I was reading this article and it gave me pause.
Can this really happen in Jamaica?
Let us compare some of the commonalities between Jamaica and the countries now in turmoil.
-leadership issues
-corruption
-lack of jobs
-high illiteracy rate
-unemployed youths
-lack of education opportunities
-high poverty levels
-high crime rates
When you look at those issues it becomes a perfect storm, and death is more palatable than living under those conditions.
Some Jamaicans have this thought (and I quote) "when ppl call for "Jamaica's Egypt" i really wonder if they understand what they are asking for and what do they plan to do if it happens". That person has not reached the point in life that dying for ones country is better than living IN that country. Another said on Twitter "The change we need isn't gonna happen peacefully ; quietly IMO. Corruption etc is too ingrained for that to happen..."
Let us not white wash the truth, there will be death and destruction, but I doubt that Jamaican's are prepared to stand up and fight for their country. They will tolerate 1600+ murders per year, because it does not have a direct connection to them on a personal level, but they will not stand up and take back their country. They will complain about everything, but fail to see the big picture and stand up for their human rights. They insist that the "Government" must do what is required to run the country, but they fail to see that their rights are being eroded. They tolerate and participate in the corruption, but when their own politicians are being controlled by criminals, the trivialize the process.
Political tribalism overrides human rights in Jamaica, so don't expect any "Egypt" like demonstrations in Jamaica.
It will never happen.
Ahh Sah
Walk Good
3 comments:
u r very right. i have not reached the "point in life that dying for ones country is better than living IN that country." like u said lets not white wash the truth ... as it stands now there is very little to fight for in Jamaica and the simple reason is that as people we have not built or invested in anything worth saving.
we sit and bitch about everything around us rather than getting involved or doing the right thing ourselves. lets face it, half the people who complain about the level of taxation dont pay taxes. then you have those who dont pay taxes but destroy govt property in the process of demanding better services which should be provided by those taxes. and lets not forget all the people who chase productivity on paper but actually do nothing to get productivity in real life.
Jamaica has a very far way to go in its development and i doubt that a "jamaican egypt" is going to be effect in getting anything that the people really want. hopefully u followed the rest of the conversation and noticed where i said that a change in the mindset of our people is going to be really important to whatever process is used to propel the nation forward.
The "Jamaican" problems are many and are profoundly "Jamaican", however, I will wholeheartedly agree with your viewpoint of "a change in the mindset of our people is going to be really important to whatever process is used to propel the nation forward"
IMHO, the operative question is who, what and when (disregard the where/why) is this change going to become operative?
The next 20 yrs cannot mirror the past 20, so something has to break.
Thanks for your valuable input.
Walk Good
something has to break and honestly i have no response to 2 of the 'W's u ask about. the 'who' however is each and everyone of us. thats the simple answer. much in the same way the egyptians,tunisians, etc fought violently, we too can fight. we can start doing the right thing when no one is looking. we can encourage our loved ones to do the right thing. things will change for us when we start speaking out against the wrongs we see rather than saying that everybody does it and rather than saying that "they are all the same so we might as well do nothing".
when people start to think differently then they will act differently. when we start to act and behave differently then we will be willing to fight for what we think we deserve. otherwise i think a "revolution" will be lost on people and people would have just died for nothing.
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