The new Jamaica
Dear Editor,
I have seen that so many of us are concerned for one reason or the other about the future of what may be a Jamaican republic.
Now what I would like to say to our current leaders and people of influence is this: We must not make the same mistakes we did over the past 60 years of semi-independence, because we are not really independent.
For us to truly become independent we must transition to a republic, which means there will be no influence from the British monarchy. We will have to, from now on, do our own thing, which must reflect the kind of independent republic we really want. in its wake.
Neither the threat of extradition nor the brutal ending of the participants is a deterrent. They would rather die with their boots on than return to a life of poverty.
We must choke off the source of funding of this notorious enterprise without impeding the flow of legitimate remittances. In other words, remove the roots of this destructive activity and allow the branches to wither.
Instead of propagating the overused narrative that the scammers target the elderly and the demented to rationalise the victimisation of its citizens in this nefarious scheme, perhaps the United States Government should focus on this malady afflicting sections of the American public with the propensity to gamble and treat with the pathology as a public health issue.
During the war on drugs, the United States sought to treat with this problem by suppressing the source of the drugs instead of going to the root by addressing the matter of demand of the afflicted.
The war on drugs set in motion a tough-on-crime policy agenda that continues to produce disastrous results today. Since 1971, the war on drugs has cost the United States an estimated US$1 trillion. In 2015, the federal government spent an estimated US$9.2 million every day to incarcerate people charged with drug-related offences, that is more than US$3.3 billion annually. Today, researchers and policymakers alike
So I say to one and all, let’s start the process by starting to prepare the plan so that all Jamaicans will have a copy of it and we will have enough time for consultations across the 14 parishes, after which we will have the referendum and, based on the results, make our next move.
I would like to point out that, for us to have a true and prosperous republic, we cannot continue with the old system, we have to create brand new systems, starting with our constitution.
We must also ensure that, under the republic, Patois will be recognised as one of our official languages, thus giving our locals who speak Patois the right to agree that the war on drugs is a failure.
The Jamaican Government must enact the requisite legislation post-haste, which would satisfy America’s demand for retribution.
Kill them if you must by our own hands, but spare us the collective shame of watching with embarrassment our citizens perp walk the plank at Norman Manley’s tarmac with klieg lights for maximum effect, creating opportunities for the media to take photographs and videos of the arrested suspects.
This troubling and awkward sight of black men and women being carted off in chains to distant shores with white overseers as fodder to satify the insatiable appetite of the American prison industry’s demand for cheap labour brings back disturbing and sordid memories of our ancestors shackled and marching through the “Door of No Return” in Ghana, through which millions of Africans were forced onto slave ships bound for the United States and the Caribbean.
In treating with lottery scamming, the US needs to learn from its failed and misplaced strategy in the war on drugs. My recommendation is for them to choke off the demand stateside — remove the roots, allow the branches to wither, and immediately stop the funding to this unwholesome destructive force that is threatening our nation’s future.
O David Allen odamaxef@yahoo.com
communicate in a language they can understand.
We can no longer continue to carry on with the old colonial system, all Jamaicans must be counted, those at home and abroad. We must set up a new system that includes every Jamaican. No matter where in the world they are, they must now have a vote in their country’s elections. How the country is governed is a matter for all Jamaicans, no matter where they live.
We can no afford to maintain what we have now because it’s unacceptable. Instead, we must strive to become a beacon for the new set of republics that will emerge in the Caribbean.
Robert Clarke rclarke88@hotmail.com