Manley's policies: good or evil?

Ramesh Sujanani, Contributor

I have seen Ian Boyne's programmes many times, and I have thought a few to be spiritually moving. I had no idea his spirituality extended to the graveside as well, to converse and cavort with duppy, Michael Manley or otherwise, so it is my duppy against his duppy.

I have to say Ian's article reads better than I thought. It is more forthright than I believed it would be. Manley was an extremely divisive person. One of my associates said in the early 1970s that Manley would be the most famous or infamous prime minister Jamaica ever saw. Unfortunately, the latter is true, much to my regret, because then I believed he had the right ideas for Jamaica.

For who in his right mind would say on public television: "And if you do not like my policies, there are five flights a day to Miami, and you can get out of Jamaica," to his own people? Assad in Syria is shooting to death his own people, and Manley tells them to "get out". What is the difference? Rejecting or killing your own people is the same idea, except for the blood.

Indeed, many persons left. The wealth and health of Jamaica for the next 20 years was compromised. There were no management skills left, and what was there was barely able to cope with the problems left behind.

But it was not what Manley said about social conscience, or social equality; it was what he continued to do to his own people. He subverted his efforts to accommodate those of Fidel Castro, postulating to Castro and to Russia his intent to come their way, to "walk with Castro to the mountaintop".

In the late 1970s, Jamaica became a special target for Cuba. Fidel Castro and other Cuban officials developed close relations with important members of the People's National Party, which governed Jamaica from 1972-1980. Cuban security personnel trained Jamaican security officers in Cuba and Jamaica, including members of the security forces of the Office of the Prime Minister. Cuba also trained about 1,400 Jamaican youths in Cuba as construction workers through a brigadista programme. Political indoctrination in Cuba formed part of this group's curriculum. A considerable number of these Jamaican youths received military training while in Cuba, including instruction in revolutionary tactics and use of arms.

Whither social equity?

To consider another policy of Manley's: How do we define 'social equality'. 'Social equality' has a number of meanings consistent with the kind of distribution that people would expect. Should persons have an equal amount of money or resources?

But people will use their resources differently, resulting in an uneven distribution of dividends, so some will have and others will lose what they have, much the way we have now.

The expressions 'social equality', 'social justice' and 'social conscience' may be interpreted by the masses of people as a share-the-wealth philosophy when such a concept is not feasible or desirable.

Many sociologists suggest that few societies achieve total social equality because there are so many ways those societies separate into different groups. Income level is a dividing factor, but other things that create some form of social inequality include discrimination against gender, race, religion, or ethnicity.

Some governments actively promote social equality by guaranteeing basic rights to all citizens such as rights to free speech, to vote, to jury trial, and to freedom from discrimination. Even with these guarantees, all members of a society may not be equal. Inequities such as quality of education, even if public and free, can create differences in how many citizens are able to avail themselves of basic rights and wealth.

Having said this, it is true that many social programmes brought about by Michael Manley are active to day and are a testament to his ideas and vision.

In the balance, what do we have? A subversive terrorist, or a leader who built stepping stones for poverty-stricken people? Or just an ordinary man with ideals trying to do the best for his people?

Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.