Norman Grindley
Leader of the Opposition, Edward Seaga, left, in consultation with Deputy Leader, Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, centre, and Spokesman on Justice, Delroy Chuck, at the recently concluded Party Conference.Ian Boyne, Contributor
Last weekend's party conference of the Jamaica Labour Party produced the usual fare of histrionics, chest-beating, populist-pandering and political propaganda. But amidst all of that, Edward Seaga delivered of himself a vision of Jamaica that all Jamaica should support, and which should be hoisted above the political hustlings.
Outlining the need for a new vision in Jamaica and Jamaica desperately needs the 'v' word the JLP leader focused on three areas, one of which has been the pet peeve of this journalist the way constitutional reform used to be that of Wilmot Perkins: The need for the building of social capital or appropriate values and attitudes.
In what was perhaps his most forthright and coherent articulation of the need for what he himself termed "character-based education", Mr. Seaga showed a vision befitting one seeking political office in this country, and removes any doubt that he understands the real challenges which face this country.
"No vision of the future can be complete without a vision of change in the nature of our society", he told the packed National Arena crowd, whose behaviour on the roads demonstrated the urgent need for such a change. He announced that an incoming JLP administration would set up a "new-look" education curriculum committee to study the changes he sees as necessary to build a society of civility, active citizenship and social responsibility. It was not enough, Mr. Seaga said, for education to prepare people to merely make a living. It must teach people how to live and "from basic schools to high schools" there must be an emphasis on "life-skills and moral values".
CHANGING HEARTS
We must, Mr. Seaga said in a memorable turn of phrase, turn the students' "hearts to both knowledge and character". These significant statements would not get much play in the media as they were not as sensational and headline-grabbing as the partisan and unsubstantiated charge about the PNP's so-called Military Solution. More significant than that piece of political propaganda was the statement from Mr. Seaga that "If we are to move Jamaica out of the Third World and replant it in the First World, then there is no room for the instability of an anti-social nation".
Elaborating on a Jamaican past that many alive today can still remember, Mr. Seaga said nostalgically, "There was a time not too long ago when Jamaicans lived in a more orderly society; they were a more disciplined people; the focus of the people went beyond self-interest; they shared community interests and pursued individual interests in socially acceptable ways; respect was paid when respect was due; the concept of work was based on honest labour and achievement was through hard work."
For those of us who see Jamaica ahead of party and who do not belong to any of the tribes, last Sunday's speech by Eddie Seaga was one of the most hopeful things to have emerged recently. P.J. Patterson has already declared his own interest in the matter of values and attitudes and he has recently reiterated the importance of social capital in nation-building and economic progress. One of the most regrettable things about his administration is that it allowed itself to be intimidated by critics who sneered at the values and attitudes campaign, cynically charging that Mr. Patterson could not lead such a campaign.
The fact is that it is not Mr. Patterson's or Mr. Seaga's campaign. It is the campaign of every well-thinking Jamaican who knows that without that we have not one ghost of a chance. That Edward Seaga has so unequivocally and decisively given such eloquent support to this thrust says that we at last have consensus on one of the most critical issues facing the country.
To be sure, Mr. Seaga did emphasise the importance of economics in sustaining appropriate values and attitudes and made some telling statements as to how economic scarcity militates against morality and proper values. He is perfectly right. But his party spokesmen have been too narrowly economistic and have in their pronouncements on our social crisis, frequently giving the impression that once we fix the economy, everything else will fall in place. I have publicly criticised the party for this ill-informed view and am happy to see that the leader has shown a broader vision of development.
There is an abundance of academic studies and anecdotal evidence showing the link between culture (broadly defined to include norms and values) and economic development. It is the prevailing wisdom in East Asian economic development studies that the cultural foundations provided by Confucianism has been a major underpinning, if not the primary determinant, of the remarkable transformation in that region of the world. The World Bank itself, the bastion of Western economic orthodoxy, in its latest World Development Report just recently released, focuses on "Building Insti-tutions for Markets", emphasising that healthy, dynamic markets depend on non-economic foundations.
In the section, "Norms and Networks", the World Bank says, "Small traders in Mexico use informal mechanisms rather than the courts to resolve disputes. Bankers in Japan sign deals with a handshake rather than a legal contract. All these groups rely on institutional arrangements far removed from the formal constructs of government in all societies, systems based on social norms or networks alternatively referred to as informal institutions and sometimes as culture are central means of facilitating market transactions." An excellent work for the naive economistic enthusiasts to read, for beginners, is Harvard Professors Lawrence Harrison and Samuel Hungtington's Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress, published only last year.
GRAND PROMISES
Despite the grand promises of the JLP and the view that once the PNP is booted out, investors will be falling over themselves to invest in Jamaica, the fact is, as UNCTAD's authoritative World Investment Report 2001 says, "Natural resources and unskilled labour and perhaps even national markets are decreasing in significance. The new drivers (of investment) are skills, technological capabilities, good logistics and strong support institutions. Simply opening up the economy is often no longer enough to attract sustained inflows of FDI." After all the propaganda has died down and the cuss-cuss abates, we still have to face the harsh reality of a people unprepared for the challenges of 21st century society; for we are too poor at conflict resolution skills, too intolerant, too narrow-minded, tribalistic, crude, violent and anti-social.
That Edward Seaga and P. J. Patterson agree that this social capital deficit must be on the priority agenda is a major cause for hope. The groups which have a natural interest in these issues must seek to use this window of opportunity to press for some fundamental changes in how we socialise people. Just as some neo-liberals nurtured the myth that once we had economic growth then the fruits would automatically "trickle down" to the poor; and just as some communists believed that once the oppressive state "withered away" or was taken over by workers that all forms of discrimination, including against racial minorities and women, would be automatically be taken care of; so today, the economistic commentators feel that once we have economic growth and sufficient investment our social problems will be dealt with.
So while Mr. Seaga in his speech talked apparently with sympathy of those who through economic scarcity "cannot allow honesty or the law to stand in their way" because "they cannot postpone their bills or the need for food, clothing or shelter", he had better realise that if he reaches Jamaica House next year, there is going to be some period before that situation will change. He will have to depend on a foundation of values beyond personal interests to rescue his administration from lawlessness, anarchy and social unrest. Mr. Seaga is correct that values change is a long-term process and he is insightful to start with the very young, but we must start now by sending the signals that humans have a social and moral responsibility and cannot be simply motivated by their stomachs.
We must attack the value-neutral philosophy of the cultural nihilists and assorted anarchists. It was no less a person than the father of modern capitalism himself, Adam Smith (who incidentally was a philosopher), who said "In civilised society man stands at all times in need of the co-operation and assistance of great multitudes. In almost every other race of animals each individual, when it is grown up to maturity, is entirely independent and in its natural state has occasion for the assistance of no other living creature. But man has almost constant occasion for the help of his brethren". Last Sunday, Edward Seaga articulated a vision for this society which takes full recognition of this fact. His proposal deserves the widest national discussion.
