Epiphany: New order required in the new year
CAN YOU explain the value system, the thought process, the perception of the common good which would lead state officials to splurge on the Wakanda cake as well as any and all of the heap of excrescences still unresolved at PetroScam? When so many tens of thousands of Jamaicans will not eat a decent Christmas dinner tomorrow. Do the two situations relate in those people’s minds?
Or help answer the question posed to me this week as to why the money for the sign in Montego Bay could not be used to provide a working elevator at Victoria Jubilee?
For many, especially the powerful, even to pose such questions is absurd and betrays a communist mind. “Ronnie, don’t you read your own Bible, where it says the poor you have always with you; and anyway, shouldn’t we be grateful for all that Andrew and the private sector are trying to do for ‘them?’”
For the majority, beaten down by generations of inequality, the reaction is resignation: “We just leave it to God”, or cynicism: “A so it set. Gimme what you have for me”.
A caricature of public opinion, you say? Perhaps, but only partly so, stated this way in this Christmas Eve writing to emphasise the gross distortions around us and the diminished acceptance of a robust commitment to the common good (very distinct from seasonal philanthropy), without which there can be no hope of sustained, inclusive prosperity.
And quickly, go on to insist that the faith-borne spirit of Christmas can be the basis of changing the laden and depressed feelings of many and the cramp of the existing social and political economy. Because the intersection of the divine with the human in the person of Jesus, the circumstances in which He was born and the way in which He lived; all the values about which He witnessed, show a different, positive, salvific way to conduct personal life and organise society.
NO THEOCRACY
And this way implies no theocracy but a return to the Judaeo-Christian roots of our culture and institutions, while leaving ample room for nonbelievers – men and women of goodwill and genuine humanism to engage.
So for 2019, the national discourse could be fundamentally different from the current partisan dead end. First of all, we would have to change the way the next and subsequent Budgets were crafted; less concern about continuing the status quo, with its endemic inefficiencies and corruption, and instead, evaluating every allocation from a zero base against new priorities to lift up the weakest and achieve less classism and more inclusion.
Make that the philosophy of the Government and the pregnant mothers will get preference over the signage, and the greed and nepotism give way to the lowest possible fuel prices to consumers.
Then the blood and spirit-sucking violent crime and domestic abuse would no longer be seen as a problem mainly for the security forces, but a truly national issue where policing would be yoked with value indoctrination, relevant education, work and social engagement.
Also, Parliament would have a different conversation about issues like the states of emergency (SOEs). Andrew Holness’ charge that without the SOE murderers will overrun Jamaica is no more valid than is Trump’s assertion that without a wall America will be inundated with terrorists. Delroy Chuck would finally have to answer himself as to why the criminal dockets are still being crammed by charges against economically challenged, fatherless, restless black youth.
So the challenge and the exciting opportunity is to deepen understanding of, and commitment to, the transforming events which we celebrate at Christmas, then to bring about a new order in all its fullness during the new year.
What an epiphany that would be!