Is Who Mash Up Jamaica? ... IT WASN'T ME!!

It is clear that EmanciPendence is not a time for celebration, it is not a time to celebrate great milestones in history and bask in our greatness but a time for expressing great shame and throw blame.

Not too long ago I posted a response on the Gleaner Facebook site declaring that every single Jamaican regardless of Geographic location, regardless of age and gender was responsible for the Social and Economic problems, condition and state of Jamaica.

As a result of posting this I was bombarded with several responses from people declaring that they had nothing to do with what was and is happening in Jamaica. They had nothing to do with the condition of the country and the state of our society and economy. These people were not only declaring their innocence but started identifying individuals and entities who they consider was the real guilty culprits, the people who should be taken round back, placed against the wall and shot dead.

One person declared it was the Ruling class, another said the blame rest with the Political Class, while JLP supporters declared that the blame rest with the PNP and Michael Manley and PNP supporters place the blame on JLP and their leaders. Others blame the United States Imperialism and destabilization and a lot blamed English Slavery and Colonialism.  

It seems Jamaica is mashed up, the country gone to the dogs but the Jamaican people were not the ones who mashed it up, they were the innocent party, the poor victims, lambs of society, so their conscience is clear and they could sleep well at night.

I can only describe these people as simple minded and delusional, people who cannot see the forest for the trees and I make no apology for saying that. They suffer from tunnel vision and go through life with blinkers on while also suffering from a common trait that is prevalent in Jamaica, that of playing the blame game because it makes them sleep better at night. Their perception filter set to max!

If you are a Jamaican by birth then you were born with the responsibility to build this Nation State. Each and every Jamaican was born with this responsibility regardless of which Geographic location you now call home. What happened to this country and what is happening to this country, is being done with the blessing of each and every Jamaican. Jamaica is the way it is, simply because that is the way we want it to be, either directly or indirectly. What is happening now is by design and accepted because we The Jamaican People reserve the right to pass the blame on to someone else, anyone else when everything goes pear shaped and the shit hit the fan.

Let me say this again, the day you were born in Jamaica, West Indies, an island in the Caribbean sea, located at Coordinates 18.1824° N, 77.3218°, was the day you were shackled with the Patriotic, Nationalistic and Civic duty to develop this country, to build a nation state and to make sure it reaches its full potentials while preventing it from going in the wrong direction. It is our responsibility as Jamaicans, no one else and If not us, …then who?

The Political Class by themselves did not create the conditions we see before us today, they had loads of help from the Jamaican people who are willing participants in the creation of this destructive cycle. As a matter of fact the political class are simply just Jamaicans, no different than you and me, they came out of this same common Jamaican stock and I have been to school with a couple of them. So I am sure they are not from Mars or some other planet, they were not appointed to rule us, we elected them. They did not force people to take up the guns and murder their fellow Jamaicans, people willingly did that because of greed and selfishness and every Jamaican stood by and watch that happen. Some looked the other way, some grab a flight to foreign, others took part, but almost everyone picked a side and draw up battle lines, in our own self interest.

Every Jamaican had a hand in building the Political garrison because if the concept of a murdering political garrison offended us, if the Political garrison was an affront to who we are as a people then we would have taken to the streets in unity to stand against the negative elements of our society and dismantle the garrisons. It was greed and selfishness why we destroyed our various industries by favoring imports and it was greed and selfishness why we decided to borrow to finance these imports. Every Jamaican played their part in running up the National debt, the fact is our actions and lack of actions created Jamaica today, stewed to perfection.

• Nation building is NOT the sole responsibility of the Ruling Class
• Nation building is NOT the sole responsibility of the political class
• Nation building is NOT the sole responsibility of the Educated Class
• Nation building is NOT sole responsibility of the of the lower class
• Nation building is NOT sole responsibility of any one sector of our society

Nation Building is the responsibility of "Every Single Jamaican, every jack man and woman born on this rock". 

