Tiffany C. Bryan, ContributorJAMAICANS HAVE sat down long enough and watched other countries grow and develop. How long will it be before we realise that we have been idle for far too long?
I was spurred to write this article after a recent radio broadcast in which one of the radio personalities posed this question to someone: "...is it that globalisation will threaten our local markets?" My answer to this is yes, because we as a people have adopted the nature of a child living at home for too long pure dependency. We view the world from a very narrow perspective. We are too satisfied with minor achievements. It is my belief that the question should not have been whether globalisation would threaten our local markets. It should have been, how can Jamaica market itself in the global market to pose a threat to foreign markets.
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I have a lecturer who preaches daily that we as a people have become overly satisfied with passing CXC and A' Level exams when in reality these are not great achievements. How are we to compare passing a few simple tests to countries sending people to the moon? We have become content with handouts and second-hand things. When will we as a people take a stand and put Jamaica on the market? We should stop looking to the past and viewing those achievements as present day successes and instead glance at the past and learn while looking to the future to plan. We should stop looking at others wanting what they have and instead look at them and see where it is possible to do better.
All those individuals who have crossed the threshold and entered the realm of secondary and tertiary education should know that what we achieve now sets the tone for future generations. Our forefathers set the bar and we have arrived but it is up to us to set it higher because without vision and goals we will be no better tomorrow than we are today. Progress will only occur when we
disregard the mirage we have created of
success. We have not succeeded until we have channelled our wisdom effectively to better the condition we inherited from our forefathers. As a people we also need to realise that knowledge can take us only so far and that initiative and determination will take us further on the path of success.
Jamaica will never have a place in the international market if we sit around and do nothing. Our market will constantly be threatened by globalisation if we do not get up and stand on our own two feet. We fought for our independence but have we really been freed? Our physical freedom is rendered void if we remain enclosed in the thoughts of a shackled mind. It is time we step outside of the box and create a better Jamaica for ourselves. Jamaica will never be competitive on the global market if we are not marketable to ourselves. We need to come together as a people not just put Jamaica on the map but give it a voice.
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