The Star (Jamaica)

Why do we ‘bad mind’ uptown?

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Two things occurred this past week that has me once again concerned about how some of us respond to things in this country. The more recent one was the eviction of disgraced attorney Harold Brady from the home in which he has lived for years in Cherry Gardens. As you might recall, Brady, a once highly respected attorney, was disbarred and accused of fraud, and has fallen from grace. On Wednesday he was evicted, as the owner of the house in which he lived claims Brady owes millions in back rent. Before I go on, let me state here that I am not a fan of Brady, but to see how people are celebratin­g his demise makes me wonder how much better they are than him. Why would they want to take so much pleasure from someone’s misfortune? Had they been in a similar situation, how would they feel about people celebratin­g their misery the way I see them celebratin­g his? We are all human and we err. Brady is no different than most of us.

DOUBLE STANDARDS

The lotto scammers who have brought shame and wanton bloodletti­ng to this country are seen as ‘youth a hustle’, but an uptown lawyer like Brady is seen as scum of the earth. How do you explain that? The other thing I witnessed this week is how people have come down on Campion College for winning the School’s Challenge Quiz competitio­n. In previous years the reaction is usually positive, congratula­tory. This time it is more vitriolic. I don’t get it. What, is Campion not within their right to try and win the competitio­n? Does the school’s elitist tag preclude them from trying to excel at something?

I don’t know where the mindset comes from, but it seems to me that we celebrate when the well-to-dos among us trip and fall, like in the case of Brady; but then we frown when they excel, as in the case of Campion College.

Being rich is not a crime. Most of us, if we had one wish, it would be to be rich. Why, then, do we hate rich people so much? Is this the ‘bad mind’ culture we so often sing about? Whatever it is, it is not a good look on us.

We need to step back and take a seriously long look at ourselves, because there is a lot of hypocrisy at play here and it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Send comments to levyl1@hotmail.com

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 ?? NORMAN GRINDLEY/CHIEF PHOTO EDITOR ?? Police stand guard outside the home of attorney Harold Brady before he was evicted from his Cherry Gardens, St Andrew residence on Wednesday.
NORMAN GRINDLEY/CHIEF PHOTO EDITOR Police stand guard outside the home of attorney Harold Brady before he was evicted from his Cherry Gardens, St Andrew residence on Wednesday.
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