Things Fall Apart

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold…
The best lack conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity
"The Second Coming" by W.B. Yeats

As the count down continues we see what appears to be the Public Sector Organisation of Jamaica’s initiative to fight crime in the country unraveling at the seams. Let us replay the focal points of this stance to see why the thread is thinning.

On the first day of the infamous protest the masses cried out that they were not in support of this movement why?

They too have been having crimes inflicted upon them for many years and the elites of the business sector did not seek to protest with them.
No one asked for their say in the top down approach to fighting crime.

The members of Parliament as well as the PSOJ debated that the masses were losing sight of the big picture and were not thinking of the country only of themselves. Point duly noted.

Next was the request that politicians disassociate themselves from criminals what was the outcome of this furor in the house.

Members of Parliament protested that politicians were being made scapegoats in the private sector's current protest against rising crime.
Legislators criticised the prime minister and the opposition leader for agreeing to a set of demands made by private sector leaders
Private sector has also done a lot to encourage criminality in this country.

The PSOJ and the masses could equally say that the members of parliament are also losing sight of the big picture and are thinking only of themselves.

The fact is as always that all parties have lost sight of the big picture. The big picture was never the escalating crime rate this was only a symptom of the bigger picture. The bigger picture has always been the erosion of the moral fabric of this society in the struggle for power and money.

At the risk of using clichés, when will we all see that the whole can become greater than the sum of the parts. We need to unite as a collective and attack this problem together. The big picture is not about the private sector jumping up to take the reigns and the glory of performing this feat that the state has been unable to do, it is not about the state failing to protect its citizens, it is not about the citizens who are now filled with a sense of apathy. It is about everyone saying “we have all sinned”. We have all contributed to the decadence and we are all going to work together to make the change.

The Time has come the Walrus Said to Speak of Many Things

“A New Era in Politics” was the headlines heralded in today’s Gleaner. There was a meeting of the ruling People’s National Party (PNP) and the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) with the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) to discuss the strategies for combating the escalating crime rates in the country.

What were the outcomes of this discussion heralding the dawn of a new time?

A committee headed by the Political Ombudsman to begin implementing recommendations contained in the report on National Committee on Political Tribalism, (Kerr Report)

A Joint Select Committee on Security to consider further capacity enhancing measures as well as material support for the security forces.

Pardon my cynicism but this does not hit me as any new feat in the political arena. We have had committees from the dawn of Jamaican politics who have been commissioned to investigate and address the “crisis of the day” we have even had committees to investigate and monitor the committees that have been formed. What then differentiates these committees from their predecessors?

Could it be the fact that both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have agreed to have their elected Members of Parliament declare in writing their commitment not to knowingly associate with criminals, nor accept financial support from them?

If my memory has not failed me have we not seen these very same leaders of politics associating with criminals and then disavowing having any knowledge of the fact that these men that they associate with were criminals? Come on!

This is not a new era in politics this is old rhetoric. Let us not continue to dabble in insignificant ramblings. Let us not continue to treat the symptom and not the cause. Let us not be afraid to break the bones, even though it will hurt, in order for healing to take place. The time has come to speak out on what really is plaguing this country let us not waste it by delving in the ineffective syntax of yesterday.

Bill Clarke on "Impact"

Bill Clarke and Cliff Hughes had an interesting discussion tonight. Too bad Mr. Clarke skipped around the issue everyone wanted to hear him address, namely the response of the PM to Mr. Clarke's "failed state" comment. Cliff tried his best, but was unable to get Mr. Clarke to adequately defend his comment in the wake of PJ's observation that one the largest commercial banking conglomerates in the hemisphere mainitains Jamaica as a profit center (referring to the Bank of Nova Scotia, of which Mr. Clarke is the president and CEO), and, as such, how could Jamaica be a failed state? I was hoping that Mr. Clarke would have called the PM out on this, but I can understand his reluctance. Don't want to mess up the relationship between the PM and BNS, do we? Not when BNS has made in excess of JMD$1 billion profit for the first quarter of 2005. One must tread carefully. Maybe next time he'll be braver.

He did make some good points though. He raised the question of exactly who the PSOJ was demonstrating against, since the government and opposition announced their support for the initiative. Perhaps it was the criminals Mr. Clarke. They would certainly be moved to change their ways by an ineffectual demonstration, even though our politicians have not been so inclined thus far.

The "stand" against crime

It was heartening to read in today's Observer of businessmen who not only refuse to give in to the demands of extortionists, but also help other businessmen who have received letters demanding "protection money" or "donations to community activities" and have the balls to follow through by reporting it to the police and testifying . One hopes that Mr. Heffes' story will encourage other businesses to take a real stand against extortion. I wonder how long it'll take the government and opposition to pass legislation prescribing stiffer penalties for extortionists.

My mood was quickly darkened, however, at the bullshit emanating from the mouth of Sameer Younis, who stated that while he was against extortion, he would never encourage others not to pay because of the risk of them being killed. What...the....fuck?!?! This is exactly the attitude which allows the extortionists to thrive.

While we're at it Mr. Younis, perhaps we shouldn't encourage people to report police corruption, since they might be killed. Or to report drug trafficking. Or any other crime which may result in bodily harm coming to the person making the report. Let's all just do what is best for our "own conscience and safety" regardless of whether or not it's supporting illegal activites.


Only slightly better was the the bullshit from Bev Lopez. Mrs. Lopez's statements at a recent press conference seem to imply that she is the one who isn't living in the "real world". In the "real world", people unfortunately do get killed for standing up to criminals, no matter how good the police force is. While I agree with her view that the state has failed to protect the citizenry effectively, Mrs. Lopez must realize that no police force in the world can "ensure that there will be no repercussions" from the reporting of extortion. Extortion cannot be prosecuted without a specific report from the person being extorted. The charging of someone with extorting a specific business gives the criminals all the information they need to carry out a reprisal, if they so desire. Witholding cooperation in this matter from the police only serves to make the criminals bolder and the police weaker. So for all the rheotric, the stance of the PSOJ on extortion has come down to simply encouraging persons not to pay, rather than encouraging them to report it.

So, Mrs. Lopez, when businesses refuse to pay and an owner/staff member is attacked or killed, what then? There will be no police report on attempted extortion which could have been used to identify suspects. I suppose there'll be another outcry about the impotence of the police force.

On a lighter note, it seems as if the West Indies will finally win a test match! After sitting through many, many agonizing defeats, perhaps there's a glimmer of hope. Let's hope that it's the beginning of a reversal of fortune.