Thoughts on Jamaica's Election

I now live in Canada and I have learned a few things that do not happen in Jamaica and other countries. Jamaica is noted in The Guinness Book of Records for being the country with the most churches per sq mile. Jamaica is a very religious country but none of the countries that 'work', do so because of religion. Countries that 'work' do so because:

  • their criminal justice systems serve the poor the same way they serve the rich.
  • healthcare is considered a right for all.
  • they invest in the kind of education that gives even the children of poor people more of a shot at social mobility as children of the rich. In Jamaica, only exceptionally talented poor people have a shot at social mobility.
  • the elderly are taken care of.
  • they accommodate  and protect the disabled.
  • the corrupt are called to account and most of the time face legal and career consequences.
  • their politics are more institution based than they are individual driven.
  • they find ways to provide early childhood education and care - releasing young mothers back into the workforce to continue making their contribution to society while they're still in their prime.

This is not too much for the people of Jamaica to ask for. It is what we all deserve. With proper planning, we can even afford it but the bulk of the tax payer's coins are lost because of corruption and cracks in the system that are left unfixed because they benefit a few. But this is not news, is it? We know it, we live with it, and we hold prayer rallies about it. And sometimes those politicians show up, especially when there's an upcoming election and they need the votes, and boy, are we a forgiving bunch. We give them another shot to loot some more, kill some more, enrich themselves some more.....but this is us. We love our misery. It seems to define us. We're used to it, and we might not even know who we are as a nation if things actually worked. So we recycle our trash. And boy, do they run game on us. Those like me who don't like it, flee....

Marcus Garvey was an advocate for self-reliance. Jamaica now depends almost totally on tourism and remittances from the United States and Canada. Covid 19 has caused tourism to crash so everything is crashing in Jamaica. The Honourable Marcus Mosiah Garvey said: 'Any leadership that teaches you to depend upon another (race) is a leadership that will enslave you.’ The Honourable Marcus Mosiah Garvey also said we are '..cowards, imbeciles and good for nothings'. Are we?

Time to change the way we govern ourselves.

Raymond D. Grant

Research Director, EXILED

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