Jamaica: A Nation in Crisis

I am proud of the fact that everyday during prep school I recited the National Pledge of Jamaica:

Before God and All mankind
I pledge the love and loyalty of my heart
The wisdom and courage of my mind,
The strength and vigour of my body
in the service of my fellow citizens

I promise to stand up for justice,
Brotherhood and Peace, to work diligently and creatively,
To think generously and honestly, so that,
Jamaica may, under God, increase in beauty, fellowship
and prosperity, and play her part in advancing the welfare
of the whole human race

As a child I never really understood it, I just recited it, but as I got older, I came to believe strongly in those words.

Today we face an International crisis and my beloved country is seen as a “captured state”: captured by crime and corruption, captured by mass disillusion and captured by self-deceit.

How can Jamaica really “play her part in advancing the welfare
of the whole human race” when we cannot trust the politicians of either party?

I have heard this slogan of “better mus’ come” used in Jamaica’s past but better has not come and will not come as long as there is or appears to be a strong link between criminals and politics, politicians who do not enjoy trust or confidence and citizens who keep fooling themselves that Jamaica is not as bad as it seems.

Barack Obama, someone our current Prime Minister looks up to, said “If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists – to protect them and to promote their common welfare – all else is lost.”

It is ironic that Jamaica now finds itself clashing with the USA, Golding versus Obama.

I promised as a child to stand up for “justice, brotherhood and peace” in service of my country and I have taken that pledge seriously ever since I was 15 years old. The articles linked below indicate a country in crisis.

Golding’s About-Face

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100514/lead/lead4.html

Does Mr Golding Have The Moral Authority To Lead?

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100513/cleisure/cleisure1.html

Time to ship out, Prime Minister?

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial/Time-to-ship-out–Prime-Minister_7610799

PM: I sanctioned the Manatt initiative

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/PM-I-sanctioned-the-Manatt-initiative_7611577

Jamaicans rightfully wonder what can they do when you lose trust and confidence in BOTH political parties in a two-party system. Tribalism still exists and some people stupidly hold to this notion of “Power” or “Shower” at all levels of the society, regardless of economic means or level of education.

Some Jamaicans still defend criminality and make excuses for it.

Some Jamaicans defend politicians even when it is clear that they have not put the country first and have abrogated the trust of the public, even when they are shown to be hypocrites based on what they have said in the past.

This goes for politicians on both sides of the aisle, it has happened in both the PNP and the JLP.

Winston Churchill said “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things” and so I am criticizing the current and past crop of Jamaican politicians, as well as those Jamaicans who seek to hold back our country through their selfish actions, with the expressed hope that I play my little part in calling attention to the unhealthy state of things in Jamaica.

I end this by modifying a line from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” – “Something is rotten in the State of Jamaica”

–
David Mullings
Jamaica Diaspora Future Leaders Representative – USA