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Leadership in the wrong places
First of all let me say that I am writing this article with no political intent and of no political affiliation. In fact, I will avoid scoring any political points for either party. I have had the luxury of living in Jamaica for over 20+ years and have experience 2 change of government. But not only experience I have also read about previous changes of government. Now, with the changes or lack there of as it relates to economic development, there is only one change that is important. And that is the psyche of the people.
Ever since slavery our people (Africans - NOT “BLACKS” or “BLACK PEOPLE”) have always been looking for a saviour, a leader, a burden bearer to take us out of our oppression and tear down the walls of Babylon, yes to some extent we have found such saviour and leader in Heroes(in) like Sam Sharp, Paul Bogle, & Nanny of the Maroons to name a few. Some of us have even gone as far as Haile Selassie. But that’s not my point this is not about religion either.
We Jamaicans (and I can extend this to the wider Caribbean and African Continent) apparently have not thought about looking inwards for a leader. We depend entirely on politicians and the leadership of the day (backra) to take care of our needs. I personally believe that it is our responsibility to emancipate ourselves from the dependency on government and face up to facts. Fact is: that’s not how democratic economic leadership really works. If that was the case then we should operate more like Cuba and China, both these economies are communist and both are superior to Jamaica from an economic perspective. Unfortunately we expect that when our party wins an election we can ‘si dung and wait pon’ government/politicians to make everything better. But there are more things we can do for ourselves that has nothing to do with getting hand outs from politicians.
Let me not ignore the fact that Jamaica truly needs good governance in parliament. But total dependence on political leadership will never lift Jamaica to the first world status that we so desire. Almost every week TVJ’s “Your issues live” or other radio talk shows point to the government as the cause for all our economic discomfort and failure. We need to be our own leader, accept the responsibility of being economic citizens and not an economic burden. Taking charge of our life and head in the direction we want. If you are not willing to take charge then there is absolutely nothing the government can do for you. Believe me. It is not beyond our intellectual capability to envisage what I mean by being your own leader (BYOL). Point all 10 fingers the other direction.
For instance we complain that there are no jobs available, we want better education system, better health care, better roads, more money, more cars, more phones, more girls etc. We just want more because we know more is better. But can you believe me when I say we already have more. Think of our school system, each year the CXC’s result and the literacy statistic reveal an embarrassing position on our education system. And we blame government. Why not? We just want to blame someone else for our failure. After all, it wasn’t ME.
Have it ever occurred to you that our students perform poorly not because of the government, the school they attend, the teachers or the system but the students themselves. If some students would actually be focus, attend class and not be caught up in so many activities that plain and simply just don’t concern them, they would learn something. There are so many classic examples as to why students fail. The government is not the one telling a girl to chase after men rather than focus on school or the boy who is a chronic (no pun intended) loafer whose only focus is girls. It’s not the government fault why big men won’t stop chasing school girls promising them gifts and at the same time messing up their heads and their future. Certainly not the government telling a youth from the inner-city who have witness all of his friends or enemies who picked up the gun murdered, yet without recourse eagerly awaits his chance of dying via the same route. Don’t get me wrong, I lay some (operative word “some”) blame on the government but I am primarily against the way we think about what the government’s responsibilities are.
What about the University graduate with honours who have to accept a job befitting a less/none educated individual. Again I would blame the government. I would be wrong, dead wrong! No; think about it, we go to college get our nice degree and cannot get the job we need. Why not create it. We are more than educated and qualified to think and grow rich. Yes I know the banks would much rather dismiss your idea; offer you a credit card, than to lend you the funds to bring your business idea to fruition. Funny enough your very same idea will be handed to someone else and turns out to be very successful. Pity! It is unfortunate that there are No Venture Capitalists in Jamaica. So what do you do? I would take the Job and research ideas to satisfy my economic ambitions. Besides there are so many opportunities both in Jamaica and the world, we are so intellectually lazy that we cannot see beyond working for someone else or watch other people progress with their business for us to copy, rather than pioneer our own.
Recently I was observing some road repairs being done by the National Works Agency and when they were through I was fuming. I should be happy don’t you think. It would not take a Rocket Scientist to conclude that the repair was poorly done, because at a glance one would realize that the asphalt was loose. A leader (not necessarily the ‘boss’) should be able to point to the fact that it was not suitably done and ensure the asphalt is properly pressed which will prevent the rain from washing it away. All evil wants to take over is one good man to sit and do nothing. I am certain in the near future it will be eroded and the government will have to award another contract to repair/redo that same section of the road. Well maybe the government should have some qualified person to inspection work done. Seem inefficient don’t you think. To be paying two separate parties to have one task properly completed.
We don’t need to depend so heavily on the government we are Jamaicans and we are the most resourceful nation in the world (except in Jamaica). Yes, we need good governance, yes political reform is important. But none of that will change the mentality of our people. The economic landscape of Jamaica can not be changed by the government; it can only be changed by…(drum roll please)…the PEOPLE. We should personally focus on OUR well being. The more we can do for ourselves, the less impact poor governance will have on us. We are almost 100% responsible for what happens to us; remember God almighty himself gave us ALL free will to determine our destiny. Our choices will determine our circumstances, if nothing is done then nothing will happen to you. Get up and stop cursing government. It’s not what the government can do for you but what you can do for yourself.
