Melville Cooke Revolution: Any fundamental change or reversal of conditions; (in Marxism) the replacement of one ruling class by another; the class struggle which is expected to lead to political change and the triumph of communism
WE TEND to think of "revolution" in its glorified sense, of an oppressed class of people rising up pitchforks or M-16s in hand to take charge of their own destinies.
As Mutabaruka has reminded us, a rebellion is not a revolution and very often the initial burst of violence results in not only a failure to effect fundamental change, but prompts the intensification of the "system". The 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion is a case in point, Paul Bogle's noble but doomed attempt to effect changes in land distribution leading to the creation of the police force. And, more than a century later, we have the CCN and "the police returned the fire, the area was later searched and John Stroke found suffering from gunshot wounds blah blah blah--".
The gas tax riots both under Seaga in the 1980s and Patterson of three years ago had absolutely no effect - any rollback has simply been redirected into a less sensitive but no less pocket-bleeding area. After all, the government does expect over $15 million from increased traffic fines in the latest round of tax increases announced on Tuesday. Expect the police's personal tax ("whe yu can do fi yusself?") to rise accordingly.
Under the trappings of Escalades, Lex-uses, multi-million dollar houses and other evidence of lavish lifestyles, though, is a true revolution, a change in Jamaica's social order. "Drugs money" is the agent of change which has gone the furthest towards changing the "white yu arright, brown yu can stick around, black stay back" Jamaican system. It has been less than two decades since cocaine has been in and through Jamaica, yet there are so many ghetto youths who were supposed to have no expectations beyond a menial job of some sort who have achieved financially. Marijuana has had an impact as well, but cocaine is more pronounced, from my observations.
"Drugs money" has made obvious moves into upscale neighbourhoods and "gated communities", helped keep the sinking Jamaican economy at least from going bottoms up and gone further to "make money run" below Cross Roads than any social or employment programme that I have heard of in this country.
It has, of course, come with a terrible price in lives, prison sentences, further corruption of our justice system and avarice, but it has come. The upper class has benefited (some being traffickers themselves, others owning things like real estate companies and car dealerships), but the lower class, black Jamaicans have seen some money. Some real money, for once. And not just one and two.
