THE EDITOR, Sir:
IT IS very popular to hear many Jamaicans saying that our nation has been in trouble for the last 10, 20 or 30 years. I would take issue with such individuals because in my view, this nation has been in trouble from its birth and before.
In most cultures, the ownership of land is one critical index of wealth. The ownership of land and house imparts a certain level of stability and confidence to an individual.
This nation of Jamaica has enshrined in its history certain obvious inequalities i.e. the non-bequest of land to the majority of its people. This in stark contrast to the minority of the populace being granted generous tracts of land by the monarch. Conversely, the majority of people were held in servile condition to provide a large pool of cheap labour to facilitate the enrichment of the minority this has not changed over the years. Adjusted? Yes!
No serious effort was made to correct this injustice neither at the time of the abolition of slavery, nor at the time of Independence.
This instability, this struggle against oppression and injustice is very much a part of our reality today! People are recognising that no amount of hard work will necessarily change their 'hand-to-mouth' existence. Each time they learn the rules and seek to compete, the rules are changed and they are back to 'square one,' The devaluation of the currency, the hiking of prices and the holding of wages are having a devastating effect on the morale and psyche of the people. Some turn to drugs, others to crime, some continue to allow themselves to be used by 'Mr. Big' to fuel his voracious and nonsensical appetite for material gain, still others look to religion, the so-called 'opiate of the people.' Generations of poor have worked hard to build the nation, but have very little to show for it.
Giving a lot of land here and providing a few affordable houses there are palliatives in light of the magnitude and urgency of the problem. There needs to be a paradigm shift! Bold and revolutionary action is needed from the leadership of the land to bring the poor into the 'safety net.'
I am, etc.,
CLEVELAND R. ALLEN
HR DIRECTOR
Northern Caribbean University
