Vison 2030 has set out ambitious goals for Jamaica to achieve. The theme of this vision is:
'Jamaica, the place of choice to live, work, raise families, and do business'.

This plan outlines that in order to transform our country, many of us will need to change how we think and view life. It states that, "As a society, we will need to have a shared set of core values which will allow us to achieve Vision 2030 Jamaica." What are these core values?:
Honesty and truthfulness, respect, trust, forgiveness and tolerance, discipline, punctuality, responsibility, love, compassion, cooperation, national pride, good work ethic.
(Values and Attitudes Secretariat, 2002)

There are four goals that are outlined, the first being that Jamaicans are empowered to achieve their fullest potential. The four national outcomes of this goal is to have:
1. A healthy and stable population.
2. World-class education and training.
3. Effective social protection.
4. Authentic and transformational culture.
--Gleaner

How many of us knew that there was the "spirit" of a Values & Attitudes Secretary blissfully hovering over us?

It has been said that a country's culture oftentimes determines its level of economic prosperity. Culture can best be described as the way of life of a people. What really is the Jamaican culture? And is there a difference between the academics' and those in privileged positions’ perception and definition of our culture, as against the grass roots' interpretation dubbed “kulcha”?

Whatever views we accept or tolerate, the bottom line is that the Jamaican culture, as it is evolving, is very often out of sync with the Jamaican reality, especially when juxtaposed against Vision 2030, which has the theme “Jamaica, the place of choice to live, work, raise families, and do business”.

According to the Values and Attitudes Secretariat, 2002, “as a society, we will need to have a shared set of core values which will allow us to achieve Vision 2030 Jamaica”. When these core values are outlined, the goals and aspirations of Vision 2030 may well come across as a quixotic affair.

I say this because all of the core values, as set out at this time, appear to be unattainable and cannot be achieved within the next sixteen years if we continue in the way we are now.

One of the four national outcomes, and perhaps the most challenging in terms of accomplishment, is for there to be an “authentic and transformational culture”.

It goes on to say that a person with vision and passion can achieve great things, and the way to get things done is by injecting enthusiasm and energy.

...if Vision 2030 is to be realised then the culture of dependency must be expunged from the Jamaican psyche and our politicians must lead this charge like good parents, being firm but kind.

In this context, taking responsibility for oneself must be encouraged through public and formal education. Unfortunately, our education system, emboldened by a self-serving intelligentsia and a media fraternity that is wary of pursuing advocacy journalism, has helped to perpetuate the blame game and “a nuh nutten” culture.
--Lloyd B Smith (Member of Parliament, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives)

Observer Link: Our Culture Vs Reality
www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Our-culture-versus-reality

Gleaner Link: Is Jamaica Ready for Vision 2030?
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130512/focus/focus8.html


Vulgarity, 'badmanism', violence, paternal and maternal irresponsibility must become matters at which we become outraged and seek to change, so that our children can be given a fighting chance to indeed be "socially aware and responsible, conscious of what is good for society, committed to a sustainable lifestyle, spiritually conscious and mature, tolerant of diversity, rooted in his/her Jamaican 'smaddiness'" (Task Force on Educational Reform Final Report).

Thanks Z. Still waiting on:

Soil improvement.

Organic food production.

Clean air.

More trees.

More fish and birds.

These may be a subset of a healthy population. Easy to be shelved? Lot's of work when the obstacles are removed.

These are basic issues that involve community participation.

Remember....Community Tourism?

The sign on the boat claims that Treasure Beach is the "Home of Community Tourism".....

Ready?

Lloyd B Smith is right- vision 2030 is quixotic. There is nothing in place to realize this vision in a 100 years!`

Unless 'vision 2030' comes with a new human nature this is nothing in the world but wish-full thinking.

And challenging if examples are not set by our elected servants, just signposts and a timeline; 2030.

An Incisive Indictment: "Is Jamaica Really Where You Want To Live?"

We never want to pile on further (on ourselves) when we might be feeling down, but doesn't VISION and the visionary require clear-eyed perceptions of where we are, our stutter-steps to the starting gate, and the distance we must travel to reach estimable goals ahead.

Here's an excerpted Gleaner Opinion piece by county-man, George Davis, which we all must search our minds & hearts for the truths and cures for the maladies:

The great Manleys, Norman Washington and Michael, along with the no less exceptional Alexander Bustamante, dreamt of and worked towards building a Jamaica where a man or woman could raise a family, fully confident that the State would do its part in the facilitation process.

Their collective dream was that the State would take care of the necessaries of infrastructure, policy implementation and system of governance to meet the needs of the people. The people, on the other hand, would use their initiative and endeavour to achieve social mobility, build strong interpersonal relationships and make the country great.

Based on the dream of those three great men, every Jamaican could achieve the education their ability and ambition dictated. Every Jamaican could dream of, and attain, any office in the land by dint of hard work and application. By their dream, nowhere could be more enticing than this land of strong wood and flowing water, to establish families and create communities.

• Jamaica, today, is not a country for the family oriented. It's not a place where you will reap the reward, over time, of hard graft and toil. It's not a country where a man, without the parachute of old money or a stake in some illegal enterprise, can plan for a wife and three children, and hope to live comfortably.

• It's not a country where you pay your taxes with a smiling face, knowing full well that whenever you drive on the streets or walk in your community, there's ample evidence of your tax dollars at work. It's not a place where you believe the political leaders, when they profess love of country over love of party. Sadly, it's not a place where you can play by the rules safe in the knowledge you won't get shafted.

• What Jamaica is right now is a hand-to-mouth country. It's a place for the hustlers to thrive. It's a place ideal for providing a bellyful now, with no realistic hope that the same will be provided any time later.

• It's a place where the taxman is always in your pocket. Even though his grubby fingers almost never probe the purse of those of greater avarice and means than you, but who see themselves as being above contributing to government revenues except through consumption. It's a place where the amount that has been borrowed, over time, in your name, is not reflected in the rate of the country's development.

• It's a place for the 'gallis', a man who only needs enough to allow him to find a cosy space to lay both heads. It's a place where it's easy for each 'gallis' to have lengthy 'gallistry', populated by women reeled in by a promise to take care of only their most basic needs.

• It's a place where the womenfolk are so denied opportunity that in order to survive, they must suppress dignity and provide a cushion for various 'gallis' to rest their weary heads comfortably. It's a perfect place for the undisciplined, the wild and reckless.

• This Jamaica is the ideal place if you want to live in the moment, carefree because the future doesn't exist, and accepting you can be murdered at any time.

• It's a place, this Jamaica, that drives you mad with all the broken promises, elusive dreams and high taxation. It's a place where you sometimes feel as if it would be easier for you, like so many others, to relinquish ambition.

• Why burden yourself with dreams of self-actualisation? Why try every day to improve yourself and your circumstances when the country's going nowhere? Why not just float like plankton in the sea, going where the current takes you?}


Does this sound like the voicings of a depressed-sane "reporter" scanning his own life, folks & families Island-wide for signs of hope, accomplishments, joys...a Future?
Where are (& there are) some countervailing signs, in this community, that we can help stem the unrelenting tides, and project to ourselves, our neighbours, the world that we are picking ourselves up, fighting the inertia, and coherently pursuing goals that are not selfish & intra-tribal?

Gleaner Link:
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20140122/cleisure/cleisure3.html