Dear Dr Abel,
That was a very reflective article about poverty and Jamaica in The Gleaner of Wednesday, July 29. However, may I suggest that there is one thing missing in this otherwise good analysis, and that is the little issue of work. The simple fact is this: we Jamaicans don't work hard enough. This fact, coupled with another called, 'freeness mentality', explains why poverty persists in Jamaica.
Let me quickly explain my meaning. Some years ago, when I taught college in Malvern, St Elizabeth, the then prime minister unilaterally gave Jamaicans a holiday because the Reggae Boyz (Jamaica's national football team) had qualified for the World Cup in 1998. That day, nobody showed up at school - except me. I said to myself, 'Jamaicans need to work more, not less'. I told this to my colleagues and they thought that I was a mad man. Well, that's how we Jamaicans who return from England are viewed anyway!
Coupled with this work-shy attitude, is the 'freeness mentality' syndrome. I think most Jamaicans would agree with me about this - what with the schoolboy going around begging $500, or the country running cap in hand to the IMF to bail us out because of our spendthrift behaviour. It's not surprising that poverty abounds in Jamaica.
So, along with your implied prescriptions for getting Jamaicans out of poverty, I must add that Jamaicans need to work better and harder, and spare a thought for those who try to work, by not making work a punishment for them.
- George Garwood
Dear Dr Abel,
Why are you still struggling economically? I really think people in Jamaica need to stop blaming the system - Babylon, bureaucracy, plantocracy, whitey, etc. It is time to stop pointing the finger and playing the victim. Take responsibility and move on.
A good start would be to encourage the people to respect justice and the rule of law. No one with good sense is going to invest money in a country where currently about a million people are squatting on property and innocent people get shot at and maimed with machetes. Property rights need to be protected and the rule of law actively enforced so investors feel confident.
Establish a non-profit entity that loves Jamaica and wants prosperity. This organisation could start by publicly exposing and shaming politicians (on television, radio and newspapers) who actively support the interests of criminals, dons, squatters, etc. These politicians are not looking out for Jamaica's best interest; they are looking out for their own, and by so doing, they are wreaking unbelievable harm on the country and the people.
If Jamaica doesn't move swiftly (and I think this can only be achieved through the vigorous use of public relations on television) then I believe it is on the road to becoming the next Haiti. Soon you will be eating mud cakes.
Yours sincerely,
— An anonymous observer from Cayman
Dear Dr Abel,
I agree with your points in your Gleaner article of Wednesday, July 29, 2009.
I suspect that many of us born post-Independence who graduated from university prior to 1990 may also agree with you. That set of my friends and colleagues are among the more successful young Jamaicans still at home —
lawyers, doctors, businessmen and women, radio personalities — just check my Facebook friends and you will see all of them.
We know where we have been, we don't like where we are heading. Individually, we lack the power to make permanent change, collectively we can move mountains. But with our feudal past, we tend to not be able to work together.
I returned to Jamaica in 2005, after 12 years abroad, eager to do something. I had some success as a PTA president at Mona Prep School and inspired a few people in Mandeville, but failed economically and will be returning to Florida soon.
The ease of doing business in the US made me think I could have the same success here with any business; rude awakening and three business failures later, I am off. Ireland and Singapore both used strategies we floated in the '60s. See Alan Lewis re: federation and also my father's book, Jamaica Betrayed.
Until we have leaders who embrace the idea that Jamaica should be developed for the benefit of its citizens and can be the rich country like the countries it has enriched, we will go nowhere and just float above poverty.
- Terence Lindo
Chess Coach
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