Peter Espeut
I SPENT last week among Jamaicans in London. It always amazes me that small farmers from the hills of Jamaica and their children- and others left out or spit out by Jamaica's sub-standard education system - could do so well in a foreign, hostile land.
By Jamaican standards, they live good middle-class lives, many as three-car families in four-bedroom semi-detached homes or flats with spacious kitchens, living rooms and backyards.
By British standards, of course, they are working class. There is no poverty in the United Kingdom akin to the dungle or a rural barrack or tattoo.
Part of this is due to the British policy of full employment and their social safety net.
If you have no job, they will find you one. If you have no skill they will train you. And if you are not working, they will pay your living expenses.
In England, even if you are left behind by the education system, there is no excuse for idleness, illiteracy or unemployment.
It is true that many of our countrymen abuse this system, and live for years on the dole, and never seem to be able to find a job, and never complete the offered training for one reason or another, and still drive around in BMWs even with an efficient public transportation system; and even though unemployed, still manage to visit Jamdown from time to time.
And if you have a child under 16, they will support you and the child, especially if you are an unwed mother. The proclivity of Jamaicans to have multiple children with multiple partners is encouraged by Britain's welfare system, which is backed up by a network of social workers who work for the rehabilitation of dropouts.
I am surprised that the British government which once ruled an empire (on which the sun never set) has not been better able to plug the loopholes in their welfare system.
I hope that abuse of the system by Jamaicans is not going to cause it to be dismantled by the British government, to the disadvantage of many - and not just immigrant groups.
HARNESSING OUR CAPITAL
But the fact is that the same quality Jamaicans idling in the ghettoes and country squares of Jamaica have built up the economy of the U.K. (and the United States and Canada), and they have generated enough wealth over there to fund this extensive health care and welfare system which now redounds to their benefit.
Why don't we find some way of harnessing our human capital, of appreciating it, of investing it in Jamaica's advancement, rather than in the development of foreign lands?
Yes, it is true that many Jamaicans who have gone to the U.K. have prospered because of the dole, but there are very many who have worked hard for what they have.
Nurses, social workers and teachers, yes; but also basically unskilled workers on public transport and on solid waste and in the building trades and in road works. And that sort of employment is backed up with the availability of council housing and free education.
These people have done well in the U.K., despite their stories about prejudice and partiality, especially in the early days.
The links with Jamaica are there, and the remittances flow; but as the older relatives die off, the links decline; remittances will not last forever.
And now there are also strong links with family members in the U.S. and Canada. In the past, it might have been a given that they would wish to retire in Jamaica.
This feeling is decreasing because of the perception of crime in Jamaica - and also because there are other options.
Identity as Jamaicans is solid, and they had the rice and peas and chicken to prove it. But the frustration with Jamaica is patent. We have to be careful not to lose the diaspora.
Peter Espeut is a sociologist and is executive director of an environment and development NGO.
