Delroy Chuck
"LOGIC WILL take you from A to B," declared the great scientist Albert Einstein, "but imagination will take you everywhere." Einstein also said: "Imagination is more important than knowledge." Well, Einstein, arguably the greatest scientist who ever lived, conquered new frontiers by seeing further and better than others before him had. Einstein's discovery of the theories of Special and General Relativity changed the way we think about time, matter, energy, and gravitational forces, and made the scientific world a better place.
In every possible way, we too can learn from the great thinkers of all ages that if we are to conquer new frontiers, improve our way of life, move from stagnation to progress, and lift Jamaica from its present state of chaos, corruption and criminality, we have to think, plan and do things differently than we previously did. The countries that have moved forward over the past 50 or so years have largely shifted their thinking from catering locally to catering for the world. Japan, Singapore, China, India, Ireland, etc. looked beyond their borders, opened up their economies and produced to satisfy the world's marketplace. Countries still fully mired in the provisions of agricultural produce have fallen behind while those that have shifted their production to manufacturing and information technology have moved forward.
Jamaica is caught in a time warp and a debilitating mindset. While the rest of the world marches on, moving to greater heights of achievements and accomplishments, and affording their people the opportunities to live well, we are simply marking time. We spend more time, energy and public relations effort to convince the uninitiated and unthinking how well we are doing, that we are making progress and on the right track instead of using our imagination to chart new frontiers and better alternatives and possibilities. Consider the sugar industry. It is dead. Whether we declare its interment now or in 10 years time, it is terminally ill or brain-dead. For the past 10 or 15 years, we knew we had to make a serious decision about the industry, yet we delayed it, wasted billions and instead conducted studies after studies to tell us how best to make the decision to bury it and, now, we are engaged in studying the studies before making the decision to bury it.
JAMAICA HAS NOT DONE WELL
With its enormous potential, Jamaica has not done well. Instead of using our imagination to find new frontiers, we have dissipated our energies in the fight for the political kingdom. On the international stage, we have sought to change the way the world views us when we should change the way we view the world. We have bauxite, wonderful agricultural lands, beautiful beaches and immensely scenic geographical attractions, which could have enriched our island paradise. Yet, like so many other countries that have been blessed and endowed with natural resources, we believe they are the sources of riches and economic empowerment, which should simply be presented to the world, when the lion's share of the profits comes from the added value gained through knowledge and an understanding of what the market wants. In the early seventies, the socialist machinery at the University of the West Indies lamented how England took sugar from the West Indies and cocoa from Ghana to make chocolate and sold it at an enormous profit. England had the knowledge to make chocolate and knew the colonials loved it.
SOCIALIST THINKING
Sadly, socialist thinking is still embedded in our leaders. On the international stage, they trumpet the concept of the equitable sharing of earth's natural resources and demand a fair share of the world's wealth, which will never come from talk, and mere talk. In fact, our government is so overjoyed and overwhelmed when it gets a little handout from the oil-rich Venezuela, grants from the European Union, or assistance from any fairy godfather. What mendicancy? Until we give up the dependence and idea that grants, loans, remittances and aid are the means of our survival and sustenance, we are doomed.
If we are to really move forward, we have to see our salvation on the economic frontiers of the world's marketplace. This will only happen if we surrender self-interest and prepare to yield the political kingdom to a greater good, especially if, and perhaps only if that greater good is likely to bring a better life to our people - but, who amongst the politicians are prepared to take that risk?
Delroy Chuck is an attorney-at-law and Opposition Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by email at delchuck@hotmail.com.
