Dennis Minott | Greed grieves nations; ambition prospers its people

Greed grieves nations, but ambition uplifts a people. This timeless truth resonates deeply in contemporary public discourse, especially in regions grappling with governance challenges and developmental imperatives, such as Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. The critical distinction between greed and ambition lies at the heart of leadership, public trust, and national progress. In this article, we explore this distinction with the insights of indisputably authoritative thought-leaders — economists, sociopolitical psychologists, and exemplary statesmen — drawing lessons from some of the most transformative leaders of recent times.

The late President Harry Truman, a great American leader of fairly recent vintage, cautioned, “Show me a man that gets rich by being a politician and I’ll show you a crook.” This powerful indictment places character at the centre of political leadership, highlighting how greed — a self-serving, corrosive force — disfigures public service. Truman’s words echo the sentiment that ambition, when divorced from integrity and service, devolves into greed that grieves nations. For Truman and many observers, leadership is fundamentally “entirely about character”, a truth also underscored by the fictional President Andrew Shepherd in the 1990s American film The American President, who stressed the importance of genuine leadership and warned against the crowd’s readiness to embrace demagoguery when leadership is absent.

In stark contrast, the late Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore offers a sterling example of ambition rightly understood and applied. Lee’s visionary leadership transformed Singapore from a struggling fledgling state in the 1960s — bereft of natural resources and fractured socially — into a first-world global powerhouse. His unwavering commitment to integrity, meritocracy, and the disciplined pursuit of collective progress showcases how ambition can uplift entire nations. Lee believed firmly in government’s role in fostering economic growth and social cohesion but insisted on a governance approach rooted in ethical leadership, transparent accountability, and investment in human capital. His assertion that “the world does not owe us a living” encapsulates a philosophy of self-reliance and disciplined ambition, which many nations, including Caribbean states, might learn from.

EXEMPLIFIES

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame further exemplifies this ethos of ambition guided by service and national redemption. His leadership following Rwanda’s genocide focused on stability, security, and long-term inclusive development, aiming to unite a deeply divided society and transform a nation formerly mired in poverty into a middle-income country through initiatives like Vision 2020. Kagame’s leadership, though criticised for political centralisation, manifests ambition’s power when focused on broad-based progress and reconciliation, balancing strong governance with national upliftment.

Understanding the consequences of confusing greed with ambition requires sharper moral and pragmatic clarity. Ambition, rightly understood, is the disciplined drive to rise through merit, service, and ethical leadership. It is inherently collective in its benefits, uplifting families, communities, and nations. Greed, by contrast, is an insatiable appetite for self-enrichment that disregards harm to others, eroding public trust and social capital. It thrives in ‘The Triteness of Greed in Our Nation’s Governance’ .

Jamaica today, and indeed across CARICOM, exemplifies the corrosive effects of this dangerous distortion in public life. The term “ambition” has been hijacked, too often camouflaging naked greed. Consider the tragic saga of the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay. An urgent repair project to fix “noxious fumes” inside the hospital was initially budgeted as a J$2-billion repair job in 2016. That expense ballooned to over J$23.5 billion by early 2025, symbolising years of mismanagement and neglect that cost lives and eroded public confidence. This is not ambition delivering public value but greed masquerading as leadership and development — contracts seemingly treated as private fun-filled three-card games rather than instruments of service subject to good governance.

Similarly, the displacement of fishing communities across Caribbean coasts in the name of “development” showcases greed’s destructive impulses. Genuine ambition would seek to integrate tourism with local economies, ensuring that traditional fishers, artisans, and small entrepreneurs share in prosperity. Instead, high walls, foreign labour importation, and displacement signal greed’s triumph over collective well-being.

MURKY ARENA

The murky arena of public procurement also reveals greed’s corrosive impact, with inflated contracts, collusion, and privileged insider deals siphoning resources meant for schools, clinics, and infrastructure, further burdening taxpayers and eroding social trust. Ambition in good governance demands transparent, competitive processes that maximise public benefit. Greed undermines these principles for narrow gain.

Moreover, long-standing policies like the Jamaica’s Hotel Incentives Act reveal systemic issues accentuated by greed. Designed ostensibly to promote foreign investment, this duty-free regime has crippled local manufacturing and industrial capacity, exemplified by the closure of McIntosh Bedding after 60 years because of uncompetitive imports. Reforming such incentives to favour local supply chains is an ambitious strategy for sustainable, inclusive economic development, yet vested interests maintain the status quo for their benefit.

The tourism sector, while a marquee success, also reveals ambition’s absence in protecting workers’ rights and dignity, with widespread precarious contracts and low wages. True ambition would create stable, well-paid employment with career advancement, but greed prefers insecure labour to maintain control and profit.

This conflation of ambition and greed is a regional affliction with significant dangers. From Guyana’s oil wealth elite pockets amid societal deprivation to Trinidad and Tobago’s political patronage in contracts and CARICOM’s contradictory promises on food security versus exploitation of farmland, the pattern is clear. Normalising greed as ambition breeds political cynicism, erodes faith in leadership, and fosters dangerous passivity among citizens.

The true cost of this confusion is tangible: the hospital that fails to serve, the fisher cut off from livelihood, the worker trapped in precariousness, the young graduate forced to migrate. Beyond monetary losses, it is moral capital squandered — an intangible but essential resource for nation-building. Drawing from the wisdom of socio-political psychologists, sustainable societal advancement depends on cultivating collective trust, shared purpose, and ethical leadership exemplified by ambition, not greed.

ETHICAL FOUNDATIONS

Reclaiming ambition means re-establishing its ethical foundations:

– Ambition must be rooted in service, prioritising collective well-being over self-enrichment.

– It should be disciplined by integrity and transparency, not lubricated by corruption and patronage.

– Ambition must ensure today’s development is sustainable, not impoverishing future generations.

These principles call for reforms in procurement, investment incentives, protection of public assets, and performance-based accountability.

Ultimately, citizens bear responsibility. Greed thrives in shadows of banality; ambition flourishes in the light of scrutiny and public engagement. Citizens must demand greater transparency, resist empty promises, and foster a culture that honours ambition as a force for good. Educating younger generations to distinguish ambition’s honour from greed’s dishonour is vital to this cultural shift.

The Caribbean’s future, Jamaica’s future, depends on choosing ambition that builds rather than greed that consumes. Let us draw that line clearly, defend it relentlessly, and embrace leadership that uplifts whole peoples. Only then can the promise of independence and prosperity be fulfilled.

In the spirit of the great leaders mentioned, from Truman’s call for character to Lee Kuan Yew’s disciplined vision and Kagame’s transformative ambition, let us reclaim ambition as the driving force that uplifts nations, rejects greed, and secures a better future for all.

Dennis A. Minott, PhD, is a physicist, green energy consultant, and longtime college counsellor. He is the CEO of A-QuEST. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com