NO ONE ESCAPES THE WANTON LOSS OF LIFE
THE WANTON loss of life invades every aspect of life – family, community, business, government, and church. No one escapes. The societ y lives in fear, conscious of present danger. This ver y likely has a negative impact on productivity. Overtime and late-night work require provision for extra security. The sadness many women experience (because 90 per cent of murder victims are men) borders on depression; substance abuse may deaden the hurt for a while, giving rise to yet another costly problem for the country. Children who dodge bullets night after night soon learn to fight fire with fire, and so violence is perpetuated from one generation to the next. There is the frustration of trying to
teach positive problem-solving skills, as young men know that the man with the weapon gets the respect and takes the loot.
Many of us still remember a gentle and safe Jamaica when we could walk the streets anywhere at any time without fear or anxiety. Then people talked about the one murder case for the entire year. We were horrified at one single life lost to violence.
Now we wake every morning to the news that five or six people were killed, and that’s “normal”. We have taught ourselves to become numb, to cease to feel intensely for others. We have deliberately sedated our emotions, as a coping strategy. Our sensibilities are no longer revolted because that’s life in Jamdown.
The psychologists can confirm whether we are a nation in anguish and in need of healing. We have learned too well to disguise suffering; we put the best foot forward, smile, and repress anxiety, hate, revulsion, and anger. Those emotions have little expressions beyond the interment of lost relatives. But every so often, those destructive repressed emotions burst through at the most unlikely and embarrassing times, and we display hostility and downright aggression towards spouses, children, and even strangers. And so bitterness begets bitterness and we lose the sweetness and trust we once had as a nation. Just observe the rage and abuse often meted out to women and children at home, and to motorists and pedestrians on the road.