Edward Seaga, Contributor
THERE IS nothing particularly significant about the number 43. It is not a popular benchmark; not like 25 or 50. So the 43rd anniversary of Jamaica's Indepen-dence should not normally draw much commentary. Save it for the 50th.
Contrary to expectation, there has been much attention drawn to this insignificant number and for good reason.
The 43rd anniversary assumes its significance from the fact that, as a marker of progress, it mirrors the 42nd, the 41st, 40th and so on, signalling a lack of progress over the years. Of course, this view depends on what is defined as progress. Different views will produce different assessments. Judging from the comments published in this newspaper recently, this is exactly what has happened.
One view takes into account retention of a political democracy, despite much provocation which could have disrupted the system in the 1970s. Growing involvement by civil society in championing the observance of human rights is considered another noteworthy achievement. So too is the continued support for multiracialism which was enshrined in the national motto at Independence, despite underlying resentments which still linger.
These achievements are not to be downplayed as they speak to a continuity of political and social stability which must be the foundation of the society if it is to provide a platform for progress. However, retaining a platform which largely existed before Independence cannot itself be classified as a stellar achievement, unless this was done against severe odds.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF MERIT
This, in fact, happened in the 1970s when the existing social and political systems of stability were severely threatened by the introduction of a radical socialist order perceived by a great many as a threat to the existing order.
The fact that disruption and havoc became the order of the day in the radicalism that followed, only intensified the resistance to radical change and exposed the Jamaican people to a test of their tolerance for an alien ideology.
The intensity of the campaign to preserve the established order nearly precipitated a civil war. Nevertheless, it was to the credit of the nation that the campaign of rejection was finally settled by a national expression of the democratic will which demonstrated that the people were insistent on maintaining their politically stable way of life.
To this end, the entrenched survival since Independence of the democratic principles of political governance and the stability of the But as is the case in every conflict, things never remain the same thereafter. Some changes do occur. In this case, two outcomes can be associated with the historic struggle of the 1970s between the existing order and the introduction of an order of radical change.The intensity of the struggle which employed militancy as an agent of radical change, created a militant response, based on the use of violent force on a wide scale. The consequence is not surprising: What was then a violent ideological conflict has persisted to this date with the continued expression of violence, not ideology, as a threat to the society. The original conflict spawned an indisciplined, disruptive and violent sub-culture which is now entrenching its ways in the society.
The other mainstream change which evolved from this decade of radicalism was not in the same negative vein. The ideological message of social change uprooted many entrenched concepts of class, colour, race and social esteem. Following on the heels of the black power struggle on mainland U.S.A. in the 1960s, Jamaicans of colour reawakened to the original message of Marcus Garvey, later, in part, mirrored by Rastafari. They began to view themselves differently. Black was being established as a badge of honour which brought a new focus to the life of many who saw themselves as being freed from racial stigmas which ruled their lives in the past. Even if the numbers affected were not huge, those who were in the process of this social metamorphosis were effective in carrying the message forward to young people and persons striving to be socially mobile.
This growing self-esteem and social mobility initiated a changing outlook of many Jamaicans of colour from negative to positive. To the extent that this is perceived by some as a threat to the national motto, 'Out of Many, One People', it is a national achievement of the post-Independence period that this seeming threat has not been allowed to derail the stability of the multiracial concept which has proven that it can absorb the changing features of Jamaica's face, even if not wholly so, as yet.
The message of the post-Indepen-dence period of the past 43 years can acknowledge the growing emergence of a more open system of social recognition and mobility as an achievement which is reshaping the society, but at the expense of the mushrooming intensity of criminal violence, the emergence of which has already reshaped Jamaica.
DEMERITS
In counting achievements of merit, we must also recognise the failures which earn demerits. One day, history will recognise that if the message of the 70s was handled with the sensitivity of a Mandela rather than the intensity of a Castro, Jamaica today could be enjoying social transformation without criminal manifestation.
The past 43 years have been also noteworthy, not so much for achievements, but lack of critical and essential achievements.
The query is often raised as to whether in the post-Independence period, the standard of living and quality of life have declined. Obviously, the answer cuts both ways. But if we evaluate the essence of independence in terms of what essential improvements should naturally be
expected, the results are shocking.
An independent government is expected to provide and improve the quality of life in essential areas. The independent state must provide for the:
Security of the peopleTheir education, andAdequate economic opportunities to ensure improvement of their standard of living.Every other service or duty of the state is subject to these essentials.
Assessing the performance of the state, the criminal justice system has deteriorated alarmingly since Independence. So too has the observance of human rights. The abuses occurring, particularly in the past 15 years, have left a stigma of shame, cited by Amnesty International and several human rights organisations. Police brutality, extra-judicial killings, state terrorism and corruption have perverted the system of law and order, notwithstanding some achievements.
These abuses did not exist in the period immediately after Independence. They emerged in the 1970s when the state involved the security forces in the political struggle and ideological battle. The results were the Green Bay Massacre, where soldiers set up a lethal ambush and cut down politically-opposed civilians, and in the State of Emergency, admittedly introduced to harass political opponents of the Government by mass detention for as long as one year without trial.
In summary, there can be no question that in the post-Independence period the state failed to provide better security for the people or to halt the deterioration of the criminal justice system.
EDUCATION SYSTEM
The education system had begun a series of reforms just before and after Independence, to open secondary schools to primary school children, who, as children of the poor had little access to fee- paying secondary schools. The new policy was a huge success received with great enthusiasm. Seventy per cent of all secondary school places was reserved for primary school children. Entry to secondary schools was expected to provide an education to prepare them for an educated life. Forty-three years later, seventy per cent (and more) of students in secondary schools fail to obtain even one pass in one subject in the CXC school- leaving exam.
The consequence is that the primary school entrants for whom secondary schools provided places failed, more or less, to obtain their intended education. Where then is the improvement in the provision of education for that seventy per cent of underprivileged students over the past 43 years?
The Jamaican economy was the fastest growing in the developing world in the first decade after Independence. Not Singapore, nor Hong Kong, nor South Korea, today's stars of the East which have dramatically moved their economies from Third World to near First World position over the past 40 years. These countries moved forward steadily and rapidly while the movement of the Jamaican economy shifted from high speed (1960s), to reverse (1970s), to moderate speed (1980s) and almost a complete stop for the past 15 years.
The sum of all these efforts over four decades is that today the net position reveals little forward movement leaving the economy in virtually the same groove it was in the 1960s. As a consequence, from a lofty position at the top of the ladder of economic success some 40 years ago, the country is now positioned near the bottom in the Latin American region of some 40 nations.
An overall assessment of this wayward journey since Independence cannot grade the outcome as anything better than near failure.
Ignoring the facts will not help matters. It will help to maintain the web of ignorance which leaves politicians in a strong position to mislead the country as to where we are coming from and where we are going.
Those who have made this journey from there to here, and I am one of the minority who have lived it all, had to experience the disappointment of slip-shod performance.
Most people, however, have gone further. They are not only disappointed; they have experienced the agony of the pain without the benefit of the gain.
Edward Seaga is a former prime minister. He is now a Distinguished Fellow at the UWI. E-mail: veritasja@lycos.com
