THE EDITOR, Sir:

'Jamaica must lead,' says Keith Noel in his Gleaner column of October 18, 2012. Yes, indeed, a man after my own heart.

Yes, the world is waiting on a leader to oppose the economic madness that has occurred especially since 2008. Irresponsible, greedy behaviour by out-of-control banks has brought large and small countries to their knees. There have been cuts of every sort, except in the money funnelled into the banks (Wall Street), which has never reached the people (Main Street), despite Barack Obama's good intentions four years ago.

The banking/financial plutocracy has taken over from any semblance of political democracy, pushing aside the people's voice.

Wesley Hughes told me during our protest outside the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday that it's not IMF medicine, but medicine that we need to apply to ourselves in any case. We know that is partly true, that we have a trade imbalance, a productivity deficit, corruption and crime levels that need addressing.

But none of this looks at the bigger picture in the world economy, at the genesis of the debts (including the half of ours - the FINSAC part - which resulted by the too-rapid financial liberalisation advice foisted on us in the early 1990s), at the impossibility of growing out of debt when austerity measures are also demanded.

Someone has to stand up, and so far it looks like 'likkle but much more tallawah' Belize. Where are our Michael Manleys and Marcus Garveys, and our other heroes today?

Jamaica has the brand name now, especially after the Olympics, to lead in much more than sport (and music). If we lead the global resistance to debt slavery, people would listen, would want to know what else 'a gwaan' in this land of sprinters.

Climbing out of the trap

They would begin to learn much more than something just about Jamaica.

If nothing is done, the impositions on the real economies, on the people and their lives, will eventually crumble under the load imposed by the financiers. Better to struggle towards some version of a socialised global economy, despite the pain of climbing out of the trap, than to allow the world to descend into barbarism.

We owe it to ourselves, to the heroes, and others who gave their lives in the past. We owe it to the world, too, for which we have a shared responsibility, just as much as any larger country.

PAUL WARD

pgward@cwjamaica.com

Kingston 7