Lambert BrownLast Thursday, five men were murdered execution style in Bog Walk, St. Catherine. There was no general outcry or condemnation from the society. The reality is, that despite the heinous nature of this crime, we are far from that 'tipping point' where, as a people, we declare 'enough is enough!' Then, we will, in unison, stand up decisively and face down the murderers among us.
The truth is, we have become immune to the shock and horror of multiple killings; we have become desensitised to accepting savagery like Thursday morning's in Bog Walk, as the norm. After all, we put up with the recent Flower Hill quintuple murder and beheading, as we did with Braeton, Kraal and the numerous other cases which would outrage other societies.
I grew up in a Jamaica when even the ordinary domestic murder would incense our people. Jamaica was not always like this, where multiple murders take place with only a whimper. There were better and safer days, and we need to find our way back to such times.
Glorification of negativity
I think all well-thinking Jamaicans need to pause and ponder the question: how did we get to this sordid state? As I suggested in my last column, it is our endorsement and descent into the glorification of negativity that have contributed significantly to the lawlessness that rules our land. We have compromised on tried and tested values such as respect and decency, sometimes, because of political expediency, other times in the name of freedom of speech, freedom of the press or simple license for cartoonists to demean our people and offices of state. Slowly and surely, we are paying the price of our choice. We are wallowing in the morass of irresponsibility and are stuck on the path of destruction of a law-abiding nation.
The path to recovery must begin with the re-establishing of critical values which we know leads to good and order in the nation. We need national consensus on the moral principles that will guide ournation. I am confident this is possible. Let our leaders recognise that they have a big role to play here. They set good examples when they conduct themselves in ways that reveal that the pursuit of decency may mean a diminution of personal power, or the non-fulfilment of political ambitions - in other words, putting the nation above self and political parties.
Truth is one such value that we should elevate and never compromise on. It is against this background that I am disappointed with recent comments by Leader of the Opposition Bruce Golding. He was reported as saying at a meeting on January 21 at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston, the following: "As we speak, we are meeting here at the Conference Centre. they (PNP) are having a similar meeting at Dinthill High School. The purpose of the meeting, I understand, is to get feedback from the ground as to how it stay, how we look. And the blow-by-blow account that I've been getting as to what is happening at the meeting, indicates to me that some people want to go early and some people are saying no, we have to wait. The people who want to wait are saying, "things not pretty. we need to wait a little longer to try and get things looking better"; and the people who want to go early are saying, "if you think things not pretty now, later is going to be destruction". How that will pan out, which side will eventually carry the swing, I don't know. The decision as you know, is made by only one person: the Prime Minister."
For these comments, Mr. Golding received thunderous applause from his party members. I have no doubt they believed Mr. Golding to be speaking the truth. The reality is, there was no such PNP meeting taking place at Dinthill or elsewhere. Mr. Golding was peddling a falsehood. If he did not know at the time, he would have been reckless with the truth. He cannot now, 21 days after, say he did not know he was bearing false witness. Where is the retraction or apology from the Opposition Leader or his handlers? Are they so contemptuous of his party members and the rest of us, as to barefacedly and blatantly lie to the Jamaican people? Does Mr. Golding think we should hug it up in the name of political expediency? I personally have chosen not to hug up any lie by our political leaders. It was the political expediency in accepting the tribal political violence of the past that is the foundation of today's runaway criminal brutality in the country. We should not bequeath to our children the foreseeable nastiness from accepting a compromise of truth from our leaders.
Pursuit of political ambition
Some who defend this misstep by Golding claim he was misled by people who gave him the 'blow-by-blow' report from the meeting that never took place. This, however, raises serious questions about Golding's judgement, and therefore, his fitness for holding the highest political office in the country. It is not the first time that he has spoken falsely, acting on the information of others. His opponents argue that he is "hearing voices", and these comments are consistent with his assurance to his party that he would have given his 2006 Christmas message from Jamaica House. They suggest that he is driven by desperation in the pursuit of political ambition, and is losing touch with reality. I am not personally attracted to the loss-of-reality point, but the desperation finds some resonance.
The Jamaican people must be able to trust our leaders to speak the truth. If a leader is willing to lie to us on the way to power, why should we expect truth not to be compromised in the furtherance of exercising such power?
As our national anthem demands, "Justice, truth be ours forever." We have already lost justice. Let's retake it by pursuing the truth.
Lambert Brown is president of the University and Allied Workers' Union and may be contacted at labpoyh@yahoo.com
