Delroy ChuckPOLITICS HAS contributed overwhelmingly to the ruination that has overtaken the Jamaican landscape. While there are positives in the political development of our nation, the overriding negatives have kept Jamaica largely undeveloped, crime-ridden and poverty-stricken. When Jamaica gained independence in 1962, few would have imagined a country with such enormous potential would be lagging behind the rest of the Caribbean in virtually every measure of growth and development. Quite frankly, Jamaica has suffered immeasurably from the fight for scarce benefits and the politics of distribution and handouts.
After a wonderful period of growth and development in the first ten years of independence, the disastrous period of 1972-1980 must be seen as the beginning of the economic rut, social dependency and relentless slide towards perennial underdevelopment. It was in this period that the politics of hate, conflict and distribution gained momentum and businessmen and investors were seen as exploiters of the workers and the poor. The government of the day preached and practised the decadent doctrine of socialism, which was later declared dead by no other than its chief proponent, the Prime Minister of the seventies, Michael Manley.
The period of the nineties was devoid of the socialist rhetoric but the ghost of socialism overshadowed everything the government practised and implemented. While there is some merit in the theory of socialism, in practice it is disastrous. Naturally, it sounds wonderful to speak of social justice and economic equity instead of social responsibility and economic development but, in practice, if we do not have a population that recognises its social responsibility and a business sector dedicated to the economic growth and expansion then the country cannot move forward. The period of the nineties continued the degenerate practice whereby all and sundry looked to government for virtually everything.
Jamaica is now steeped in a dependency syndrome, which threatens to keep us undeveloped for decades into the future. Indeed, the present government may not be the author of the distribution of largesse and benefits but it surely is a great practitioner of the art of handouts and favours. When Prime Minister PJ Patterson boasted that he wanted to be remembered for being the greatest distributor of land, he could easily have added that he would also be responsible for the greatest distribution of poverty the country has ever seen. Naturally, our intellectuals and media commentators see much merit in the wide-scale distribution of everything, especially when it helps the present government to win elections. Yet, if the then Prime Minister Edward Seaga had engaged in the greatest distribution of zinc, over 800 tons of zinc, in 1988, soon after Hurricane Gilbert, and which would have certainly guaranteed his re-election to a third term of government, he would still be reviled and despised for using the politics of handouts to win elections.
Now, we see contracts, chickens, goats and many other material things distributed whenever there is an election. I well recall PM Patterson around this time last year bemoaning the fact that the government could not find enough contractors, as the government was then in a mood to give away everything it could. The period around elections is always associated with massive government spending, as the government knows that the politics of handouts caters to poverty-stricken people who will continue in much need and endure much hardships, as they eagerly look to another godfather to bring another round of handouts.
Yet, who can blame PM Patterson for what some of us may consider his profligate politics of distribution and handouts. He has been very successful in winning elections and history will certainly remember him for being the Party Leader with the best record of winning elections. It must haunt him however when he quietly reflects on the missed opportunities and failures to put Jamaica on a path of growth and development. He must wonder at times why the poorest parishes, the poorest constituency in every parish, and the poorest areas of any constituency, generally tend to vote for his party. Why have the poor logged on to the handouts and see no other way forward? Surely, we cannot build a country in which more and more poor people depend on handouts for survival!
The challenge for the future is to overcome the persistent underdevelopment that has overtaken Jamaica for the better part of our existence as an independent nation. That challenge will not be fulfilled if we continue to cause people to look to government, and others, to solve our problems, meet our material needs and, actually, for everything under the sun. The politics of handouts may satisfy our immediate needs and objectives but in the long run it cannot meet the challenge of building a quality society.
Delroy Chuck is an attorney-at-law and Opposition Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by e-mail at delchuck@hotmail.com.
