THE EDITOR, Sir:
WE HEARD of a wake-up call right after the so-called gas price demonstrations, and now we hear of it again after the recent by-elections. I would have thought that we were having too many wake-up calls, and that we were in for a rude awakening.
We have all passively conspired with the several administrations over the years, to create the present situation. As far as crime is concerned, we hypocritically give the police 'basket to carry water', then we use them as 'scape-goats' while we continue to operate in a manner that fosters the growth and development of crime.
Currently, we are all upset about the killing of seven young men recently, and it is very sad, because any, or all of them could have been as great as Courtney Walsh or Bob Marley, or just be decent law-abiding citizens.
What is even more sad, is the fact that, whether we like it or not, many more are going to die. Either being killed, or doing the killing of each other. The die is already cast.
The question that now arises is, what are we as a society, going to do to prevent future generations from becoming victims? Are we going to deal with it by introducing more repressive laws and building more prisons, and when the police fail and the justice system cannot cope, we then blame them for it, or simply absolve ourselves, on the basis that the problem is not unique to Jamaica. We cannot continue to do the same things and expect a different result, and when it back-fires, we talk about 'wake-up call'.
Wake-up call would suggest that sleep is preventing us from facing reality. We had better wake up and smell the coffee, otherwise, we are going to smell the roses, in the wreaths.
I am, etc.,
VICTOR E. NUGENT
P.O. Box 206
St. Ann's Bay
