He is... believe him!
when many do not have indoor plumbing, decent roads, and other basic amenities.”
Credentialism, the belief in or reliance on academic or other formal qualifications as the best measure of a person’s intelligence or ability to do a particular job, seems to have become a political affliction in the PNP. Crawford’s narcissistic narrative, therefore, is a grim reflection of the leadership at 89 Old Hope Road.
In the run-up to the 2016 General Election I remember seeing a video in which a very senior PNP leader titivated himself on the political stump by listing the individuals in his party who had the title Dr before their names. Academic qualifications are very important, but they are not a hard and fast indicator of competence in the management of a country’s affairs. We have learned that lesson the hard way in this country, and we have the economic, social and political scars to prove it too.
Those in the PNP, Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), and elsewhere who treat academic degrees as badges of superiority would do well to take a bit of advice from British statesman, diplomat, and writer Philip Dormer Stanhope: “Wear your learning like your watch in a private pocket, and do not pull it out and strike it merely to show you have one. If you are asked what o’clock it is, tell it, but do not proclaim it hourly and unasked like the watchman.”
They need to also be mindful of another reality. We are in a new political era. Folks are mightily concerned about performance that has a positive impact on their pockets, dinner tables, and long-term development.
Crawford, in the voice note, said people were more concerned about “excitement and rum” in Portland Eastern, and suggested that they were less in tune with ideas. Wrong! Folks are just not willing to sacrifice their physiological needs purely on the altar ideology, anymore.
Inches or leaps?
Four Sundays ago I noted in my The Agenda column that Member of Parliament for St Andrew East Rural
Juilet Holness was a political thermostat in the making. On that occasion, this headline caught my attention: ‘Life over votes — Holness to squeal on rogues building in danger zones, willing to suffer hit at polls’ (The Gleaner, November 2, 2020).
Mark Golding, at his installation and in subsequent remarks, has spoken glowingly about helping to create a Jamaica in which inequalities are halted. This headline, ‘River clash — No relocation of flood-hit Weise Road residents – Golding’ (The Gleaner,
Jamaica needs political leaders who are thinking about the development of our country 25, 50, and 100 years from today. Wishy-washy leaders, who worshipped on the altar of personal expediency, have brought untold hardships upon the people of this country, if not near ruin. Jamaica is at a critical point in her development. We need many more political thermostats and fewer thermometers.
We should treat with a pound of salt the utterances/decisions of those political leaders who wholesale and retail their socalled deepest convictions after factoring/measuring only the personal political benefit to them and their party. This ‘samfie’ approach is proven a recipe for impoverishment.
I hope more Members of Parliament will develop the testicular fortitude like St
Last Wednesday Opposition Leader Mark Golding announced that his long-time ally and business partner, Peter Bunting, would fill the eighth position in the Senate. I was not surprised.
Recall I wrote, among other things, in my The Agenda piece: “It is not an accident that former treasurer of the PNP, Norman Horne, has decided to forego his appointment to the Senate. Among other things, he says his actions are guided by principles. I believe him. But I also believe Horne’s actions are also directed by political expediency. Dr Phillips says he will allow the incoming president to choose the eighth Opposition senator. I think these political actions, in effect, reopen the door for the return of Peter Bunting. There are few accidents in politics.” (Jamaica Observer, October 25, 2020)
Is this consolation prize good enough for Bunting?
Recall I also wrote: “The birds sing that several who suffer with ‘vaulting ambition’ are keenly eyeing the posts of leader of Opposition business in the House of Representatives and Senate.” (Jamaica Observer, November 15, 2020)
It is interesting how the political tea leaves quiver.