08-17-2014, 03:27 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-17-2014, 06:32 AM by Westenders.)
Just my thoughts in response to a lot of posts and threads of late.
murder, robbery, gun crime, knife crime, rape, child abuse, sexual harassment, mental health illness, stalking, gangs, theft, poor parenting, lone parents, DV, elderly abuse, racism, discrimination, prejudice, poor social model of disability, human rights crimes, youth crime, high unemployment, sex offenders, perverts, homophobia, divorce, corrupt policing, unfair justice system, sexual exploitation, sex trafficking, human trafficking, modern day slavery, migration, corrupt landlords, promiscuity, poor housing, con artists, dysfunctional families, child prostitution, HIV, STI's, teenage pregnancy, child poverty, hunger, poor health, illiteracy, poverty, poor transport infrastructure, homelessness, begging, alcohol and drug dependence......
Unique to Jamaica, no! they are all highly prevalent in all of our countries.
The difference is that in our countries (Europe and the America's) there are public and voluntary services, legislation and pressure groups. In the uk we have a robust and comprehensive welfare system and free healthcare for not just British citizens but anyone who moves here from EU countries.
But even with all of that, statistically and proportionately per capita we have similar rates of some of these crimes, more of some and less of some.
Some we have just become more sophisticated at, such as internet crimes.
So our countries are doing better in some fields and just the same and worse in others, and we are (hate this old terminology) first world countries, while Jamaica is still recognised as a third world country.
Assumptions are often made that the tourist income, should mean that Jamaica doesn't stay in this third world state, however the GDP from tourism is only about 5-6%. And the international debt they have taken on swallows this up.
There are also assumptions made that a lot of people have blinders on and don't see the real Jamaica. Most people have seen a lot of different things, no-one is denying that these issues aren't present in Jamaica. My point would be that I am as aware of it as I am in my own country, well in my case I am more aware of it in my own country, it is not always overt, and as visitors not residents a lot of people don't see this stuff because its hidden and behind closed doors just like it is in our countries.
I often remark that Jamaica is about 100 years behind our countries, which is not excusing anything or anyone, but in reality I believe change will come, just like our countries have evolved and developed, and still are.
If you look at some Middle East and East European countries, they are very similar, with similar issues, and some live like we did in England hundreds of years ago not 100. The world is very diverse, and we are not all on a level playing field.
You simply cannot keep comparing Jamaica to the infrastructures we have in our countries.
The corruption in Government and the Police is so entrenched, I truly don't know how, other than a people's revolution, the Jamaican people can get rid of this.
Neither do I agree as Jamaica being part of the Commonwealth, our own Governments don't support this country more. I said in a previous post, if Jamaica had oil or minerals that we needed in our countries, we would have our big hands in their country by now.
I think, through our various connections empowering our friends, family and associates, not criticizing them would have greater value. Small changes lead to bigger changes.
For people that have been hurt and suffered in Jamaica and at home, I don't think anyone on this board will be without empathy and understanding, or don't believe that what has been said is not true. In todays world many of us will have or will know people who have suffered too, but not everyone has the inner strength to speak out, and I respect that too.
In our countries, the justice system does not always protect people and prevent or punish the harm either. And people don't often speak out until the perpetrator is dead, or families and individuals cover things up and protect them. Poor understanding by the police doesn't help here either, especially in DV, rape, harassment and child abuse cases. A lot of people aren't prosecuted because its your word against theirs, disgusting in my view. I see on a daily basis that we don't always get it right either.
So where we might have legislation, and Jamaica doesn't, they still don't always protect people, and our system doesn't always implement the legislation.
I always look at the links to articles that are posted, and find them interesting and informative always.
What I have struggled with of late, hence my post, is that in everyone of those articles there are also many positive stories about what Jamaicans and the authorities are trying to do across the island, and these are never highlighted.
In my training in anti-oppressive practice, I recognise that this sort of thing serves to oppress and hold people back more than it does to raise awareness and illicit change.
Evidence shows that recognising people and communities strengths and celebrating achievements encourages change, not telling people that they are bad and doing wrong. This is not even a recognised basic modern parenting technique any more.
There just is no balance on here a lot of the time, negativity dominates.
Media is also very manipulative and often wrong so I don't think it can or should be relied on in anyone's countries for a sole source of information.
Can you imagine what Jamaicans think of our society's when watching shows like Jerry Springer and Jeremy Kyle. Are those people representative of all of us?
I don't think so. Or reading articles in rags such as the Sun (UK) which is a very biased and covertly racist, right wing newspaper.
