Online feedback

 

Below are excerpted comments from online readers to The Gleaner's editorial yesterday, titled 'Bureaucracy must liberate itself from gangs of Gordon House'.

Analyse culture

This series of editorials, aimed at the core issues that should be of concern to all Jamaicans, is certainly thought-provoking. We have a crisis of leadership, i.e. a reflection of our failure to attract our best and brightest to our political system.

Obviously, when vision and intellectual capacity are weak, there is a tendency to see power as an end in itself, not because they have a clear idea of what to do to improve the country. When this is the case, it is easy to see why gangs are created and nurtured. After all, this process worked for centuries in medieval Europe, where the power of the leader depended on the support of the warlords (a.k.a. dukes, earls, etc.) loyal to him/her.

I suggest analysis on what needs to change in our culture and in our institutions to attract better leaders. Such an analysis should begin with a critical examination of the role of the media in creating the mess we are in now.

- Sinnombre

Same voting pattern, same results

I am in favour of a military coup, because it appears as if the current politicians will have to be pushed out of Gordon House, and they would only do so kicking and screaming.

You see, Gordon House has become a nursing home, a virtual repository for the old and indigent, the clueless and the brain-dead. But it is the voters who made them that way.

We will continue to get exactly what we have been getting if we continue to vote the way we've been voting since Independence.

Merely flipping a diseased rug from side to side will not improve the health of the household; sometimes, washing it will not suffice either. It has to be thrown out.

- Concerned Jamaican

Re-education is key to transformation

Your editorial series on the political gangs of Gordon House is a good start to making the politicians feel uncomfortable; however, much more effort will be needed to transform the gangsterism that has corrupted the political system.

As we have seen in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and other Arab and North African countries, changing an obstinate, corrupt and ineffective political system can only be accomplished when people take action.

It is possible that the bureaucracy or civil servants could play a role in transforming the political system. However, this public bureaucracy is an agent of the Government, and so they are part of the corrupt political system.

Most Jamaicans do not realise they can force change on the political system. For Jamaicans to become more proactive, they will need to be re-educated about the power they have and how to use it. This is where I believe The Gleaner can play a role.

Let's not just call the corrupt and incompetent politicians gangsters; let's put some pressure on them to do our bidding, not theirs.

- Mistermel

Corruption rampant

Jamaicans must first admit to the problem of corruption in the society at large. One thing is sure: Change is unlikely to start with the gangs of Gordon House.

- Camo4

Unfair labelling

While it is hard to disagree with The Gleaner's assessment of our politicians, I cannot agree with the term 'gangs of Gordon House'. It is really a slight to these men and women who are really part and parcel of our society and who the society supports as its representatives in the running of affairs.

It is true that we may not like how they operate, and yes, some of them are corrupt. But on the whole, politicians have done a tremendous lot for Jamaica.

- Dranks

Don't leave change to MPs

Jamaica needs its own version of the Magna Carta. A revised Constitution drafted by persons outside Parliament and imposed on the politicians by the will of the people. Change cannot be left to the MPs.

- Mid_towner

Troubling satistics

People fear for Jamaica's future because they see too many things that are wrong, and these things overwhelm all that is right. They see criminals and crooks masquerading as leaders and what passes for 'democracy' as working for the benefit of the well-heeled, well-connected and wealthy, as opposed to working for the benefit of the masses.

The fact that a third of Jamaicans would welcome a military coup and that just over 45 per cent are satisfied with what passes for democracy in Jamaica is very telling and troubling.

Still, I can't say I'm too surprised. The problem is, we know what has to be done to turn things around, but who do we get to do it? Clearly, it's not this present bunch and not those who lead the Opposition, nor do we want a government that's going to proscribe our rights, so who?

To improve, the country will have to do the three Rs - reduce, reform and restructure.

- TrevDiMan

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