It should be all hands on-board but as a people we lack Political, Economic and Social activism, we have not engaged the process like how we should, as a matter of fact we have not engaged the process at all, too busy having fun, enjoying nightly merriment, satisfied with only paying lip service to our problems. We have no unified Progressive movement, no movement that rises above petty selfishness and political tribalism. We have done nothing as one people except perhaps cheer on Tessanne Chin and Usain Bolt, we lack unity and one cannot blame anyone else but ourselves. No one else is going to build this Nation State but us Jamaicans, this is our responsibility, it is ours to build up or ours to destroy and we the Jamaican people are doing a wonderful Job of trying to run this country into the ground. Trying to destroy it while declaring it is not me but him and boasting that we are migrating to foreign.

So when I say we are all responsible this is what I mean and I know a lot of people will still not get it because they are not civic minded enough but collectively us Jamaicans are responsible for the state of Jamaica. We should have known better and we should have done better. We should have stepped in to perform course correction decades ago. We convinced ourselves that we had no control over the destructive events that created this situation, while all along we had full control …since it is the Jamaican people who are the true power base of this country, not the political, educated or economic class but all the people. The same reason we convinced ourselves that we have no control, was the same reason we convinced ourselves that what happened was not our fault but someone else’s doing. We were too lazy, greedy and selfish as a people, we wanted an easy life, we wanted something for nothing but societies do not build themselves, good society requires good people, ready and willing to sacrifice for the greater good.

My Sincere Apologies
I personally accept this blame and this responsibility, I acknowledge that my actions and lack of actions as a Jamaican Citizen, contributed to the conditions that exist today in Jamaica. I should have been more of an activist for the greater good, I should have engaged the process more for the greater good. I should have encouraged by fellow Jamaicans to engage the process and be activist in this Nation Building process for the Greater Good. I sincerely apologize to my fellow Jamaicans especially the younger generation for not being a better Jamaican citizen, I have failed you, I have failed my country and I am sorry that you have inherited this mess, this cycle of destruction. I am deeply sorry that we failed to build a nation State that you and future generations would be proud of.

• I am also sorry we pretended that the high murder rate was not our fault for so long and I am sorry we did not step in decades sooner to tackle the problem, it was not always this high but we sat idly by and watched it climb year after year to the 1000+ per year number it is today.
• I am sorry for the poor and inadequate infrastructure, sorry we did not step in decades sooner to tackle the problem.
• I am sorry for the poor state of the health and education sectors and that we did not step in decades sooner to tackle the problems and force the Governments to do right by us.
• I am also sorry for the high levels of imports because we kicked away the legs from under our local producers, preferring instead to import garbage, we should have prevented this decades ago but we were too weak to fight off the influences of Miami Vice, VCRs, Video, Volvos and various American Imports. You see some of us believed that if we consumed these things then we are first world.
• I am deeply sorry for dancehall we should have stepped in long ago and prevented DJ’s like General Echo from chatting slackness on the microphone. I am sorry that you now regard dancehall, this poor excuse for entertainment as a part of our culture and are unable to see it for what it is …a destructive force on the land and the minds of young people.
• I am sorry that we both ignored and embraced corruption for so long because of our selfishness and greed, I am also sorry that we looked the other way with regards to political corruption simply because we did not want the Government to interfere with any opportunities we may have to be corrupt ourselves, so we could get one over on our fellow man.
• I am sorry for my Generation’s failure to instill the right morals and values in you, so that your generation could make better decisions than the last generation, you are only living what you learn but it is totally possible for people to change their ways.

• Independence and Freedom coupled with Responsibility and Discipline guarantees that we will always make the right decision, the best decision for the collective good of all the people and the future of Jamaica, decisions must benefits the many above the few.
• Independence and Freedom means absolutely nothing without a strong sense Responsibility and Discipline.
• Equality, Social-Justice, Self-Reliance and Discipline are wonderful principles to live by and we should try to instill these principles back into our society.
• Political Tribalism will be the death of us because we are way too small and too poor to survive this crab in a barrel mentality.
• Jamaica is a country with so much potentials, we could achieve so much as a people if we apply our selves but we do not think or operate as a collective.