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Editorials
A plea for a higher example
Monday, October 26, 2009
A major failing of human beings is the tendency to view events in a narrow, parochial fashion without taking into consideration the interrelatedness to the wider social environment.
So, for many, the latest report published in the Sunday Observer of the delinquent and inappropriate behaviour of high school students and bus crews on the public transportation system is a reflection of how "nowadays pickney bad".
In truth though, such behaviour tells the story of a society in which disorder is chronic.
If we are to be honest with ourselves, we would recognise that good order has never been a strong feature of Jamaican life - at least so far as the historical records allow us to know.
Some cynics may argue that there was order during hundreds of years of slavery and colonial domination. No such thing. Slavery and colonialism by their very nature triggered vicious cycles of rebellion and terrible retribution and ultimately facilitated anger, resentment and a propensity to disorder as a systemised, almost cultic response from a large segment of the population.
Over time, in the aftermath of colonialism and the onset of destructively tribalised and inefficient governance, the Jamaican society has in fact developed a progressively higher tolerance level for delinquency, disorder, and downright criminality.
So, for example, illegal 'road block' demonstrations, which bring entire communities and sections of the country to a halt, are often viewed with sympathy because of a variety of reasons such as "di road dem bad", "di people dem no ha' no water" or "di Government too wicked". And among the elite of the business and professional classes, tax evasion is seen as an understandable, even laudable exercise.
Jamaicans shouldn't fool themselves. The nation's astronomically high murder rate and the powerful influence of criminal gangs and dons in its most vulnerable communities are directly linked to the ambivalence with which much of the population views law and order.
Law and order won't prevail until the nation unites around the recognition of its absolute necessity at every level of society.
For this to happen there has to be strong, moral leadership and example from the political directorate.
Unfortunately, the perception long held by many Jamaicans that regardless of their words, our politicians are at best dishonest and are incapable of moral leadership or high example has only strengthened in recent times.
The long-standing dithering by the political parties in coming to a consensus on the way forward in fighting crime; the handling of the request by US authorities for Tivoli 'strongman' Mr Christopher 'Dudus' Coke to be extradited; the continued presence in Parliament of Messrs Kern Spencer and Joseph Hibbert, among other issues have bolstered public cynicism.
The clock is ticking.
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