Ronald Thwaites | A new vision

The best possible news of last week was the resolve announced that the four retired prime ministers of Jamaica are to lead a revival of the values and attitudes campaign. My own view is that it is not shortage of money which is keeping the country back, but a deep social and spiritual deficit which manifests itself in destructive personal and societal practices.

Just talk to the leaders of our higher educational institutions and they will tell you that while the academic levels of their entering students are improving, the personal habits and broad social outlook of those same students are deteriorating. And these are the people who are going to become the teachers in our schools and the managers of the nation’s enterprises.

Political tribalism plays a large part in the deterioration of standards as one-upmanship becomes the highest pursuit, while virtues of cooperation and respect are devalued. This prevailing mood, fostered by scandal-hungry and bought-out media, creates either a growing cynicism and apathy towards national causes, or adds to the tribe of true believers on both sides who can accomplish little on their own. Generosity of spirit, that supreme personal characteristic and most effective lubricant of unselfish causes, is the casualty.

And so, it is of epic importance that, for the first time at last, four persons who have been through the firey crucible of partisan struggle, in the wisdom of their retiring years, are making the commitment to move beyond their previous horizons by helping us to define, accept and incarnate the values and behavioural patterns which can really make us great .

I wonder how they plan to exert their combined impact. Perhaps first as interlocutors with the present leadership of their parties to do some vital practical things which seem to elude us. Suppose, for example, they could broker the immediate resumption of dialogue on crime fighting and politically inspired or tolerated corruption. Imagine again if, with a common tune, this quartet could sell to the nation what I know they separately believe in – a renewed vision and curriculum of higher spend and greater efficiency in values-based education and training.

With the combined pedigree of Seaga, P.J. Patterson, Golding and Portia Simpson-Miller, they could stimulate a discourse on how to repair and adopt the toxic bastard-child of the Westminster model of governance that we have birthed. They could even be brave enough to help us address the broken financial mechanisms which create such a wasteful output gap, as more that a trillion dollars of savings could be used far more effectually for national development.

But most crucial of all, these leaders, out of their goodwill and mellow experience, could inspire us to believe that the greatest challenge of our time is the reconstruction of Jamaican family life as the foundation for national security, productivity, women’s liberation and a host of other assets, and which alone can provide the foundation for progress and prosperity.

What a prospect for the rest of us to unite around!

- Ronald Thwaites is member of parliament for Kingston Central and opposition spokesman on education and training. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.