THE EDITOR, Sir:
WHAT WOULD our African forefathers say about those responsible for the Middle Passage? Or the Arawaks about the Spaniards? The Jews about the Germans, the American 'Indians' about the 'cowboys'? I am sure that they could all relate to Bob Marley's words "man to man is so unjust".
So, contrary to popular opinion, man's struggle against man did not begin with the present set of politicians. Conflict among the members of society is as old as man himself.
What is unique to each generation is the nature of the conflict between people, the battlefield on which this conflict is fought and the tools used in the struggle.
Four hundred years ago in Jamaica, Africans struggled against Europeans in a plantation economy based on forced labour. Today's battlefield is called the 'free enterprise' system; 'free' because those in the lower echelons of society are 'free' to sell their labour to whomever they choose. In this system the key tenet is that everyone must try to maximise his or her own personal well-being. Self-interest (enlightened or not) is not only accepted but is consciously stated as the driving force of our society.
So, if you are a developer, build houses to maximise profit. Don't concern yourself with the fact that you have created the embryo of a ghetto and have further entrenched the separation of classes in our society.
Why care about the local farmer or the exchange rate? If you can 'make a money' from importing foreign foodstuff you would be a fool not to do so.
NONSENSE
And don't talk nonsense about the effects on children. A lot of money can be made by importing foreign movies with plenty crime, violence, nudity and psychotic behaviour.
Money, money, money focus on making as much as you can. Somehow, there is an invisible hand that will smooth out everything and the society will be in top shape certainly better than if we all lived trying to be our brother's keeper as Christ taught.
The system is not working badly when one sees a perpetually poor education system. Why? The functioning of a free enterprise system is not jeopardised by a poor education system.
The system is not working badly when there is corruption in high or low places. People are simply trying to make as much money as possible for themselves.
The politicians are merely the Doberman pinschers of the system. They are paid to guard the system, to make sure that no one messes with the system. At least, this was their original purpose. Of course, some have got a bit carried away and they too want to make as much money as possible. Why not?
And the way the rotten eggs among the politicians maximise their well-being is by being deceitful and corrupt. So, a group of lying, corrupt politician is totally in line with the system.
Shifting Percy for Portia or Peter, or Eddie for Bruce or even all of Percy's men for all of Eddie's men, only shifts the guards. Such a shift, however, as we have seen in the recent past, will achieve, at best, different forms and levels of deceit, corruption, incompetence and efficiency, leaving the root of the problem intact.
Each generation has its challenges. Ours is clear the fundamental transformation of the 'free enterprise' system as practised in Jamaica.
I am, etc.,
ECONOMIST
Discovery Bay
greyal2@yahoo.com
