Portia Simpson Miller, Contributor

Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller. - File

AGREEMENT ON a national vision for Jamaica is an ideal that I strongly believe can help unite the society. The concept of a common vision is not new. There are many examples of this across the world; perhaps the best known is the 'American Dream'.

If I were to ask each individual in our society what were their main goals in life, three or four responses would consistently arise: opportunities for gainful employment, shelter for family, educating their children, and being secure in their communities. These are the basic expectations of most persons in all societies. Achieving them in Jamaica is the challenge we face as a nation. Overcoming this challenge requires unity of purpose and cooperation among all our people. The absence of this unity significantly limits our chances of success, and the task becomes immeasurably harder.

There is something more about us as Jamaicans. As I go through the length and breadth of the nation, and as I travel to the major centres of the world, the thing that never fails to capture the attention of people is the word 'Jamaica'. It stands alone in commanding the imagination and in generating the most enthusiastic conversations - just the word 'Jamaica'.

more than a name

Jamaica is more than a name. Jamaica is the pride of a people. It includes the pride of achievements, pride in hospitality, and pride in the landscape and in the character and personality of our people. What the American Dream is to every American, 'Jamaican Pride' should mean to every Jamaican.

The national motto 'Out of Many, One People' acknowledges the reality of our quest for nationhood. From every town, every village and every community, different groups are likely to have different value systems formed from their life experiences, and from those learned within the family unit, and from within the environment in which a child is nurtured.

It has not always been the case that we appreciate the extent of the differences of the many people from whom we seek to become one. Too often, we thrust the needs and ideals of one set upon the entire society. In the majority of cases, the direction has been top down.

In other words, the ideals of a few, handed down from our past experiences, are used to measure the entire society. This is self-defeating as it maintains a situation in which persons from poor backgrounds are constantly placed at a disadvantage.

Bridging the Gap

I am aware that this primary point has been the subject of several studies and reports throughout most of the 20th century. The fallout that it causes has become evident, and has been expertly described in a number of documents by many of our nation's brightest scholars.