Jamaica...No problem!!

[Assasin]

Rocky all the Capitalist country in since the 20 century have some form of welfare and many social organizations.
The problem is on the economic front Communism leads to stagnation.

[Islandman]

Not sure where to get those figures on JA, particularly for decades long past. Without a doubt the murder rate is higher than back then but as to overall crime who knows. Many rapes, incest and other types of domestic crimes were not reported in the old days, and to some extent still today.

The other thing I have realised is that many gradual improvements go unnoticed. For example things like infant mortality and life expectancy have improved significantly in Jamaica over the decades but it goes unnoticed. Similarly the number of children per woman is getting very close to 2, which suggests that the "Two is better than Too Many" goal has been accomplished.

The opportunity question would be more difficult to pin down because some of it is subjective. It may very well be that there are more opportunities today for a poor Jamaican than there were in post-war to independence era. Karl I am sure you know firsthand some of the realities during that time. There was nothing romantic about life for the average Jamaican. I guess my foreparents could walk the street at night with their sweetheart after a 10 hour day cutting cane at Frome but other than that....

Our comparison though should not be simply against what Jamaica was 50-100 years ago, it should be against where our peers were then and where they are now. That is where I believe we have really fallen behind.