comments were made within the context of Jamaica's high unemployment and low economic growth rates, the discussions must also be extended to examine some of the causal factors behind both. The economic blight in Jamaica is attributable to a potpourri of internal and external factors that we must not overlook in this discussion.
Needless to say, we have to look beyond governmental inertia to examine the other issues that may affect employment levels and by extension stymie economic growth, generally. Issues such as technology, which in some instances may increase employment and in other instances may decrease it. In the case of a decrease, the displacement manifests itself in consumption patterns which go on to affect the supply side of the economic cycle.
While it's reasonable to apportion blame to the government, we have to also look at the owners of capital and their role in the economic development process. The discussions must similarly review the risk-averse culture of our private sector, its refusal to broaden ownership and raise additional capital through programmes such as employee-share options and public offerings, its lack of innovative thinking, its unwillingness to reinvest in both plant and people instead of using profits to acquire luxury items.
So, one may be wondering how other countries, faced with similar challenges survive, yet we are struggling to achieve a growth rate of three per cent. Other countries have managed because their cultural, social, economic and political arrangements are different from ours. Some countries have very structured and strategic human resource and manpower models that allow them to design and align their educational and vocational training policies in tow with global trends and niches that allow them to produce those goods and services for which they have the requisite comparative and competitive advantages, and do not have to struggle with some of the cultural prejudices that we have to contend with here. Our experience with the 807 garment factories and the shifting of these jobs to other countries with different labour and employment arrangements should cause us to rethink our management of the labour economy.
One would not find, for example, an overabundance of management studies graduates, as is the case in Jamaica, when the market is demanding computer programmers, technicians, architects, doctors, etc. Jamaica now finds itself in a situation where it cannot fill some of the jobs being created locally and cannot accept some of those being exported by other countries, because these jobs fall outside the scope and capabilities of the average unemployed. We have to recalibrate our human capital development plans to focus on producing more of what consumers want. India has a strategy that we could learn from, in this regard.
This brings me to another issue; the issues of social partnerships, consensus building and bi-partisanship on which I share a convergence of views with Mr Stewart. He is right in calling for dialogue between the state and the owners of capital to find solutions to the problems that beset us.
However, I would go a step further to expand the circumference of the partnership circle to include labour and civil society. I also agree with him that "we can't keep on exporting all the youngsters that come out of school". But we also have to find a way to educate them on risk-taking, with the hope that they will understand the relationship between risks and wealth, and then take steps to empower themselves. In order to achieve these things, we must take steps to build social capital, and it begins with the establishment of trust.
Burnscg@aol.com
(Chris Burns is deep; there is hope for Ja when you read , liten and learn from the likes of Chris Burns)
Yes and no, Mr Chairman
Christopher Burns
Monday, April 30, 2007
It is always thrilling to hear the passion with which Gordon 'Butch' Stewart speaks of Jamaica. His revolutionary foray into the hotel industry, his skilful development of brand "Sandals" and establishment of the prestigious Jamaica Observer newspaper speaks volumes about his keen business acumen. In addition, we are at one on the irrefutability that Jamaica is the most beautiful place on earth.
Butch Stewart has contributed immensely to community development projects and recently affirmed this commitment to the Flankers community. The very young would not know that it was Butch Stewart who played the lead role in driving government efforts, through the "dollar initiative" to improve the country's foreign exchange supplies in the early 1990s. Although Mr Stewart's views on national issues conflict sometimes with those held by others, I am sure he remains committed to and positive about Jamaica.
There should be no surprise that there are many divergences in views between us on some national issues. I disagree with him that "The best thing that you can give a human being is a job." Undoubtedly, Mr Stewart's declaration will continue to resonate well among the unemployed, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet. To them, a job could provide sufficient financial benefits to help them provide for their families. Mr Stewart's position can only be absolute if one assumes that a job, however unrewarding, oppressive, or restrictive always provides the greatest source of happiness and satisfies most human needs. The truth is we do not live in Utopia, and other variables are constantly at play that may hinder the things we do.
Consequently, a job by itself may not foster the environment for meaningful advancements or self-actualisation. I believe that it is better to give individuals the opportunity to unleash their potential, to develop and tap into their intellectual capital, and to harness their God-given talents and entrepreneurial skills; sufficient enough to allow them to go on to create their own employment. This is the type of paradigmatic shift and strategic thinking that is needed to encourage more Jamaicans to lead lives which are not so much dependent on the efforts or generosity of others, but on the premise and promises of their own ingenuity.
However, because Mr Stewart's comments were made within the context of Jamaica's high unemployment and low economic growth rates, the discussions must also be extended to examine some of the causal factors behind both. The economic blight in Jamaica is attributable to a potpourri of internal and external factors that we must not overlook in this discussion.
Needless to say, we have to look beyond governmental inertia to examine the other issues that may affect employment levels and by extension stymie economic growth, generally. Issues such as technology, which in some instances may increase employment and in other instances may decrease it. In the case of a decrease, the displacement manifests itself in consumption patterns which go on to affect the supply side of the economic cycle.
While it's reasonable to apportion blame to the government, we have to also look at the owners of capital and their role in the economic development process. The discussions must similarly review the risk-averse culture of our private sector, its refusal to broaden ownership and raise additional capital through programmes such as employee-share options and public offerings, its lack of innovative thinking, its unwillingness to reinvest in both plant and people instead of using profits to acquire luxury items.
So, one may be wondering how other countries, faced with similar challenges survive, yet we are struggling to achieve a growth rate of three per cent. Other countries have managed because their cultural, social, economic and political arrangements are different from ours. Some countries have very structured and strategic human resource and manpower models that allow them to design and align their educational and vocational training policies in tow with global trends and niches that allow them to produce those goods and services for which they have the requisite comparative and competitive advantages, and do not have to struggle with some of the cultural prejudices that we have to contend with here. Our experience with the 807 garment factories and the shifting of these jobs to other countries with different labour and employment arrangements should cause us to rethink our management of the labour economy.
One would not find, for example, an overabundance of management studies graduates, as is the case in Jamaica, when the market is demanding computer programmers, technicians, architects, doctors, etc. Jamaica now finds itself in a situation where it cannot fill some of the jobs being created locally and cannot accept some of those being exported by other countries, because these jobs fall outside the scope and capabilities of the average unemployed. We have to recalibrate our human capital development plans to focus on producing more of what consumers want. India has a strategy that we could learn from, in this regard.
This brings me to another issue; the issues of social partnerships, consensus building and bi-partisanship on which I share a convergence of views with Mr Stewart. He is right in calling for dialogue between the state and the owners of capital to find solutions to the problems that beset us.
However, I would go a step further to expand the circumference of the partnership circle to include labour and civil society. I also agree with him that "we can't keep on exporting all the youngsters that come out of school". But we also have to find a way to educate them on risk-taking, with the hope that they will understand the relationship between risks and wealth, and then take steps to empower themselves. In order to achieve these things, we must take steps to build social capital, and it begins with the establishment of trust.
Burnscg@aol.com
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