What Choices Have We Made?

Recently on a talk show I was asked my thoughts on whether Jamaica would be better off under the British.

My resounding answer was yes! The truth is many many do not want to admit that when we gained independence we were nowhere close to being ready, and what we gained was political independence more than anything else. It is so easy for us in 2015 to still blame the colonial masters than to admit that we the people have screwed up, seriously.

We cannot blame the colonial masters when after over 50 years of independence, when we have the right to vote, we still do not comprehend why we do so and what it means. We suffer from abject ignorance and illiteracy, and we wallow in it without care.

How do we blame the colonial masters when with the right to vote, we create our own system of slavery? We put those whom we choose to lead on pedestals instead of holding them responsible.If shouting shower and power and saying we are born JLP and PNP is not a form of slavery that we have created, I do not know what is.

It is said that in the 70’s the CIA was responsible for the many guns that came into Jamaica, and that Mr. Seaga was to blame for this. My question is if the CIA was aiding Mr. Seaga via the way of guns, then how did some supporters of the PNP garrisons get guns?

Common sense would dictate that if Mr. Seaga was working along with the CIA, then guns would only have been available to supporters of the JLP under Mr. Edward Seaga, right? Because we all know guns are not made in Jamaica. So now in 2015 we no longer blame the CIA and Mr. Seaga, and the guns are still here, much to the point that the police force seems to be outnumbered.

Common sense also dictates that regardless of how guns get into the country or whom is responsible, it takes a people sick and depraved to then take those guns and turn them on each other. So is that caused by the colonial masters, the CIA or choices we have made as a people? As one of the most murderous country in the world what kind of independence can we really boast about? With a dollar that has no value, what kind of independence can we boast about?

When patients have to supply themselves with basic items such as gloves, cotton, needles needed to do a biopsy etc, what kind of independence can we boast about? When Jamaica is importing sugar, while tons of cane fields go to waste, what kind of independence can we boast about? When the little farmer can no longer take his goods to the market and expect a profit because the foreign produce is cheaper, what kind of independence can we boast about?

When citizens of the country have to wait for hours in a hospital waiting room, and then get treated like a piece of meat by doctors, nurses and hospital staff, what kind of independence can we boast about? When in 2015 children in some schools are still using pit toilets, what kind of independence can we boast about? When a school like Padmore Primary nestled in the cool hills of west rural St.Andrew was deemed a failure by the ministry of education, yet a principal, a community and children with dedication proved otherwise, and made them the top primary school in Jamaica, yet they are still in need of a kitchen, what kind of independence can we boast of?

Seven months have passed in 2015 and since the start of the year close to 700 hundred Jamaicans have lost their lives to the gun. Factor in the ones lost because of police brutality and only God knows what that number would be, yet we want to talk about the colonial masters and the CIA? Seriously?

We need to jolly well take responsibility for our choices. It is with our votes, our carelessness, our lack of unity, pride of country, and the power we give to politicians, why we are where we are today. The only chains that are holding us down in 2015 are the ones we have created under the guise of tribalism, ignorance and illiteracy.

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