Delroy Chuck

"The current order is not sustainable. It is empowering the wealthy few and impoverishes the many." So argued Rev. Dr. Roderick R. Hewitt in a thoughtful letter to our political leaders, published in The Sunday Gleaner, March 18. At last, our church leaders are realising that Jamaica is rotting; rotting at its very core and disintegrating from top to bottom.

Where was Dr. Hewitt, however, when some 10 years ago, I wrote columns such as 'Enriching the rich' and 'Impoverishing the poor' and others spoke of the greatest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich since the days of slavery. In a country where there is no meaningful growth and some are getting rich and richer then others must be getting poor and poorer. Yet, it is wrong to think that if the rich are getting richer then the poor must be getting poorer.

Quality of life

An economy is not a zero sum game. If the economy is growing and developing, the quality of life can improve for both the rich and poor and the increase in wealth of the rich is not necessarily to the disadvantage of the poor. It is time people stop thinking that those who get rich do so at the expense of the poor - it is not true and serves only to promote envy and encourage malice.

Naturally, if we fail to correctly diagnose the problems it is unlikely we can find the solutions. To be sure, our social order, amenities, services and the very social life of the poor have deteriorated enormously - the state no longer cares for the weak and vulnerable, no government agency reaches out for the sick and desperate in our midst and there is very little respect for human dignity anywhere. Jamaica has become an uncaring and unkind society, caring only for the politicall and promoting the genetically connected. Bad government is the genesis of our problems. Yes, Dr. Hewitt, the current order is not sustainable, but the real problem is not big business, it is the real solution.

The church, Dr. Hewitt, must shed itself of the nonsense argument, which blames the rich for the problems of the poor and summed up in your misguided sentence: "Your parties must not become enslaved to big business whether they are local or foreign because they will exploit our democracy in their interest of expanding their profits." Jamaica needs all businesses, big and small, and needs the economic environment for every business to thrive. Big business is the lifeblood of prosperous nations. China, Ireland, the Cayman Islands, etc. are becoming dominant global players through big business. Big businesses actually spawn and support small businesses. Without Jamaican and Caribbean broilers, what would happen to the many small poultry farmers? The big hotel chains, GraceKennedy, Tastee and Juici Patties, Super Plus, etc. maintain hundreds of small farmers, drivers and related small industries.

Dim future for small businesses

In the global environment, small businesses have no future save and except to tag on to, complement and serve big businesses. Take for example the simple packaging, advertising, marketing and sale of water, can any small business compete with Wisynco, Catherine's Peak or any of the big companies? While I grew up in a small grocery shop, and still operate a small law firm, I readily concede that the way forward is through big businesses that can offer a wider variety of services, better amenities and more competitive prices.

Instead of knocking big businesses we should urge small ones to grow, expand and become even more competitive and productive. Jamaica's problems, Dr. Hewitt, could be more readily and easily solved if we attracted more big businesses, especially if we could encourage Goodyear, Colgate-Palmolive, Mead Johnson, Ricketts and Colman, Federated Pharmacies, and the many big manufacturers to reopen their factories and provide jobs for so many poor Jamaicans.