If I were a young man ...

Indeed, economic stagnation, the burden of debt, the marginalisation from the global economy, and the inequalities of wealth and income are ultimately important because they are the causes of the persistent poverty and other social problems.

Radical solutions derive from analyses of root causes, which in turn must be informed by a view of the structure of the society and that society's dynamics of socio-economic change. If Jamaican society is only a collection of atomised individuals, social problems will be seen to be rooted in the peculiarities of the behaviours of individuals - their likes and dislikes, and their pursuit of their self-interest. The individualism, in turn, could be explained by one's genes, or by one's astrological sign. The problem with this view is that there is little chance of changing the nature of human beings, and for this reason, the identification of these as root causes generally does not lead to radical solutions. But we can influence the socialisation of individuals when they are very young.

Radical solutions will focus on addressing colonial legacies, thereby enhancing our Independence, much like Obama's notion of "making a more perfect union" in the USA.

Economic solutions

If I were a young man today, I would have to advocate building relations with non-traditional partners in the global economy while maintaining good relations with our traditional partners. Those relations should be cultivated at several levels - people-to-people, business-to-business, and government-to-government. I would propose an order of priority - investment inflows and trade credits from our partners, exports to them, and mutual technical assistance exchanges, according to our competencies.

Thus, we could invite investment and request trade credits from the Brazilians, the Chinese and the Indians, export to the relevant niches of their markets, and in return for the technical assistance we are now getting from them, we could send track coaches, music ambassadors, tourism consultants, English-language teachers, and so on.

I would have to rethink the structure of our production system so as to harness the creativity of our people for increased productivity. Perhaps, we could set up some high-tech marketing companies networked with small and medium-size producers. These satellite producers would be pursuing their own individual interests with their characteristic enthusiasm, under the guidance of their central technical marketing company on product quality, pricing and market access. Such a production structure would meet some of the main challenges faced by small entrepreneurs. The poultry industry has used a version of this model successfully.

Of course, large producers are best placed to lead the penetration of new markets, provided they transform themselves with more technically competent management with an appetite for risk. But where the established companies are unable to shed their traditional outdated management regimes and aversion to risk, surely there will be young persons, both here and in the diaspora, with the requisite training who can be organised with access to venture capital to take the lead in strategies to penetrate new markets.

Young people are more brand-conscious than their parents, and they know how attractive Brand Jamaica is. Freed of the colonial hang-ups of some of their parents, they can exploit the image of an exotic paradise that is Jamaica, in the minds of the customers in developed countries, especially the upper-income groups. Expanding economic opportunities will create employment and generate incomes to tackle poverty. With more productive activities, incomes will be higher, and Jamaica's competitiveness in the global economy will be enhanced.

Governance

I thought I would have heard the young leaders in the debate propose the rapid extension of e-government services, even without the prompting of the journalist's repeated questions. For example, the Indians have set up networks of Internet-enabled kiosks manned by young persons to access government services online for the general public.

The Africans have implemented mobile payment systems for both government transfers and private payments that are accessible by low-income persons. In Kenya, small businesses pay their staff by using transfers between mobile phones. Both the communication of information and payments between the citizen and the government, and among citizens, can be done online at considerable savings in time, transport costs, and clerical manpower.

Inevitably, implementing information technology solutions will require the reorganisation of government's administrative processes, thereby providing opportunities to re-engineer them for greater efficiency.

I wonder what the young people think about the decentralisation of the Ministry of Health into four subregional establishments, now that we have the information and communication technology to have virtual offices. It is important that they address it before the same thing is done with the Ministry of Education, which will only compound the folly by implementing outdated recommendations from international agencies.

The more government services are delivered online, the more the administrative processes will have to be computer-based, and the greater the opportunities for young people to find employment in a transformed public administrative structure.

Social Services

I wondered why the young medical professionals did not suggest telemedicine services to upgrade the access and the quality of health services to persons in remote areas, as well as to poor persons who have to struggle to find even the bus fare to go to health facilities.

Unlike their parents, the young people of today have access to a lot of information that shows the direct relationship between lifestyle and good health. It is both a radical and a commonsensical approach to rebalance health services in favour of preventative over curative facilities and services.

Surely, all the young politicians know that just as penmanship was an essential skill for their parents, computer literacy is a necessity for young people to navigate tomorrow's world. Maybe they took it for granted, and did not think this was a radical solution for some of the problems of low-quality education.

Our young politicians must know many ways that information and communication technology can enhance learning. For example, what will they recommend to motivate Jamaican boys and young men to equip themselves for productive employment and income generation? This speaks directly to the problems of poverty and antisocial behaviour that, in the extreme, can become criminal.

How do our young people think we should foster the development of cultural practitioners and athletes? What partnerships between the successful star performers and youth groups in schools and communities can be crafted, perhaps in return for relevant incentives? Even posing these questions forces the search for radical solutions, again in the sense of finding solutions to root causes.

In different but parallel ways, the peers of these young leaders are seeking positions of top management in corporate Jamaica. They are ascending to inevitable leadership of both the public and private sectors, with all of the responsibilities, and not just the perceived privileges, that these positions entail. It is reasonable to expect them to even attempt answers to all of the important questions that Jamaica faces.

No longer can the young leaders sit on the sidelines and blame older politicians, and offer simplistic solutions that start with, "All you have to do is ... ." They will learn immediately how tough even what they thought was the simplest problem is, how little they understand, and how much they have to learn. Those who accede to positions of leadership will learn in the moment after they arrive in positions of authority, how little power they really have. Instead of black and white, decisions are made in infinite shades of grey, and the world punishes both wrong decisions and indecision."

We are entitled to hear how they propose to manage our national debt, stimulate economic growth, reposition Jamaica in the global economy, seize the opportunities in the EPA and similar trade agreements, and transform the labour force and the management systems to enhance productivity, and hence competitiveness.

They must take the lead in adapting the society and the economy to climate change. After all, it is they and their children who will experience sea-level rise, warmer temperatures, droughts alternating with floods, and more intense hurricanes.

And it is they who must realise Vision 2030, or better, for the sake of their children.

A radical approach to national development is to embrace inclusiveness as a mode of governance by way of structures of continuous consultation. Instead of suspicion, treat the academics and professionals with the respect they earn through their work. Where some previous leaders stigmatised those who did not support them, create avenues for communication and adopt postures of understanding.

The young leaders must develop the fixity of purpose and the creativity of persuasion to mobilise support from sectoral interests for the national interest.

Ironically, the young people seeking power must be aware of the ageing of our population - 14.5 per cent of the population will be 60 years or more in 2025. There will be more senior citizens with their experiences and wisdom to be tapped, and their needs to be met. With the accelerating pace of living, life seems to pass ever more quickly with each year. Now is the time to dare to think new ideas. They will make some mistakes in their search for better ways to advance the interests of our people, as others have done before them.

Michael Witter is senior research fellow at Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, UWI. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michael.witter@uwimona.edu.jm.