Hilary Robertson-Hickling
I HAPPENED to be in the U.S.A. when Oaklahoma City was bombed and was amazed at how easily many Americans blamed unknown Muslims. Subsequently it became clear that Timothy McVeigh representing the enemy from within was at fault. We here in Jamaica are just admitting to ourselves that our own enemies from within are hell-bent on destroying this country which has so much potential.
In a week which saw a woman killed on a church compound after prayer on International Women's Day, a community and family devastated in St Thomas by six senseless murders, and the loss of a teenaged boy we realise that we have to deal with our own enemy within. Within individuals, families, communities and the nation at home and abroad we have to deal with the enemy. The enemy is not only the gunman, rapist, or extortionist, but also the corrupt government official and the big businessman or politician who finances the guns and the paraphernalia which goes with it. The enemy is also the lack of courage and confidence which causes people who know the right thing not to do it.
This enemy is the frustration, avarice, greed, bad-mind, grudgefulness and desire for revenge that stalk so many of us. Some of this is born of a feeling of inferiority which makes us vulnerable to feel disrespect so easily that we might kill someone for stepping on our toes. It leaves us with the perception that someone feels better than us because of a superior education, place of residence or some other thing. It leaves us determined to keep someone else down because we feel that we have suffered at our own boss's hand in the past.
The enemy is the company that takes the statutory deductions and never forwards the same to the government coffers. The bankruptcy of ideas for the solution of the problems and the prevailing catastrophic thinking that Dr Wendel Abel the psychiatrist warns of are also within.
DISCOVER THE FRIEND WITHIN
How do we deal with this enemy? Perhaps we have to discover the friend within and remind ourselves of the goodness and decency that we have and can display. This will rule out the kind of vigilante justice which seems to be becoming more common everyday. It is a well known fact that mobs cannot think, and I fear that the growing sense of ambivalence about the value of education will lead us astray. No country can compete in the new knowledge economy without a highly educated citizenry. We cannot compete against India and China in terms of quantity but we have to do so on the basis of the quality of our citizens.
There are some who encourage the kind of underdevelopment which is overwhelming us but they are being disingenuous. For those in doubt about the kind of people who will succeed in this 21st century it would be useful to look at the new rules which govern migration to the United Kingdom. We have to face the situation squarely, we have to catch the criminal whether they be violent, white collar or economic and punish them. Those who can be rehabilitated must be, but there are some who cannot be and they must be adequately dealt with. Some of us seem to be awaiting a solution from outside, but it will not come as they are happy to see us destroying ourselves. That is what they expected anyway. We have to recognise the enemy within and deal with them with all the strategies necessary. This is not a time to focus on personalities, but on problem solving and processes for achieving victory. Our new Prime Minister must provide an unprecedented quality of leadership for Jamaica and the citizens must help.
Hilary Robertson-Hickling is a lecturer in the Department of Social Studies UWI, Mona.
