Dear Editor,
While it is now seemingly in vogue for Damion Crawford to berate the poor from the political stomp at every opportunity, reinforcing stereotypes and misperceptions about the poor and pandering to middle-class biases, the line must be repudiated since it is not only condescending but, taken to its logical conclusion, seeks to absolve the political directorate of decades of maladministration and corruption.
There is no doubt the poor must bear major responsibility for their plight, but to seek to sell the line that the poor in Jamaica are poor solely on the grounds that they are indisciplined and irresponsible with broken families is elitist at best. While we welcome Crawford's candour and social commentary, his argument reveals the fatal conceit of socialists/socialism -- the poor are poor because they are unable to be otherwise without paternalism.
Of course, examples abound in the inner cities, both urban and rural, of the negatives of indiscipline, irresponsibility and broken homes, but the majority of Jamaicas have proven that, with the right opportunity, in the right environment, they will excel.
The creation of this enabling environment is the duty of the political directorate and is the wellspring from which opportunities for growth and expansion thrive. To lay the blame squarely at the feet of the poor is to absolve successive post-Independence administrations of complicity in transforming Jamaica from the pearl of the Antilles to the "Johncrow bead" of the Caribbean through economic mismanagement and corruption. To lay the blame squarely at the feet of the poor is to absolve our political elders of their roles in the creation of zones of political exclusion through housing, using State resources. To lay the blame squarely at the feet of the poor is to absolve a notoriously class-biased and underfunded education system, which clearly delineates elite and non-elite schools entry into which impact life chances. To lay the blame squarely at the feet of the poor is to ignore the cultural imperialism of the dominant power in the hemisphere, spread through cable TV and the Internet on the wings of globalisation.
So, while it sounds novel for a politician to be open and frank, it is required by reason and logic that being open and frank is balanced by impartial inquiry, not fear-mongering or class-baiting for political point-scoring. M G Smith's The Plural Society in the British West Indies and Walter Rodney's Groundings with my Brothers make quite interesting reading.
Phillip Chambers
phillipdcchambers@gmail.com
Can't lay blame at the feet of the poor, Crawford
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While it is now seemingly in vogue for Damion Crawford to berate the poor from the political stomp at every opportunity, reinforcing stereotypes and misperceptions about the poor and pandering to middle-class biases, the line must be repudiated since it is not only condescending but, taken to its logical conclusion, seeks to absolve the political directorate of decades of maladministration and corruption.
There is no doubt the poor must bear major responsibility for their plight, but to seek to sell the line that the poor in Jamaica are poor solely on the grounds that they are indisciplined and irresponsible with broken families is elitist at best. While we welcome Crawford's candour and social commentary, his argument reveals the fatal conceit of socialists/socialism -- the poor are poor because they are unable to be otherwise without paternalism.
Of course, examples abound in the inner cities, both urban and rural, of the negatives of indiscipline, irresponsibility and broken homes, but the majority of Jamaicas have proven that, with the right opportunity, in the right environment, they will excel.
The creation of this enabling environment is the duty of the political directorate and is the wellspring from which opportunities for growth and expansion thrive. To lay the blame squarely at the feet of the poor is to absolve successive post-Independence administrations of complicity in transforming Jamaica from the pearl of the Antilles to the "Johncrow bead" of the Caribbean through economic mismanagement and corruption. To lay the blame squarely at the feet of the poor is to absolve our political elders of their roles in the creation of zones of political exclusion through housing, using State resources. To lay the blame squarely at the feet of the poor is to absolve a notoriously class-biased and underfunded education system, which clearly delineates elite and non-elite schools entry into which impact life chances. To lay the blame squarely at the feet of the poor is to ignore the cultural imperialism of the dominant power in the hemisphere, spread through cable TV and the Internet on the wings of globalisation.
So, while it sounds novel for a politician to be open and frank, it is required by reason and logic that being open and frank is balanced by impartial inquiry, not fear-mongering or class-baiting for political point-scoring. M G Smith's The Plural Society in the British West Indies and Walter Rodney's Groundings with my Brothers make quite interesting reading.
Phillip Chambers
phillipdcchambers@gmail.com
Can't lay blame at the feet of the poor, Crawford
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