Ronald Thwaites | Meaning and purpose of life

As national elections draw near, we should be thinking how the political process can add meaning and benefit to all lives. People thrive when they live in societies with rising standards of living and what David Brooks terms “dense networks of relationships”, so that their lives have a clear sense of purpose – spiritually, socially and economically.

Humans strive endlessly to avoid banality. Existence without purpose makes us selfish monsters or sloths awaiting extinction. Healthy societies lean us towards good outcomes and check us when we deviate from acceptable norms.

But, what kind of people do we really want to become in this moment of political inflection?

During Don Wehby’s funeral, I reflected on the texture of his life in relation to thoughts expressed during the same week by fellow opinion writer Dennis Minott, Danielle Archer and Michael Abrahams. They all had to do with morals. Dennis commented on the raw lust for money and power evident among some of our leaders and the frightening prospect of our normalising creeping evil. Danielle offered a closely reasoned case for accountability and transparency as civic virtues, while Michael spoke with clear-headed balance of the righteous versus the wrong-footed activities of the political class.

Such ideas and discourse about them matter. That’s why unfettered press, religious freedom, the right of free association and all other civil liberties, must be non-negotiable. Ask yourself: which political party is more likely not to threaten these?

Information and free analysis are the foundations of the democratic ideal. They test and expand the principles we say we want to live by. Nurturing informed critical minds rather than encouraging herd behaviour should be one main aim of an education system. Teaching to examination passes is secondary to character and personality formation. Do we have a philosophy of education which accepts that?

DON WEHBY’S LIFE

We love to praise people at their funerals, even as we ignore the values and lifestyle which made them who they came to be. Wehby’s life provides an example, one which may seem privileged, but which, I assert, can be available to all if ethical transformation of this nation were more than mouth talk.

Don had the inestimable benefit of a two-parent upbringing. As a society, we refuse to promote and incentivise the advantage of nuclear and close extended family connections.

The majority of students we are dealing with, who are growing up to be disappointments to themselves and perils to the society, have significant home deficiencies. Who among those seeking power over us promote by word and example that good family life is the crucial building block of national development?

For Wehby, growing up didn’t mean having money and getting everything he wanted. He learned habits of basic sufficiency, love, care, discipline, self-restraint and the correlation of effort with reward. He attended church and Sunday school to expand and reinforce home values. He received a first-class secondary education where the virtues of self-giving and mutual respect were foundational. Exposure to sport and extra-curricular experiences cultured the team spirit which would later characterise his business practice, and taught him that winning at all costs is both immoral and self-destroying.

His political preferences were obvious, but he never surrendered to the hubris and mean-spiritedness of power to become a tribalist. The social activism which he cultured at GraceKennedy was not a public relations prop but an expression of deeply held religious and civic beliefs about the proper uses of money.

Profitable enterprise and personal wealth are good things. They should not attract ‘bad mind’. What matters is how they were acquired and the purposes for which they are used.

OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL

For the rest of us, we already have the scaffolding for everyone to attain the same basic opportunities. It is within our power as a compassionate society to beget and raise children wholesomely, to demand quality education, and to revere rather than abridge human rights, Duterte or Tonton Macoute-style . It takes personal conviction and societal leadership, modelling and strategising to make all this happen. That is what political choice is about.

Which is why we need more consensus about the core values of Jamaican living and less contrived division and normalised slackness. What a political-economic system implicitly teaches our children is determinative to their own and society’s health. Too many are learning habits of banal greed, grabbing all they can, screwing all in their way, and calling it good.

CAMPAIGN NASTINESS

So we need to call out and denounce the nastiness and hatred we inflict upon ourselves. Daryl Vaz sent me a clip of PNP supporters inferring responsibility for the murder of our late MP colleague Lynvale Bloomfield. Unless there is evidence (and a political platform would be no place to display it), to impugn a fellow Jamaican’s character is grievously wrong. Similarly, it is self-discrediting for a senior minister of government to flaunt a questionable tape recording to demean an erstwhile colleague. These are instances of what Minott calls the banality of greed – lust for advantage at any cost.

CSEC RESULTS

However small, improvements in CSEC English and mathematics results are encouraging. I remain very sceptical of counting Grade 3 passes as an acceptable standard. It is at best a stepping stone for a resit in order to get better grades.

Consider the latest total factor productivity figures which place Jamaica very low on the graph of regional and international standards. Are we setting the bar of qualification too low, given the competition we face?

Now that the limited-skill BPO sector may soon become a sunset industry, given emerging US trade policy, learning and attitudinal standards have to step up sharply in an increasingly hostile and demanding marketplace. The pace of education transformation is way behind these imperatives.

DISRESPECTING TEACHERS

Which is why everyone should be concerned about the stand-off between government and the teachers over wages. A settlement was due a year ago. There has been more than enough time to craft an offer with better money related to more accountability and productivity. As it is, even if some last-minute compromise is pulled out of the hat as an election sop, unease at the disrespect will linger. Especially when money is running in torrents to influence voting.

AFFORDING BACK-TO-SCHOOL

For responsible parents who understand that contributing to their child’s school is an essential element of quality outcomes, plus fitting out regular back-to-school requirements, costs will run between $50 -70,000 at the high-school level. Slightly but not much less at primary grades. Have mercy with the book lists!

Everyone who can help needy parents should try to do so. This is what Don Wehby encouraged with a significant part of GraceKennedy’s wealth. It creates meaning, purpose and goodness to assist all our children to get a good education. Don’t believe the lie that government can do it all. Just look at what is happening with the teachers.

And, seriously, what values and priorities have informed choosing an election date which will wreck the whole first week of the school year?

Rev Ronald G. Thwaites is an attorney-at-law. He is former member of parliament for Kingston Central and was the minister of education. He is the principal of St Michael’s College at The UWI. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com