Dr. Omar Davies
Don Robotham, Contributor
IN HIS inimitable no-nonsense manner, the Minister of Finance made a vitally important statement last week. He was quoted in the Daily Gleaner (Wednesday, February 15) as saying that "whatever happens on February 25, the gains which we have made in terms of macroeconomic stability, the consistency of policy which has characterised our performance over the last several years, will continue."
He continued, "I have spoken to my rivals and colleagues and make this statement definitely ... There will be no hiccups."
Thus did our Minister of Finance douse the entire People's National Party (PNP) presidential campaign with a bucket of cold water.
According to Dr. Davies, come what may, all candidates for the presidency of the PNP have committed to the policy of targeting inflation, reducing the budget deficit, gradually reducing interest rates, and cutting the debt burden.
What this agreement means in practical terms is that, whatever anyone may promise in a fit of campaign enthusiasm - including the Minister of Finance himself - the existing economic realities will continue unchanged. So much for compassion, caring, micro-enterprise development and world class!
OPPOSITION'S SILENCE
The second aspect which is fascinating about this douse of cold water is the absence of any reaction from the Opposition.
What this confirms, if confirmation were needed, is that the Opposition has abandoned all pretence of arguing that it has an alternative economic model tucked away somewhere in its back pocket.
In other words, whatever anyone may pretend, in practice, both Government and Opposition agree that the current economic austerity must continue. The roads cannot be fixed.
This unanimity on macro-economic policy is vital for the markets, domestic and foreign. But it will strike many ordinary Jamaicans, desperate for a respite from austerity, as perverse and outrageous.
What this majority wants to hear is the precise opposite. They want a leader, any leader, who will come out and say "No more!" like Michael, as someone wrote last week.
They want a leader who will promise jam today. After 15 years of austerity, this is a natural and understandable desire which runs very deep in Jamaica, as it does in Latin America
But in the conditions that Jamaica faces there can be no jam today. Or even tomorrow. That is the reality. It is better that we deal in realities however harsh, than to deceive people into believing that prosperity can be conjured up from nowhere, if only the right Messiah is chosen.
SOCIAL HICCUPS
Given that the hopes of many for some immediate relief from economic hardships is doomed to disappointment, what then? What we can expect are some serious social hiccups.
There was just such a hiccup in Farm Town last week. Over a two-day period, the residents of this rural township near Discovery Bay, burnt three cars, a shop and a house (partially) in protest at the killing of a member of the community. The community protesters claimed that a local businessman was guilty, and, that for social reasons, the police were not pursuing him and that he was about to flee the island. So they burnt his shop, cars and house. The businessman fled for his life.
This case has aspects which are reminiscent of the Super Plus demonstrations in Mandeville. What is striking about them is that they are both cases of spontaneous popular protest in response to alleged wrongs done by private individuals of higher socio-economic status to persons of lower socioeconomic status.
Neither of these are the usual cases of demonstrations directed at the state. Indeed, the Farm Town case is particularly interesting from this point of view, for Farm Town residents have a history of aggressive demonstrations. On more than one occasion since 1999, they have blocked the roads, at one point bringing traffic on the North Coast main road to a halt.
The interesting point, though, is that, in the past, the ire of Farm Town citizens was directed against the state and the Member of Parliament. Not any more.
Having caught their practice against the state, Farm Towners are now putting their mass demonstration skills to good use against private parties. Take note. Take careful note.
PRIVATE WRONGS
These cases - Super Plus and Farm Town - raise a challenging question. As pointed out before, none of our vocal human rights organisations has made the smallest comments on either case. The reason for this is that, like the human rights movement the world over, our local organisations only think of human rights offences as offences committed by the state.
Probably without even reflecting on it, they have simply copied the standard neo-liberal anti-state orientation of their metropolitan forbears. In fact, one of them is quite straightforward in this regard, stating in its very name that it is dealing only with offences committed by the state.
Of course, the state, and our decrepit state in particular, has been a serious offender against human rights and great vigilance is needed. But it is by no means the case that the state is the main human rights offender in this or any society.
In fact, one can think of numerous cases of private injustice in Jamaica which do not involve the state in any direct or even indirect way - for example in the field of labour relations.
But given their anti-state fanaticism, the human rights organisations do not see it as their business to take up such offences because these offences involve private parties only. They wash their hands.
But whether the state breaks your arm or I break your arm, your arm remains well and truly broken. Whether the state shoots you or I shoot you, you are dead.
Therefore, it cannot be the case that it is an abuse when the state does it but not an abuse when I do it. Abuse is abuse, no matter who the offender. Moreover, when such abuses occur in a context of class and racial privilege we enter another zone altogether.
If I, an upper middle-class browning, maliciously and wilfully break the arm of a black, working-class person, this is certain to generate deep social outrage and spontaneous violent reprisals.
If you don't know this, then you are dangerously ignorant about Jamaican society and history. But you will learn.
ADDRESSING THESE ISSUES
So, the question remains: Who will address the sense of injustice which seems to be spreading to a new depth and on a new scale in Jamaica? More importantly, how is this to be addressed in policy terms, given our real economic constraints?
This is a tough dilemma which, unsurprisingly, none of our political leaders, whether Government or Opposition, is addressing.
They seem to agree that there should be no economic hiccups. But what do they have to say about the social hiccups?
