Webster EdwardsTO LIVE a creative and meaningful existence, one must believe in the reality of a brighter tomorrow. There should be some feeling that the hardships endured and the sacrifices made are connected to some noble purpose and will inure to one's benefit in the long run; that the idea of a bright light shining at the end of the tunnel is not a speculative dream but an experience which can be realised in one's lifetime.
The truth is, that it is this belief in the future which has kept Jamaica going through its darkest days, a refusal to accept that we are an impoverished nation and that the better days are long past.
The belief in a brighter tomorrow is therefore no idle dream, but rather the fervent expectation that life must consist of something more than the difficulties and frustrations which are being encountered each day. For it is the determination to transcend the reality of the present that we are able to create a future that is purposeful.
When hope is absent despair abounds, and the inevitable result is a life of resignation and hopelessness. Unless one feels that there is a stake in this place which is called home, there will always be the tendency to tear down rather than to build, as one does not destroy someone or something to which there is a meaningful relationship.
And yet the context in which we live today is not one which is conducive to hope. The incidence of crime and violence and the sheer hopelessness which our people have suffered over the years have led many to experience a feeling of despair.
There is no doubt that our young people have limited expectations of a meaningful existence. Life for them is short and brutish, and if we are living in a context in which there is no hope, one cannot be expected to exercise any responsibility for the preservation of society.
For many inner-city youths, unemployment is not an option but an ever present reality. There is very often no clearly defined career path consequently life for them is filled with the experience of frustration at every turn. To the average person growing up in the inner-city the feeling of alienation is ever present.
One should therefore not be surprised at the problems which we are today experiencing as the link between frustration, aggression, and violence is well established. People have not only internalised the pain, but are today releasing some of it on the communities in which they live. How else does one explain teenagers armed with high-powered guns going on the rampage for no apparent reason.
The truth is that we are living today in a fragmented society. As a people we are divided politically, socially and economically. There is not much that binds us together.
The lack of cohesiveness very often fuels the inner-city violence in which poor people are not only the perpetrators but the chief victims.
What then must be the answer? First we need to find and articulate a set of principles which can bind us together as a people. Here broker institutions such as the Church together with community organisations can play a useful role in laying a foundation of unity, loyalty and patriotism.
Secondly, for people to have hope there must be equality of opportunities, a proper economic environment and workable governmental policies which are directed towards the welfare and upliftment of our people. The approach of various governments to inner-city residents has largely been paternalistic and has not sought to put into the hands of the people the tools which are necessary for their own development. The result is a dependency syndrome which has served the politicians well but which today can no longer be sustained.
Finally, the message of Advent is for us to inspire hope even within a context of hopelessness in the minds of the forgotten ones, that is, if we are going to preserve the sanity of this little place which is called home. But believe me, the time in which to accomplish this task is running out.
Webster Edwards is executive director of Operation Friendship.
