Geof BrownTHIS COLUMN is breaking with its own tradition. It cannot worthily name or support a man or woman of the year. The year 2000 has been, indeed, a non-heroic year for Jamaica. In politics, the economy, in sports, in public affairs to name some major areas this year has been a dud. It is far easier to think of many things we cannot be proud of, than those we could conceivably celebrate.
Take politics. We achieve the unenviable if perhaps the inevitable record of a 60-odd per cent public apathy towards political involvement.
The three political parties reaped, if not earned, the verdict: "a plague on all their houses". No heroics there. No redeeming stand-out to turn the tide. PNP and JLP barely hung onto their hard-core support; NDM was unable to profit from the deficits of the two.
The economy, if it did not get much worse, did not get much better either. We did not sink as some pundits confidently predicted. But it seemed survival was by the 'skin of the teeth' and only because some fancy foot-work by the beleaguered Minister of Finance lately saved us from disaster but only at the expense of our burgeoning debt burden. But the numerous factory closings, downsizings and redundancies deflected any lustre from the relative macro-economic stability.
Oft-teetering
The oft-teetering dollar held ground and survived onslaughts but without the clear certainty which bolsters confidence.
The domino-like tumbling down of financial institutions finally came to an end it seems, marked by the rescue of the life insurance giant, Life of Jamaica, courtesy of FINSAC. But although LoJ can breathe freely again, FINSAC itself faces almost as many questions as it has provided answers. Not least of the questions, is how much its paper money is really worth, as the uncertain unloading of its assets threatens the certainty of its promissory notes.
But at least, even in the worst of times, we could take comfort, if not glory, in the achievements of our latter-day heroes and heroines the greats in sports. This year, hardly had we breathed a sigh of relief at the clearing of Merlene Ottey from drug-dosing guilt, than many of our Olympic representatives disgraced us in Sydney, Australia. We were shamed in front of the whole wide world by a glaring display of uncouth and irresponsible behaviour.
Any hope we had that there would be redemption on the world sports scene by our West Indies cricket team, (captained by our esteemed Jamaican Jimmy Adams and starring our revered Jamaican Courtney Walsh) went crashing into the dusts of defeat in Australia. It seemed in the inimitable words of a Jamaican expression: "Anywhere we turn, macca juk we."
Back at home, the infamous Montego Bay Street People Affair should have been laid to rest with the conclusion of the Commission of Inquiry. Instead, the findings provoked virtually as great an outcry as the shameful event itself. No heroics here. And in similar vein the public outcry at the beatings and mutilations of prisoners by those in charge of them at our leading penitentiary raised questions of management control and probity, still not fully answered.
Probity questions also plagued the matter of resolution of the so-called Fat Salaries Scandal.
Prompt response has failed to produce prompt resolution. No heroics here. But if that was not enough to engage continuing public debate, the matter of establishing a Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to replace the British Privy Council as our final appellate court, certainly did.
And here we have seen the strange phenomenon of passionate, strident anti-CCJ voices united on behalf of the rights of a populace, most of whom don't care two damns about the issue.
Scared
and jittery
What most people do care about, is the over-riding reality of a crippling rate of crime and violence. It is not just that our tourism plank of economic salvation is badly damaged by the image or that foreign investors also may stay away.
It is not just that our people are scared and jittery.
It is that the quiet but flooding out-migration of our fleeing residents is stealthily draining our most potent wealth our human resources.
The long-term effects of the drain are yet to be demonstrated and moreso, yet to be calculated.
And as epitaph to this non-heroic year, in one fell blow we lost two of our heroic greats in Politics and Education and Culture Sir Florizel Glasspole and Sir Philip Sherlock. Those heroes died; no heroes arose.
For all that, heroism is not only about great leaders in various fields. There are indeed, nascent beginnings at the grass-roots which hold out hope of heroic doings which may yet stir our people.
The annual St. Elizabeth Home-coming has set a sterling example of citizen action for upliftment and restoration of local pride. Portland, St. Ann and St. Thomas are following suit in their own way. The Build Jamaica Foundation seeking to engage Jamaicans at home and abroad in national development and the recent Women for Transformation seeking to engage Jamaicans in rebuilding at home, are examples of budding heroics. Let's support them and others like them.
Geof Brown is an HRD consultant who lectures part-time at the UWI, Mona.
