The Editor, Sir:

For too long, we have had a politics of blame and fear, while Jamaica is eager for a politics of solutions and hope. It is time to find common ground by moving to higher ground.

Because we have lost a commitment to the common good, politics is failing to solve the deepest crises of our time. Real solutions will require our best thinking and dialogue, but also call us to transformation and renewal.

Most Jamaicans know that the important issues we confront have an essential moral character. It is the role of faith communities to remind us of that fact. But religion has no monopoly on morality. We need a new, morally centred discourse on politics that welcomes each of us to the table.

A government that works for the common good is central. There is a growing desire for integrity in our government across the political spectrum. Corruption in government violates our basic principles. Money and power distort our political decision-making and even our elections. We must restore trust in our government and reclaim the integrity of our democratic system.

At this moment in history, we need new directions.

Religious, moral question

Who is left out and left behind is always a religious and moral question. In the Hebrew scriptures, the health of a society was measured by how it cared for its weakest and most vulnerable, and prosperity was to be shared by all. Jesus proclaimed a gospel that was "good news to the poor".

I am a Christian, and a commitment to "the least of these" is central to my personal faith and compels my public actions. It is time to lift up practical policies and effective practices for low-income families and challenge the increasing wealth gap between rich and poor. We must find a new moral and political will to overcome poverty that combines personal and social responsibility with a commitment to support strong families.

Answering the call to lift people out of poverty will require spiritual commitment and bipartisan political leadership from both parties about creating a real anti-poverty agenda in Parliament. We need a grand alliance between the PNP, the JLP, and the PSOJ to produce new and effective strategies.

Serious solutions

A culture that promotes healthy families is necessary to raise our children with strong values, and the breakdown of family and community in our society must be addressed. But, we need serious solutions; we need a new politics inspired by our deepest held values. We must summon the best in the Jamaican people, and unite to solve some of the moral issues of our time. Jamaicans are less concerned about who is Labourite or Socialist. Rather, we care about what is right and what works.

The path of partisan division is well worn, but the road of compassionate priorities and social justice will lead us to a new Jamaica. Building that new Jamaica will require greater moral leadership from both political parties, and also from each of us.

I am, etc.,

TREVOR L. SMITH

trevor10705@aol.com

1205 Everwood Dr

Marietta, GA

Via Go-Jamaica