Ever since slavery our people (Africans - NOT “BLACKS” or “BLACK PEOPLE”) have always been looking for a saviour, a leader, a burden bearer to take us out of our oppression and tear down the walls of Babylon, yes to some extent we have found such saviour and leader in Heroes(in) like Sam Sharp, Paul Bogle, & Nanny of the Maroons to name a few. Some of us have even gone as far as Haile Selassie. But that’s not my point this is not about religion either.
We Jamaicans (and I can extend this to the wider Caribbean and African Continent) apparently have not thought about looking inwards for a leader. We depend entirely on politicians and the leadership of the day (backra) to take care of our needs. I personally believe that it is our responsibility to emancipate ourselves from the dependency on government and face up to facts. Fact is: that’s not how democratic economic leadership really works. If that was the case then we should operate more like Cuba and China, both these economies are communist and both are superior to Jamaica from an economic perspective. Unfortunately we expect that when our party wins an election we can ‘si dung and wait pon’ government/politicians to make everything better. But there are more things we can do for ourselves that has nothing to do with getting hand outs from politicians.
Let me not ignore the fact that Jamaica truly needs good governance in parliament. But total dependence on political leadership will never lift Jamaica to the first world status that we so desire. Almost every week TVJ’s “Your issues live” or other radio talk shows point to the government as the cause for all our economic discomfort and failure. We need to be our own leader, accept the responsibility of being economic citizens and not an economic burden. Taking charge of our life and head in the direction we want. If you are not willing to take charge then there is absolutely nothing the government can do for you. Believe me. It is not beyond our intellectual capability to envisage what I mean by being your own leader (BYOL). Point all 10 fingers the other direction.
For instance we complain that there are no jobs available, we want better education system, better health care, better roads, more money, more cars, more phones, more girls etc. We just want more because we know more is better. But can you believe me when I say we already have more. Think of our school system, each year the CXC’s result and the literacy statistic reveal an embarrassing position on our education system. And we blame government. Why not? We just want to blame someone else for our failure. After all, it wasn’t ME.
Have it ever occurred to you that our students perform poorly not because of the government, the school they attend, the teachers or the system but the students themselves. If some students would actually be focus, attend class and not be caught up in so many activities that plain and simply just don’t concern them, they would learn something. There are so many classic examples as to why students fail. The government is not the one telling a girl to chase after men rather than focus on school or the boy who is a chronic (no pun intended) loafer whose only focus is girls. It’s not the government fault why big men won’t stop chasing school girls promising them gifts and at the same time messing up their heads and their future. Certainly not the government telling a youth from the inner-city who have witness all of his friends or enemies who picked up the gun murdered, yet without recourse eagerly awaits his chance of dying via the same route. Don’t get me wrong, I lay some (operative word “some”) blame on the government but I am primarily against the way we think about what the government’s responsibilities are.
What about the University graduate with honours who have to accept a job befitting a less/none educated individual. Again I would blame the government. I would be wrong, dead wrong! No; think about it, we go to college get our nice degree and cannot get the job we need. Why not create it. We are more than educated and qualified to think and grow rich. Yes I know the banks would much rather dismiss your idea; offer you a credit card, than to lend you the funds to bring your business idea to fruition. Funny enough your very same idea will be handed to someone else and turns out to be very successful. Pity! It is unfortunate that there are No Venture Capitalists in Jamaica. So what do you do? I would take the Job and research ideas to satisfy my economic ambitions. Besides there are so many opportunities both in Jamaica and the world, we are so intellectually lazy that we cannot see beyond working for someone else or watch other people progress with their business for us to copy, rather than pioneer our own.
Recently I was observing some road repairs being done by the National Works Agency and when they were through I was fuming. I should be happy don’t you think. It would not take a Rocket Scientist to conclude that the repair was poorly done, because at a glance one would realize that the asphalt was loose. A leader (not necessarily the ‘boss’) should be able to point to the fact that it was not suitably done and ensure the asphalt is properly pressed which will prevent the rain from washing it away. All evil wants to take over is one good man to sit and do nothing. I am certain in the near future it will be eroded and the government will have to award another contract to repair/redo that same section of the road. Well maybe the government should have some qualified person to inspection work done. Seem inefficient don’t you think. To be paying two separate parties to have one task properly completed.
We don’t need to depend so heavily on the government we are Jamaicans and we are the most resourceful nation in the world (except in Jamaica). Yes, we need good governance, yes political reform is important. But none of that will change the mentality of our people. The economic landscape of Jamaica can not be changed by the government; it can only be changed by…(drum roll please)…the PEOPLE. We should personally focus on OUR well being. The more we can do for ourselves, the less impact poor governance will have on us. We are almost 100% responsible for what happens to us; remember God almighty himself gave us ALL free will to determine our destiny. Our choices will determine our circumstances, if nothing is done then nothing will happen to you. Get up and stop cursing government. It’s not what the government can do for you but what you can do for yourself.
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