Dear Editor,

There is a 21 per cent hike in crime in Jamaica and the only thing the minister of national security and his compatriots that make up the Government can think of doing is deploying more vehicles and equipment to the police to fight crime. When has that ever worked? We need a cultural revolution!

The men and women of lower socio-economic status, who are the ones who usually engage in violent criminal activity, are fed a steady diet of the garbage we often call music that glorifies criminality in the form of murder, mayhem, stealing, scamming, among other things. We are now reaping the seeds planted by people like Bounty Killer whose song Anytime preached the message that, anytime one is hungry and/or in need of anything, inclusive of food, it is okay to use force for it. In a culture where the lessons are “man fi have nuff gyal and gyal inna bungle” (Beenie Man), and more recent than that, Step Out by Busy Signal, a song with a chorus that encourages young men to “wuk gyal, buss gun, smoke weed, have fun” what do we expect? Young women no longer aspire to meet a responsible young man with which to start a family. Instead they look forward to “getting a scammer man from MoBay”.

The people, including children, who were fed these steady diets are the ones now creating mayhem in the society. They grew up and continue to live in a society where having children or “getting a yout” is more important than having a family; where quick and easy money is preferable to work and the inconvenience of entrepreneurship. These subliminal messages affect our psyche, shape philosophies, and influence actions. What more evidence other than the current state of affairs do we need to realise what the root cause of this violent society really is?

I find it amazing that not one of our government members has considered this a part of the cause of crime generally in this small country. Successive administrations have not called a spade a spade where the crime situation is concerned, neither have they ever had the guts to start the revolution needed for the country to heal.

A word of advice: No amount of vehicles, specialised equipment and weapons for the police can address the rise in crime in Jamaica. We need a cultural revolution! Remove the poison; then and only then will we be able to begin the healing of this nation.

C H Foote

foote.charlene@gmail.com