Dear Editor,

Call me pessimistic, but nothing will change because society as a whole is not saying the things that we need to say to the people who need to hear it.

Things which need to be said:

1. Speak up middle-class: Historically the driving force behind social change has been the middle-class, and the middle-class has been woefully silent in the ways that matter. Having a prayer vigil, raising awareness and other things of this nature are passive and as a friend of mind once said, these things have never, in the history of “gunmaness” and “gunmandom”, made a gunman decide to stop robbing and murdering. Despite thousands of prayers, dozens of marches, and numerous calls for peace, the crime rate constantly increases. Beautiful symbols are useless without further action.

2. Jamaicans, take responsibility for your own actions: We can all agree that the Government should seek to create jobs and to raise the standard of living of its citizens. However, no government in the world has been able to achieve perfection, which means that there is going to be a certain percentage of the population that lives in poverty.

But living in poverty is no excuse for making a bad situation worse. If you know that you cannot afford to have many children, then don’t have them! It’s socially and morally wrong to bring a child into this world only to have that child suffer because you as the parent cannot provide enough for that child to give it a real chance to succeed. What happens to children who grow up deprived and hardened with no prospects? They turn to crime. Condoms are free and the pill greatly subsidised at all health clinics, and I’m sure most people know this, so there is really no excuse.

3. Take responsibility for your spending choices: Am I the only one who is tired of hearing people lament about how little money they have, how few opportunities are out there, perhaps that the Government needs to do more, or that the rich people don’t care about them, and then pull out a BlackBerry or spend thousands at the hairdresser every two weeks? Mmmm!

4. When someone you love has done wrong, do not protect them, make it clear that wrongdoers will not be coddled: How can we expect to move forward as a nation when we protect criminals just because they are dear to us? Are we to believe that “him was a good, good bwoy, him neva do nuttin fi mek dem kill him” when we hear that about every single alleged gunman who is shot by the police? It might not be easy to turn in a loved one, but if you save their life in the long run, is it not worth it? The guiding principle should be learnt by those persons who expect Jamaicans to accept Mr Golding’s apology and call it a day. That would never suffice in any first-world country, so it’s no surprise that we’re not a first-world country with that mentality.

Contrary to the conclusions that some readers have jumped to at this point, I am not an over-privileged commentator who doesn’t understand the struggles facing many Jamaicans. I am simply a man blessed with hardworking parents who sacrificed much and followed the same values and ideals which I now follow and espouse.

Anton Brown

Spanish Town, Jamaica.

brownanton41@yahoo.com