Dr. E. Anthony Allen
THE AVERAGE citizen, who is not middle or upper class, is too often not held in appropriate regard in Jamaica. As long as this continues, then such a person is likely to be denied the resources necessary for self-development. This threatens to consign the person to a vicious cycle situation whereby he or she is not considered qualified enough to access further resources such as education, employment and access to such as the best financial services. The average citizen, who happens to be more often black than 'brown', has the historical baggage of the realities of slavery whereby ancestral resources of education and material means were systematically denied. Also, the family system was similarly dismantled.
The challenge faced by the society is to develop a social alliance across the class and colour/shade divide of privilege to promote opportunities and self-help in accessing the necessary resources for maximum development of all our human capital. Our systems of public social services such as education and health need to be a priority for human development. It is short-sighted not to see these systems as actual financial investments, as the education and health of a person impacts directly on his or her productivity.
NATIONAL WELL-BEING
There is a competition for the spending dollar by various vested interests, often unrelated to national well-being. Thus there will need to be a social contract between all sectors such as government, labour, commerce and civil society. This contract must ensure that human development becomes a priority in all spending, within and outside the public budget. Our current problems in education and youth employment have now taken centre stage in the media. The link between these problems and crime, as social and economic opportunity to those deprived of a productive social place, has been well established.
Some may argue that our national problem is cumulatively the fault of several individuals who have simply chosen to be errant and irresponsible. Thus they deserve what they have coming, even the policeman's bullet.
Others argue that it is eminently the fault of our political leaders. Too many who do so want politicians to solve all problems without stressing the need for a strong synergistic relationship with vibrant community and civil society advocates and organisations who will equally work with them and hold them accountable. Yet others single out a variety of players, such as teachers and school principals, many of whom have fallen short and need to be accountable.
Nevertheless, developing human capital is as much a corporate as it is an individual responsibility. To this end our national money investment in sectors such as education, health and employment as well as the individual performance of politicians and institutional leadership are not the only issues that need to be priorities. Human development is also a matter of person-centred values. Here all the players and stakeholders need to come together around the development of the 'average Jamaican' as a central value. Human development is also a community issue. Here schools, hospitals and workplaces, for example, would develop a strong community life within their organisations. There would be a strong and synergistic linking with the surrounding geographical communities and the institutions within them such as churches, commercial and social services. Parents, community leaders, political leaders, school principals, health administrators board members and entrepreneurs, would all come together and seek to exercise a collective integrated leadership. The main objective of this leadership would be 'the greatest common effort for the good of each and all' every aspect of team vision, policies, management practice, client relationships and service performance.
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
The crisis in our nation is really a crisis of priorities. Seeking optimum human development for the average resource-deprived citizen and building nurturing community life for persons do not seem to be strongly held common national values and goals. Human development goes beyond the essential issues of adequate dollar spending, individual responsibility, and political and institutional leadership. It is also an issue of national perception of the priority of the interest of marginalised people over materialistic and status considerations. It is an issue of collective versus charismatic leadership. It is an issue of collective, value-based leadership seeking to build teamwork through a social contract as well as community co-operation for the common good both within institutions and in the geographical context.
Adequate dollar spending, individual responsibility and political and institutional leadership will only be successful within this context. Case studies of high-performing education, health and entrepreneurial institutions will clearly demonstrate this.
On our awareness and commitment to these values hang our future.
Dr. E. Anthony Allen is a consultant psychiatrist.