Sorry for the long post, many of you probably wont agree, but that's okay with me. This is just my opinion.
murder, robbery, gun crime, knife crime, rape, child abuse, sexual harassment, mental health illness, stalking, gangs, theft, poor parenting, lone parents, DV, elderly abuse, racism, discrimination, prejudice, poor social model of disability, human rights crimes, youth crime, high unemployment, sex offenders, perverts, homophobia, divorce, corrupt policing, unfair justice system, sexual exploitation, sex trafficking, human trafficking, modern day slavery, migration, corrupt landlords, promiscuity, poor housing, con artists, dysfunctional families, child prostitution, HIV, STI's, teenage pregnancy, child poverty, hunger, poor health, illiteracy, poverty, poor transport infrastructure, homelessness, begging, alcohol and drug dependence......
Unique to Jamaica, no! they are all highly prevalent in all of our countries.
The difference is that in our countries (Europe and the America's) there are public and voluntary services, legislation and pressure groups. In the uk we have a robust and comprehensive welfare system and free healthcare for not just British citizens but anyone who moves here from EU countries.
But even with all of that, statistically and proportionately per capita we have similar rates of some of these crimes, more of some and less of some.
Some we have just become more sophisticated at, such as internet crimes.
So our countries are doing better in some fields and just the same and worse in others, and we are (hate this old terminology) first world countries, while Jamaica is still recognised as a third world country.
Assumptions are often made that the tourist income, should mean that Jamaica doesn't stay in this third world state, however the GDP from tourism is only about 5-6%. And the international debt they have taken on swallows this up.
There are also assumptions made that a lot of people have blinders on and don't see the real Jamaica. Most people have seen a lot of different things, no-one is denying that these issues aren't present in Jamaica. My point would be that I am as aware of it as I am in my own country, well in my case I am more aware of it in my own country, it is not always overt, and as visitors not residents a lot of people don't see this stuff because its hidden and behind closed doors just like it is in our countries.
I often remark that Jamaica is about 100 years behind our countries, which is not excusing anything or anyone, but in reality I believe change will come, just like our countries have evolved and developed, and still are.
If you look at some Middle East and East European countries, they are very similar, with similar issues, and some live like we did in England hundreds of years ago not 100. The world is very diverse, and we are not all on a level playing field.
You simply cannot keep comparing Jamaica to the infrastructures we have in our countries.
The corruption in Government and the Police is so entrenched, I truly don't know how, other than a people's revolution, the Jamaican people can get rid of this.
Neither do I agree as Jamaica being part of the Commonwealth, our own Governments don't support this country more. I said in a previous post, if Jamaica had oil or minerals that we needed in our countries, we would have our big hands in their country by now.
I think, through our various connections empowering our friends, family and associates, not criticizing them would have greater value. Small changes lead to bigger changes.
For people that have been hurt and suffered in Jamaica and at home, I don't think anyone on this board will be without empathy and understanding, or don't believe that what has been said is not true. In todays world many of us will have or will know people who have suffered too, but not everyone has the inner strength to speak out, and I respect that too.
In our countries, the justice system does not always protect people and prevent or punish the harm either. And people don't often speak out until the perpetrator is dead, or families and individuals cover things up and protect them. Poor understanding by the police doesn't help here either, especially in DV, rape, harassment and child abuse cases. A lot of people aren't prosecuted because its your word against theirs, disgusting in my view. I see on a daily basis that we don't always get it right either.
So where we might have legislation, and Jamaica doesn't, they still don't always protect people, and our system doesn't always implement the legislation.
I always look at the links to articles that are posted, and find them interesting and informative always.
What I have struggled with of late, hence my post, is that in everyone of those articles there are also many positive stories about what Jamaicans and the authorities are trying to do across the island, and these are never highlighted.
In my training in anti-oppressive practice, I recognise that this sort of thing serves to oppress and hold people back more than it does to raise awareness and illicit change.
Evidence shows that recognising people and communities strengths and celebrating achievements encourages change, not telling people that they are bad and doing wrong. This is not even a recognised basic modern parenting technique any more.
There just is no balance on here a lot of the time, negativity dominates.
Media is also very manipulative and often wrong so I don't think it can or should be relied on in anyone's countries for a sole source of information.
Can you imagine what Jamaicans think of our society's when watching shows like Jerry Springer and Jeremy Kyle. Are those people representative of all of us?
I don't think so. Or reading articles in rags such as the Sun (UK) which is a very biased and covertly racist, right wing newspaper.
Sorry for the long post, many of you probably wont agree, but that's okay with me. This is just my opinion.
