By Amina Blackwood Meeks, Contributor 
Blackwood Meeks
HURRAH! THE people we pay to run the country, to keep us free from evil powers, to at least contribute to maintaining an atmosphere in which we can attempt to prosper, if only in spirit, have one eye open.
Suddenly, they see what ordinary Jamaicans, that is, those who occupy no seats in Gordon House or constituency offices, have been saying to them for longer than I have been on this earth - if you lie with dogs, all puns intended, you rise with fleas. And fleas bite hot. So, through the one eye, they, or some of them, have come to the realisation that there is a need to be unequivocal in their dealings or lack of dealings with suspect or unsavoury elements. There is hope. We might yet progress to the fact that we need to be principled in every aspect of running the nation's business and that principle is not to be confused with expediency.
Hold the applause! The problem with one eye being open is that you can never be sure whether the person is waking up or going to sleep. In this state of half-sleep we often see images, not to be confused with getting visions, of dubious value when we are fully awake. Did we imagine it? Have we crossed the divide between delusion and reality?
You know, it might very well be that they are not awake at all, at least, not to our voices. Our voices don't drop bombs, don't issue threats, have not the power to stymie CARICOM meetings on Haiti, cannot withdraw funding or play games with our investment ratings as inducements to do this or that bidding. We just scribble on walls, which get cleaned up on Labour Day or sound warnings like Bounti Killa and be attacked for it, perform in plays they have no time to see, or wail like Anthony B "We don't want to hear you're sorry, when the damage is already done."
Maybe that is the problem, these paid employees who apply for and are granted the position of politicians do not seem to listen to anybody but themselves. They appear removed from the realities of the people they are supposed to serve, responding only to the voices of the friends, me did really waan sey sycophants, or people who do their bidding so that they may serve time in Gordon House.
VALUES AND ATTITUDE
So, if the economy does not perform, stick to the plan. It is still the best one unless and until the Great Planner sees and declares otherwise. Miss Lady is of the view that they should all be made to serve time elsewhere, like on the unemployment line or in some Work House, that is, a place where real productive work is the order of the day, for this age old breach of public trust. This abdication of responsibility, dereliction of duty, insubordination to employers, this penchant for looking behind in wonder.
And yes, they listen to people with money. Lots of it. Enough to give new meaning to the Buy Jamaica Campaign; buy us out of this or that crisis - buy the Bob Marley collection for the people of Jamaica. After all, the Ministry of Culture has had no knowledge of its existence, no sense of its significance and no financial resources to give national pride and meaning to its value; buy us out of the crisis in education, the crisis with policemen's salaries, Government by the people for the people.
The don mentality, the don syndrome, is alive we need not do much, if anything at all, eventually some Benevolent One will come along and solve all our problems like the lotto, "so get your ticket, make your wishes, any day now your lotto dreams will come true. It could happen to you." Of course, the Benevolent One is due maximum respects; make sure your name appears in the social columns as being at their every cocktail shuffle because only people who have been 'smaddificated' are so favoured. And only politicians and their inner circles are 'smaddies'. See it dere again, the workers are better off than the employers nice lesson in the attitudes and values department.
Oh yes! Our young people do not have right the right attitude or skills to enter the job market. Of course not, too few firms are willing to provide them with experience and on-the-job training. Dem want it already done. For far too long we have treated job creation as a favour. Someone must be grateful to be employed. Our young people are seldom taught that the interview process runs two ways somebody looking for the skills and training to contribute to the success of their enterprise and somebody looking for a place that deserves to have access to their skills and training. So check the classifieds-entry level jobs. They now demand at least three years of experience, big degrees some of them Masters, ownership of a reliable motorcar, meaning no deportee will do, willingness to work long, irregular hours including public holidays, nuff other tings at the whopping figure of $39, 000 per month before tax. Maximum disrespect and exploitation-and poor people fed up, as the numbers multiply, right Bounti?
POVERTY
So, according to the latest report from the Planning Institute of Jamaica one out of every five Jamaicans you see is consuming less than J$3900 per month. But everything is everything, after much joining of lining and investigation of their pit toilets they might find a PATH out of their poverty.
The economy is doing better than ever, is just the war in Iraq and anybody who doesn't see things that way, is a traitor, victimise them or send some questionable same elements to keep them in their place. Who waan sing bout it can sing till dem troat dry. Our servants of the people don't listen to our singers, poets, storytellers, playwrights. Pay them no mind, give them no airtime to promote their activities, no sponsorships for airing or showcasing for their creations, no concessionary rates in existing studios, no marketing facilities, no business development incentives, just demand that they 'give back' when they have 'made it'. However, they have made it. And if they don't, lambaste them with righteous indignation for not doing enough to promote whatever cause is dear to their agenda, their point of view and for free to boot! We seem to have one eye open to the fact that there is problem with taking from people "however they have made it".
One day we might wake up to find that our best performers are seldom seen on these shores. They have to live, out of the reach of the would-be attackers and those who would dip their hands in their pockets, where they can earn a decent living if not a little respect and Jamaicans who can afford it will find the plane ticket, hotel accommodation and whatever else it takes to go to wherever they are performing to catch a glimpse of them ... when the damage is already done...
Connect the dots this country will continue to sink in a quagmire of expediency, until and unless all of us wake up to the realisation that politicians are not gods.
We need to understand the real nature of the relationship between them and the people who elect them, understand that big school education and the old boys network do not constitute a monopoly on ideas about human welfare and human development, that sovereignty does not mean a dictatorship in which we play a game every five years bout how to hang on to power.
We must understand that leadership is endowed with the foresight to look ahead to define and act upon our own best self interest before the worst possibilities are imposed upon us from outside den nobaddi but weself cudden tell we if Aristide or anybody else kean tan yah or for how long.
So as we find ourselves in the midst of Martin Carter's 'festival of guns, carnival of misery' listen to Barry Chevannes or better yet, run out and buy his CD, Black Op-
Once a man and twice a child
Once upon a time, one yesterday,
Leaders were the elders, the philosophies
Wisdom came with age, No one heard them say, If only we did know.
Structurally adjusting through the night
Open food for rich, close down food for poor
When the gunshot start to pierce the sky
If only we did know
Give me area leaders and don men
I will arm my voters yours go to hell
When the gangs and coke head (s) hit the street
If only we did know
Sitting here today membering the last
Looking down the future blinded by the past
Shaking our grey hairs, sighs, remorse
If only we did know
Wisdom looks ahead, seldom behind
Walk too fast you bound to walk two time
Look into the mirror into yourself
If only we did know.
Like Anthony B, we tiad a de sad story when the damage is already done. We want what Bob Marley fe everybody, wake up and live!
