Ronald Thwaites | Towards a culture of life and liberty

“America mash up, you know!” Squeegy insists. He is the self-proclaimed president of all car washers downtown and claims to know about the US because he has been deported twice and “leave nuff yout’ in foreign”. From his privileged place of business near the courthouse, he claims a deep insight into justice (“Plenty lawyer and judge talk to me!”) and a wry perception of how justice is achieved – or isn’t. “Everybody agree seh Trump do whole heap of wrongs, but dem let him go anyway,” he chuckles. “No better no deh. Life no mean nuttin. If a no gunman, a police.”

Things are really coming to bump in Jamaica – a tragically beautiful microcosm of world currents. Think this through with me. Last week, the fragility of the institutions of Western civilization was displayed, live and direct, as the culture war theatre in the great United States replayed the disgrace of a leader – no, not just Donald Trump, but he and the millions who think like him, turning suicidally on themselves on January 6, the climax of four years and more of race-baiting and institutionalising inequality and untruth.

It was more than a double bill on cable television. Most of the time it seemed like slow-motion death throes of liberal society being documented. Yes, the institutions of state have emerged standing but severely tested and susceptible to future attacks.

We must be thinking that if it can happen there, supposedly the apex of the West – and still be unresolved – what prevents our own wobbly social contract from disintegrating? This, in the week when, with guns still blazing in every parish, several of our trusted, experienced, retired security leaders shockingly expressed their frustration with the lack of thorough-going policy and strategy for crime-fighting. They should know, don’t it?

PERSONAL SAFETY COMPROMISED

And there is a wider context. Personal safety in Jamaica is more compromised than ever before. Cameras, security guards even at church, more private gunslinging all abound. There appears to be no point in individual discipline, because just go on the road and few will reciprocate. Is there any advantage for staying in your lane?

The scramble for money is all that gives purpose to the increasing idleness and desperation. So gamble some more. It’s easy. Scam an old American if they are so fool to believe your lyrics. “Dat a reparations, Ranny! Look how long dem a keep wi down. A tree time dem turn me down for a visa.”

Squeegy is right. No better no deh. “Andrew Holiness wicked. Look how him lock down party. But you inna PNP, you no better; you woulda do the same. How yout’ fi live if party no keep? You no see America give people cash money when COVID time. Whey mine deh?”

Uptown stush people, listen to the voices of those who are having to cope with the 150: 1 US dollar. Frustration is fast overcoming fear. The crime consensus is in danger of stillbirth. So is the supposed joint approach to tackling COVID-19. Morais Guy says he is allowed little or no engagement. But there is big, big money for a marketing campaign which is likely to be no more enduring than the Jamaica Moves one. Fizz over substance, because there is little trust and no deep commitment to bipartisanship.

Faced with the distress of the resurgent pandemic and economic adversity, political forces in Italy, from far-right to far-left, have decided to swallow their differences and participate in a united rescue government headed by the respected, calm and no-nonsense Mario Draghi. Given their fractious history, this is no panacea, but it is worth the effort to reduce authoritarianism and factionalism.

REVERENCE FOR EACH LIFE

We need to encourage a culture of life and liberty – not death and ‘downpression’. This means a reverence for each and every life, from conception to natural death. This means a commitment to using public and private resources not to lock up people arbitrarily or bludgeon them to submission, but to mentor and model hope that education and training will emphasise superior values and behaviour patterns than the Trumpists; to provide the stimulus for work with reward better than $7,200, so that the worker can live without shame, disillusionment and hunger stalking his soul. Any bets on the upcoming Budget?

Who is seized with the urgency, let alone has the stomach to lead this pilgrimage of common purpose for life and liberty? We must prove Squeegy wrong: better can, and must, come.

Rev Ronald G. Thwaites is an attorney-at-law. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.