Dear Editor,
I know that I am not introducing anything new to the national debate when I say that as a people we are just a nation of talkers, and to me the greatest offenders in this regard are our politicians.
Whether as Government or Opposition, they talk, they promise, and they oppose — often just for the sake of opposing. Of course, in many instances, they achieve their main objective, which is to get a headline in news reports. Soon, without any follow-up action, whatever they were talking about fades into oblivion until there is something new for them to talk about and make headlines again.
But what about the doing aspect? How many of our politicians are really prepared to actually do something about the ills that face us as a nation? And they are many: Crime, corruption, indiscipline, in general and particularly on the roads, are just a few.
While most of our politicians are happy to talk about these, how many of them are genuinely prepared to openly instigate and insist on action to bring about change, especially if they think they run the risk of losing the next election?
I look to the incomparable Nelson Mandela for my point of reference. While Mr Mandela was prepared to die for his cause, I do not believe that in his early life, and even in the early days of his imprisonment on Robben Island, he ever harboured any thoughts of being president of South Africa.
However, I do believe that his mindset was that even if things did not change to the extent he desired in his lifetime, he was prepared to agitate to the end so that it would probably change for his children or his grandchildren. South Africa is not perfect by any means, but just look at the change that has been achieved because one man decided that it was not about him, but about the betterment of his country.
But for Jamaican politicians it’s always about personal popularity and instant gratification. How many of them are willing to give the police all the information they may have on known criminals who support their party? How many of them are prepared to blow the whistle on corruption and clean up their respective agencies at the risk of their political careers and in the interest of a better Jamaica? How many of them are prepared to lead the way to ‘The Promised Land’ – even if they are not the ones who will govern — in the interest of rescuing Jamaica?
I will admit that some years ago, I thought I saw a glimmer of hope when the Jamaica Labour Party’s Bruce Golding broke away and formed the National Democratic Movement (NDM). But as it turned out, it was a fleeting hope because Mr Golding wanted to be prime minister, and staying with the NDM would have taken too long — maybe not in his lifetime.
But who knows, Mr Golding and his cohorts in the NDM could have begun the movement away from the rabid partisan politics which now exists, and the Promised Land could have been achieved in his grandchildren’s lifetime.
But we will never know and we may never get that chance again.
Stephen Harrison
St Mary
I know that I am not introducing anything new to the national debate when I say that as a people we are just a nation of talkers, and to me the greatest offenders in this regard are our politicians.
Whether as Government or Opposition, they talk, they promise, and they oppose — often just for the sake of opposing. Of course, in many instances, they achieve their main objective, which is to get a headline in news reports. Soon, without any follow-up action, whatever they were talking about fades into oblivion until there is something new for them to talk about and make headlines again.
But what about the doing aspect? How many of our politicians are really prepared to actually do something about the ills that face us as a nation? And they are many: Crime, corruption, indiscipline, in general and particularly on the roads, are just a few.
While most of our politicians are happy to talk about these, how many of them are genuinely prepared to openly instigate and insist on action to bring about change, especially if they think they run the risk of losing the next election?
I look to the incomparable Nelson Mandela for my point of reference. While Mr Mandela was prepared to die for his cause, I do not believe that in his early life, and even in the early days of his imprisonment on Robben Island, he ever harboured any thoughts of being president of South Africa.
However, I do believe that his mindset was that even if things did not change to the extent he desired in his lifetime, he was prepared to agitate to the end so that it would probably change for his children or his grandchildren. South Africa is not perfect by any means, but just look at the change that has been achieved because one man decided that it was not about him, but about the betterment of his country.
But for Jamaican politicians it’s always about personal popularity and instant gratification. How many of them are willing to give the police all the information they may have on known criminals who support their party? How many of them are prepared to blow the whistle on corruption and clean up their respective agencies at the risk of their political careers and in the interest of a better Jamaica? How many of them are prepared to lead the way to ‘The Promised Land’ – even if they are not the ones who will govern — in the interest of rescuing Jamaica?
I will admit that some years ago, I thought I saw a glimmer of hope when the Jamaica Labour Party’s Bruce Golding broke away and formed the National Democratic Movement (NDM). But as it turned out, it was a fleeting hope because Mr Golding wanted to be prime minister, and staying with the NDM would have taken too long — maybe not in his lifetime.
But who knows, Mr Golding and his cohorts in the NDM could have begun the movement away from the rabid partisan politics which now exists, and the Promised Land could have been achieved in his grandchildren’s lifetime.
But we will never know and we may never get that chance again.
Stephen Harrison
St Mary