From a friend:
I admit: I am not Jamaican. I've never been to Jamaica. But there are some things that are just so wrong as to offend one's basic sense of justice and decency no matter what piece of ground you are standing on.
On one thing I have to disagree with the consensus - "over soon" is not what I hope for. "Over once and for all" is the only thing that will save Jamaica.
I mean seriously, even right now Golding's people are looking for some legal loophole that will allow them to not have to extradite Coke. Since when did corruption and cowardice pass as "leadership". Why do the decent and upstanding people of Jamaica, of which I have had opportunity to meet many, allow criminals to control their lives?
From what I can see, Jamaica has no leader. It has a RULER, perhaps, and if so his name is Christopher Coke. But even that gives him too much credit, he is but one gangland warlord among many. Big bad men. Gunmen. Rubbish. Even they are just pawns of a perverted system created by the invisible hand of the market to feed America's insatiable thirst for drugs.
If ever there was a need for revolution, this is it, and I don't mean a revolution of violence and bloodshed. As several have pointed out, the government is by no means legitimate. But at least it is something that makes an effort to occasionally pretend. But when the next election comes, this is one example where what I have to say next comes into play.
What I believe in is a revolution of the mind (America needs one too, by the way, but I'll save that for another day). History offers very few potential turning points, but they do happen. If the Jamaican people as a society harnessed the anger they feel over this ongoing tragedy and finally decided that they deserve to live free of the threat of violence, free of the control of criminals, and united against the forces that corrupt Jamaica - then and only then will change come. Will it come from a corrupt government that is part of the problem? No. Will it come from the media? If only. If you're asking "why don't they tell us the truth?" then you're asking a question which deep down you already know the answer to. No, change can only come from... well, from people like some of you deciding to spread a message of change at any price. The power of change is within each person. It doesn't come from outside, it doesn't come from someone else.
In the world as it is, every Jamaican has a choice: 1) adopt an attitude of submissive acceptance, turn a blind eye to the problems and hope they go away 2) vigilance, whistleblowing, organizing, demonstrating (peacefully), asking the uncomfortable questions, and taking a courageous stand wherever the opportunity arises. I'm not going to lie to you: what I'm talking about here is a dangerous thing. Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Malcom X, Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy - an assassin's bullet found its mark on all of them, and more than a few of their followers suffered or paid the ultimate price. A path of confrontation, true confrontation on the things that matter, does involve sacrifice. But before you let those words "at any price" scare you, let me ask a question. How many of you know people, good people who minded their own business and lived decent lives, murdered for no reason? The price is being paid either way, and it is a heavy one. We are all going to die one day, nothing will change that, but accepting it gives you the strength to say anything that is necessary, and do anything that is necessary to fight for what really matters to you, for what you believe in. The question then merely becomes what are you willing to die for? Are you willing to die for Jamaica?
No matter what country, no matter what culture, it doesn't matter where you are, this rule is always the same: standing up to bullies is the only way to defeat them. And make no mistake: either you defeat them, or they defeat you.
Jesse Rogers
I admit: I am not Jamaican. I've never been to Jamaica. But there are some things that are just so wrong as to offend one's basic sense of justice and decency no matter what piece of ground you are standing on.
On one thing I have to disagree with the consensus - "over soon" is not what I hope for. "Over once and for all" is the only thing that will save Jamaica.
I mean seriously, even right now Golding's people are looking for some legal loophole that will allow them to not have to extradite Coke. Since when did corruption and cowardice pass as "leadership". Why do the decent and upstanding people of Jamaica, of which I have had opportunity to meet many, allow criminals to control their lives?
From what I can see, Jamaica has no leader. It has a RULER, perhaps, and if so his name is Christopher Coke. But even that gives him too much credit, he is but one gangland warlord among many. Big bad men. Gunmen. Rubbish. Even they are just pawns of a perverted system created by the invisible hand of the market to feed America's insatiable thirst for drugs.
If ever there was a need for revolution, this is it, and I don't mean a revolution of violence and bloodshed. As several have pointed out, the government is by no means legitimate. But at least it is something that makes an effort to occasionally pretend. But when the next election comes, this is one example where what I have to say next comes into play.
What I believe in is a revolution of the mind (America needs one too, by the way, but I'll save that for another day). History offers very few potential turning points, but they do happen. If the Jamaican people as a society harnessed the anger they feel over this ongoing tragedy and finally decided that they deserve to live free of the threat of violence, free of the control of criminals, and united against the forces that corrupt Jamaica - then and only then will change come. Will it come from a corrupt government that is part of the problem? No. Will it come from the media? If only. If you're asking "why don't they tell us the truth?" then you're asking a question which deep down you already know the answer to. No, change can only come from... well, from people like some of you deciding to spread a message of change at any price. The power of change is within each person. It doesn't come from outside, it doesn't come from someone else.
In the world as it is, every Jamaican has a choice: 1) adopt an attitude of submissive acceptance, turn a blind eye to the problems and hope they go away 2) vigilance, whistleblowing, organizing, demonstrating (peacefully), asking the uncomfortable questions, and taking a courageous stand wherever the opportunity arises. I'm not going to lie to you: what I'm talking about here is a dangerous thing. Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Malcom X, Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy - an assassin's bullet found its mark on all of them, and more than a few of their followers suffered or paid the ultimate price. A path of confrontation, true confrontation on the things that matter, does involve sacrifice. But before you let those words "at any price" scare you, let me ask a question. How many of you know people, good people who minded their own business and lived decent lives, murdered for no reason? The price is being paid either way, and it is a heavy one. We are all going to die one day, nothing will change that, but accepting it gives you the strength to say anything that is necessary, and do anything that is necessary to fight for what really matters to you, for what you believe in. The question then merely becomes what are you willing to die for? Are you willing to die for Jamaica?
No matter what country, no matter what culture, it doesn't matter where you are, this rule is always the same: standing up to bullies is the only way to defeat them. And make no mistake: either you defeat them, or they defeat you.
Jesse Rogers
.........................................................
A lot of people share these sentiments. We must and can do better. The fate of the Diaspora depends on it.
Just my two cents.
