"Facing The TRUTH" is the ONLY viable way forward for Jamaica and Jamaicans - economically, socially, politically and spiritually - with or without a "Truth and Reconciliation Commission".

The problem is that so many of us, ignorantly or knowingly, reject truth, preferring to "believe" the lies and deception to which we have become accustomed. Meanwhile, our unregenerate "hearts" are authoritatively described as being "deceitful above all things and desperately wicked". (Jeremiah 17:9). We also live at a time and in a world that is referred to as "Sodom and Egypt".

Here's a list of "simple truths" that we must acknowledge and accept as Jamaicans. We must then take responsibility and assertively confront the relevant issues, uniting with others, as much as possible - without confusing "simple truths" with "the truth", though the two are not unrelated. But we must begin within our own hearts and minds, homes and communities.

If we continue to fail in this regard, the universe no doubt will continue "unfolding as it should", but there will also continue to be, neither "equal rights and justice", nor PEACE", about which we sing, and for which we often "go to war".

The list may be examined or discussed in greater detail, in due course.

(1) The political/economic model we have used for 50 years has failed, leading to poverty, and social and economic slavery.

(2) The borrower -householder or government - is "servant to the lender", especially if he is only "borrowing from Peter to pay Paul", and is not using the borrowed money to produce, earn, save, and invest more than the total cost of borrowing.

(3) If we rely upon, or expect "the Government" to do for us what we should do for ourselves, as self-respecting, "independent persons", with primary responsibility for our children's education, and for eliminating crime from our homes and communities, including praedial larceny, then we should not be surprised to find ourselves paying "more taxes", to increasingly incompetent, inefficient and corrupt governments and civil servants, among others, for increasingly poor or absent service.

(4) The answer lies neither in borrowing more, nor in hoping for great wealth from rare earth minerals, but in taking responsibility and working together, as individuals, private sector, civil society and government, to change the system. That is, if there is consensus on the relative advantage of a private-sector driven economic development model, to minimise the role of "government" as a driver of economic development and wasteful consumer of private and public human and financial resources, at the expense of "more productive" sectors.

(5) We should also consider changing our "prosperity model", or paradigm, to conform with the concept that "He is NOT most prosperous who has the most, but who NEEDS the least", even as we commit to being "profitable servants", by diligently producing more goods and service than ONLY that for which we are "paid". We should also produce more than we consume, earn more than we spend, export more than we import, and treat others at home and in the work place with the same kind of respect that we desire for ourselves, in similar circumstances.

(6) We must stop teaching and preaching lies and "false doctrines", to our children and to each other, that we know or can prove are NOT true -- for example, much of what is taught about Santa Claus, and about "Lord" (Baal), "God", "Jesus Christ", "Jah, Rastafari, Jehovah, et al.

(7) In order to grow in wisdom, knowledge and understanding, of all things, -- including some knowledge of the Creator as He really is, and actually exists, we should, properly "search the scriptures", like the Bereans, to "see whether these things" are so - and to "KNOW the Truth". Haleluyah!!

carltongor@gmail.com