Best is yet to come, again

THE EDITOR, Sir:

SOME 50 years ago, Jamaica was a much nicer place. People had good manners and their children were properly brought up because they were part of a family and the church played a big part in family life back in those days. You could get a very good elementary education and you could go on to learn a trade, or go on to high school then on to university. Alernatively, you could attend a technical school and then on to CAST (College of Arts Science and Technology), now UTech, and finally to university.

Before graduating from high school, companies would send representatives to schools to recruit potential employees. One could join the civil service or the private sector. We were not short of jobs. There were also many scholarships available, or you could simply migrate. Our currency was stronger than that of the United States and crime and violence very low. People overseas would boast about visiting Jamaica. Many celebrities were making Jamaica their home.

Independence

Then came Independence. The two main political parties came out of the two major trade unions and they began to compete for state power and, hence, state resources. This was the birth of our tribal politics and garrisons We began to dispense with production and "the fight for scarce benefits and political spoils" was on in earnest. Who was in was prepared to kill to stay in, and who was out was prepared to kill to get in, on the political spoils.

How and why we have travelled in reverse from that time until now, when everyone else was going in the opposite direction, may forever remain a mystery. The politics of 'divide and Rule' certainly played a big part in our demise, with 'class prejudice' being a major part of the divide to this day. In later years, corruption became a dominant factor in impoverishing the nation and so widening the divide.

We may never know the true reason behind the recent dramatic turn of events but, if we believe that all things are according to a divine order, and look dispassionately at what has happened and how it happened, we might see that the stage is now set for meaningful change to take place, if only we would seize the opportunity.

I am, etc.,

Victor E. Nugent

St Anns Bay