Vision and destiny of Jamaica

THE EDITOR, Madam:

This destiny has an internal and an external element. Internally, we receive the expressed idea that all Jamaicans are to operate “so that Jamaica may, under God, increase in beauty, fellowship and prosperity”. This concept of national beauty is in contrast with the ugliness of violence, perversion and corruption. That we “under God, increase in beauty” is the linchpin upon which fellowship and prosperity stand.

Our ability to retain the knowledge of what is right, decry that which is evil, and defend the truth in our society against local and global infestation will determine whether we remain emancipated and independent. If we are assimilated as a spoke in another nation’s runaway wheel or/and drink of our own Kool-Aid of locally branded totalitarianism, chaos and perversion, in either case, we would be a failed democracy, a rampantly corrupt society and an ugly, godless nation.

It is the responsibility of all Jamaicans to steward this vision, but especially those who can tell the difference between that which is beautiful and that which is horrendous. There are those who cannot tell their right hand from their left. Surely the nation cannot be left in their hands. But, even if they have political power, the masses that retain the ability to know good from evil must be gatekeepers and the conscience.

The price of emancipendence is eternal vigilance. As such, we must reflect on the 2017 ruling by the Supreme Court against the national identification system which restrained the government from oppressing our people. We must never forget the exorbitant increases in the salaries of parliamentarians, which both political parties agreed to while poverty abounds. We must take note of the moves of our government to defend our nation from the imposition of foreign nationals on our values related to marriage in the recent diplomatic spat.

But also the unresponsiveness of our government to the insult of the flying of the LGBT flags at the US Embassy and Canadian High Commission. We must be conscious of the trivialisation and disregard which the government meted out against the Jamaican Constitution, as it relates to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution. These events and more stress the imperative of the vigilance of the people of Jamaica in the face of glimpses of autocracy, cultural colonialism and systems of global control which are actively recruiting nations as lab rats for social and economic experimentation.

As we celebrate, we must also defend our emancipendence and guard our freedoms from forces, foreign and domestic, that seek to neutralise our accomplishments and derail Jamaica from the fullness of her destiny. This destiny, in its most mature form, is also external – “to play her part in advancing the welfare of the whole human race”.

DANIEL THOMAS

President

Love March Movement