THERE IS so much happening in the news that sometimes it is hard to stay abreast and we all know people who have abandoned the attempt, preferring instead to retreat into ignorance.
These persons, understandably, find it too stressful to remain engaged in the to and fro of the politico-socio-economic debate, so much of which is so contentious, and prefer to deal with matters they feel they can impact positively -- their families, their businesses, their church, their health. So it has been through recorded history. Very few persons in any society get involved in the decision-making process, preferring instead (if they had a choice and obviously slaves did not) to delegate that involvement to someone or some group else, call them politicians, or lords, or senators or chiefs or counsellors depending on the time and the society which you are studying.
Universal Adult Suffrage in Jamaica theoretically changed that. Every adult person now had an opportunity to directly impact the management of their country, to have a hand in how their country was governed through their vote. As we have learnt in the last 60 years, the vote, though exceedingly powerful, is not enough. The vote operates as part of a system of governance or government, which is simply the way we, as a sovereign people, organise our affairs. Un-fortunately, it appears to Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) that, our system of government is set up on a shaky foundation, albeit unexpressed.
FOUNDATION
It seems the foundation that we have built our governance on is that of inequality or as George Orwell so masterfully put it 'some are more equal than others'. It is an unconscious assumption that we imbibe with our mother's milk and build on our history of slavery and colonialism, which if it did nothing else, entrenched the notion of 'more equal' firmly in our ruling classes.
Early in our history, to be 'more equal' generally meant one was white or near white (the nearer the better!), now 'more equal' is more complex. Today's 'more equal' has to do with place and family of birth, high school attended, how much money you have, who you break bread with, what job you have, what car you drive, what title you bear. That these gradations of more equality are still very important to us is shown by the recent decision to create a new title of 'The Most Honourable' for present and former prime ministers.
What this system of 'more equal' also does, consciously or unconsciously, is to separate us, governed and governing, ruled and ruling classes from each other, and make it alright to govern on behalf of the 'less equal', to ignore the 'less equal' when developing policy or programmes in-between elections, to make decisions that fundamentally impact the lives and futures of the 'less equal' because they voted for us, or buy our goods and services, or simply because of how much money we have. By their votes, or purchases or a happy accident of birth we are the 'more equal', 'The Most Honourable', the ruling class.
This scenario of 'some are more equal than others' plays itself out in fundamentally damaging ways throughout the society. The 'more equal' have more right to courtesy from the civil servant, the policeman, the lawyer, the clerk of the department store. The 'less equal' knowing their own worth, either suffer in dumb submission or protest in futile gesture (blocked roads or angry music) while seemingly unwilling to grasp for the prize of true equality, lurking somewhere between self esteem and governance beyond the vote.
Hopefully things are changing, for it seems that perhaps once more we are beginning to have the discussion about governance and government beyond the vote, which we have had only fitfully over the many years of our independence. We now have an Access to Information law, which while imperfect, fundamentally changes the relationship between the 'more equal' and 'less equal', at least as it relates to the information generated on all our behalves by the processes of Government.
REQUEST IS FREE
At long last we have codified the right of every citizen to demand an accounting of Government decision-making, implementation and expenditure processes. The Access to Information Act 2002 makes it clear that anyone, whether 'more equal' or 'less equal', can call or write and request information from Government. The request is free, the only charge will be if you would like to get a copy of the information. If your request for information is denied there are ways to challenge the denial, through the recently appointed Appeals Tribunal chaired by Mrs. D. Pyne-McLarty, or through the courts.
All are equally equal in the access to government information. The job now of the citizens is to ensure that this really is so, to insist that Miss Mavis from Gimme-Me- Bit gets her request for information answered as quickly and fairly as Dr. the honourable minister of whatever. It is only we who can ensure that we are all equally equal and we do that by our vigilance and insistence, and by recognising that those of us who can bear the to and fro of the politico-socio-economic debate must remain engaged in demanding this equality of equality.
You may e-mail us at ja.for.justice@mail.infochan.com or visit our website www.jamaicansforjustice.org.
