Michael Abrahams | We are a sinking ship

Recently, while clearing my phone of photographs and videos that had been accumulated on the device, I came across an interesting cartoon. It depicted a sinking ship with three rats. Two of the rodents were at the helm of the ship. A third was seen jumping off, saying, “I’m actually leaving to focus on other projects.” The image made me laugh, and I posted it on my Instagram and Facebook pages with the caption, “I saw this, and it reminded me of someone. Who do you think it is?”

I called no names, but our finance minister, Dr Nigel Clarke, came to mind for many people, including me. Clarke was recently appointed as deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund. The appointment is a great achievement, but some perceive him as abandoning a sinking ship. Some persons, like me, found the post funny, but there were others who were not only not amused but visibly upset. To be honest, I have nothing negative to say about Dr Clarke’s appointment. I simply found the cartoon hilarious.

However, the image of a sinking ship resonated with me because I do see my country in that position. The harsh reality is that in several respects, we are on a downward spiral. For starters, corruption and a lack of transparency and accountability still thrive at the highest level, and indiscipline and disrespect among the populace stubbornly persist.

OUT OF CONTROL

Crime is out of control. According to World Population Review, our murder rate made us number one in 2022, and Statista ranked us at number two in 2023. Recently, there were 70 murders recorded in the country in just three weeks. What is also disturbing is the fact that according to my contacts in the police force and human rights groups, not all murders and other violent crimes are reported and recorded.

Our education system is not at a good place either. We are having a serious challenge in retaining our teachers. Indiscipline in our schools remains a persistent problem. And our examination results reflect serious deficiencies. For example, our last set of Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate results were dismal. The regional pass rate for mathematics was 36 per cent, which is poor, but Jamaica’s was even lower at 33.4 per cent. Also, only 18 per cent of students passed five or more subjects, including mathematics and English, a three percentage point decrease compared with last year.

Our health sector is in a crisis. Long waiting times in emergency rooms and long waits for surgery persist. It is not uncommon for ill people to be sitting in chairs for days in casualty and accident and emergency departments. Radiological services at public hospitals are woefully inadequate. Our maternal mortality rate is higher now than it was four decades ago, meaning that pregnant and recently delivered women today face a greater risk of death than in the 1980s.

Even a look at our music reveals a fall in quality. Assessing music and other art forms is more subjective than objective as tastes vary. But perusing the musical content being produced now reveals a decrease in creativity both lyrically and in terms of melody and arrangements and an obsession with genitalia and sexual activity.

Don’t get me wrong. Not everything in Jamaica is bad or on the decline. Despite our many bad roads, we also have awesome highways that we could only dream of decades ago. Technological advances, for example, at our airports, have helped make our lives a bit less stressful in some areas. And despite challenges in our health sector, we are able to provide treatment for some conditions that we struggled with before.

But standards in many areas have fallen drastically. Unsurprisingly, our brain drain continues, with the haemorrhaging of our talent away from our shores. According to Fund for Peace, we are number two on the list of countries facing the most brain drain.

WHAT DO WE DO?

So what do we do? It is easy to blame the Government as they have, indeed, contributed to our distress. But it would be unfair to do so as we have been on a slippery slope for decades, and both major parties have contributed to our current situation. So voting out this Jamaica Labour Party administration will not necessarily fix our problems, for not only has the People’s National Party contributed to this decline in the past, but there is no guarantee that they will do any better if they return to power.

Chronic poor governance has helped bring us here, but we must bear much of the responsibility ourselves. After all, it is we who vote for people we know are corrupt because we have something to gain from their corrupt practices or because we are Comrades or Labourites “for life”. It is we who abstain from voting and then complain when the administration in power fails us. It is we who complain about crime but dodge jury duty. It is we who abuse and neglect our children, who grow up to be dysfunctional adults. It is we who heap praise on creatives producing content of little artistic value.

The ship has a captain, but we are members of the crew. The crew helps to steer the ship and maintain order. We have been an ineffective crew. We must demand good governance and not make excuses for those who fall short. Those of us who know better must do better and resist the normalisation of slackness and mediocrity. We have the power to effect change. In the words of Internet activist Wael Ghonim, “The power of the people is much stronger than the people in power.”

Michael Abrahams is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, social commentator and human-rights advocate. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or follow him on X , formerly Twitter, @mikeyabrahams.