The Editor, Sir:

While the guidance offered by Maurice O. Duncan in his letter to the editor, titled 'Some guidance for Jamaican voters', on Tuesday, August 21, is appreciated, we must note that it is faulty.

Undoubtedly, the words of wisdom that he presented, as quoted from the Rt. Hon. Marcus Mosiah Garvey, are apt for the past, this time and beyond. However, Mr. Duncan presented a quite fallacious line of argument.

He suggested that the votes to be cast on the yet-to-be-announced new election date, should be based on our satisfaction or lack of satisfaction with the work of Drs. Omar Davies and Peter Phillips, and Portia Simpson Miller, Prime Minister of Jamaica.

So that, if we are dissatisfied, we should, as indicated by his direct instruction, vote for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), and if not, then vote for the People's National Party (PNP).

Major fallacy

And therein lies the major fallacy. Mr. Duncan has presented the traditional binary oppositional situation, where it is either A or B.

Our 'dissatisfaction' with the PNP leaders identified does not mean we should, therefore, vote JLP. We do not know who will form the Cabinet and, by implication, the positions identified, if either party were to win, though of course we can make some well-informed assumptions.

Therefore, we cannot make a decision on the mere grounds of dissatisfaction with the individuals and their work.

Furthermore, because we may or may not 'feel' or 'seem' dissatisfied with those currently holding the respective positions, does not preclude the fact that we may still be dissatisfied with those who occupy those offices for the next five years, from either side of the political fence.

In fact, 'satisfaction' might be an abstract concept, which is perhaps utopian, as we have an insatiable appetite for better ... even when we get it.

Since society is not static, but evolves as time progresses, there will continually be room for improvement. And some of us want that faster than others. And indeed, we want the satisfaction to be more pervasive than seemingly exclusive.

Making decisions

But, while performance is, of course, an important referent for our choices on the day of our next general election, those decisions cannot be solely predicated on our thoughts of 'satisfaction', as we then would not have a recent and extensive enough basis on which to consider the JLP.

And the JLP has proved to be quite worthy of consideration. But, should we predicate our decision on that ground, primarily or even solely, then we would continue to meander as some popular figures around the place, because of our 'dissatisfaction'.

Let our choices, therefore, be based on objectivity and rationale. And please, whoever wins will not be perfect, so we will never be 'completely' satisfied.

But we should, over time, see the evidence of some degrees of satisfaction and increasingly so, as time progresses.

I am, etc.,

S. DAVIS

Kingston 17

Via Go-Jamaica

s_davis07<@>yahoo.com