Get angry, or get lost

André Wright, Acting Opinion Editor

Step on the average Jamaican's toes and he'll unfold more cloth than Ping's and Pablos shuffle through their doors on their best sale day. Pay him back by cutting him off in traffic, the horn-honking road hog is sure to squeal like a sow in heat. Dismantle the throw-ups that power his home free of cost and he'll mount roadblocks and cry for justice quicker than JPS can say, "How come?"

But trample upon his constitutional rights and he exhibits the patience of Job and will, after a token mutter, succumb like a lamb to the slaughter.

And that's why so many people see beyond the machismo, the swagger and the glass-shattering falsettos that inevitably subside. The problem is, and has always been, that we never seem to find the testicular fortitude to sustain rage and channel it into revolutionary change.

As Bede Jarrett said, "The world needs anger. The world often continues to allow evil because it isn't angry enough."

But political leaders are banking on that trademark Jamaican impotence, that well-scripted surrender. That's why the Chief Servant knew that by unilaterally appointing the judge and jury in the commission of enquiry into the Manatt-Dudus mess, he would satisfy just enough of the populace he was being as transparent as mud. And they bought it. Take a bow, you've earned it.

Wikileaks ignored

The Government has tiptoed around the WikiLeaks disclosure that Mrs Golding went pleading on the PM's behalf about a vicious plot by the Opposition and expatriates to taint the prime minister. Kingston's mayor, who was implicated in the WikiLeaks saga, has been uncharacteristically lost for words (and excuses, perhaps). But the Golding administration's obvious motto is: This too shall pass. And it has, simply because Jamaicans have yielded to that pacific propensity for hopelessness and helplessness.

When Shahine Robinson misrepresented herself as solely a Jamaican citizen, collecting her pay cheque under false pretence (to use Robert Montague's barb at Sharon Hay-Webster, "She's a stranger in this House"), then costing taxpayers $19 million for a by-election, we didn't get angry. Nah! She was reinstated by her North East St Ann constituents and rewarded by Mr Golding with a post in his office.

Unfortunately, far too many Jamaicans are willing to forfeit their most basic rights and conveniences, whether to the State, or to that nagging neighbour rinsing her J.Lo playlist, or the gum-chewing customer service rep who has been ignoring you for the last five minutes.

Important tool

When you plunge into that eight-inch pothole, you'll probably have a nuclear headache and let off some steam. But half an hour later, you'll invariably put your tail between your legs, drain your already anorexic bankbook and purchase new shocks for both your car and womb's sake.

The working class is always ready to 'kick up rumpus' about the death of a criminal overlord, but never about the sewage that runs along North Street in the capital. The middle class will only take to the streets for a free Carnival wine. And their only gripe will be that Calabash has perished. Meanwhile, the upper class will get into a fit of rage if their favourite Cabernet Sauvignon is out of stock.

Anger is an important tool, if used quickly and wisely. Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old jobless university graduate, set himself on fire and sparked a wave of protests that swept aside Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who held power for 23 years. Even the cops joined in.

In Jamaica, when Ian 'Chen Singh' Lloyd, the man videoed being shot by a cop in Buckfield, died, the major 'success' was that the Constabulary Communication Network now issues snippets which tell us nothing. Extrajudicial killings have continued at rapid-fire rate. You weren't angry enough.

Don't allow your huff and puff to be nothing but a bluff. The next time you get angry, make it count. It is a gift you either use or lose.

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