Editorial
Two-faced Jamaicans: Why are we better when overseas?
Monday, November 01, 2010
EVERY day we are regaled by evidence which makes us brim with pride over the remarkable achievements of Jamaicans abroad, often in contrast with the demoralising behaviour of Jamaicans here at home.
It is well known that we behave differently when we live and work abroad. Our legendary capacity for work and our productivity abroad hardly show up in Jamaica.
While a few Jamaicans achieve notoriety in crime overseas, the vast majority are lauded for good citizenship. They get in line for a bus in London but would trample underfoot children and the elderly in Kingston.
No Jamaican squats on government land in Toronto or captures a piece of farmland in Virginia. They would not steal an apple in Connecticut but would pick a mango from any tree in Jamaica as if it were a right.
This strange bifurcation of conduct begs the question why this difference in behaviour, productivity and civility.
If the more productive and law-abiding Jamaicans are in foreign countries, it could be because the more productive and peaceful Jamaicans chose to migrate. It is undoubtedly true that the people who migrate show a level of initiative and industry than many who want to migrate but do not bestir themselves. We have heard various explanations, including that of our former Ambassador to the United States, Dr Richard Bernal, who attributes this to the "audacity that Jamaicans have in unique abundance".
But Jamaicans at home have this quality so even if those who migrate are the most audacious, this alone cannot be the answer.
It is our belief that the difference in conduct is directly related to the differences in circumstances between home and abroad, such as culture, remuneration, law enforcement and mind set.
The same Jamaicans who are violent and unruly at home are peaceful and productive abroad, so it could be cultural schizophrenia. Jamaicans share an indelible culture which does not succumb to assimilation by other cultures.
The higher level of remuneration is certainly a reality but again, this cannot explain why the majority of Jamaicans abroad conform to rules and regulations.
By any standard, law enforcement in foreign countries is superior to that in Jamaica. Of course, this is only a factor for lawbreakers and not a consideration for the average overseas Jamaican.
We suggest that while not compromising their identity, Jamaicans in foreign countries imbibe a code of conduct from their social milieu. They develop a different mindset and a civic comportment that they do not exhibit in Jamaica which is not a strong rules-based society. They understand the value of rules and regulations as just, fair to all and helpful whereas in Jamaica rules are regarded as impediments and amenable only to those who have the resources and skills to navigate them.
Breaking rules is hailed in Jamaica as initiative and a justifiable means of survival but this attitude and behaviour is a prescription for chaos. Rules do not only come with development, they are a prerequisite for development.
The experience of Jamaicans abroad is incontrovertible evidence Jamaicans in conducive circumstances are among the most creative, law abiding and productive people in the world.
We contend that our dilemma is not that the most industrious Jamaicans live in 'foreign' but that we have not created the circumstances in which Jamaicans at home can be at their most productive and at their most constructive.
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11/6/2010
Cannot agree more. Many of my friends who travel to Jamaica with me, are completely different at home. They are perfectly good drivers in Cayman but mad crazed madmen when they hit the roads in Jamaica, perfectly civil in Cayman but feel they must proposition every woman and even underaged females in jamaica, and so on.
Rick
11/3/2010
I'm not sure who wrote this piece, but based on the writer's smooth & effortless navigation of the US, UK, Canada & JA, it's safe to say that he/s is well travelled & exposed. And that's why I'm so puzzled about Debbie's comment. Anyway, except for the 'top shottas', most of whom have left the island, whether by plane or boat, have conditioned their minds to welcome & embrace the laws of their adopted land. Suh, when Sgt Brown "seh 'nuh drink & drive," ah dat him mean. JA ah dons' paradise!
11/3/2010
It is the law stupid. A broad it will unlikely you will be able to bride officials and get off on technicalities in the courts
11/3/2010
I really find the post Utterly degrading, this person that wrote such a post is a need to go and do is research, Bloody Hippocratic, Intellectual fool, Here in the UK most of these people they will tell you if it hadn't been for Jamaicans they would have still be living in the dark ages, so please get you self check out. go and do your researches people like you are the same type Marcus Garvey warned was about. Dam sell outs.
11/3/2010
This is Utterly degrading. The person whosoever post this is a Bloody Hypocrite, I guess he the type of youngster that just got this job, and trying to make a name for himself...you don't impress mi one bit! you seems like someone grew up into some baka bush, never see come si frighten Friday! I live in the UK and what I've learnt at home I take abroad.they are ones who want to be like Jamaicans, in fact most of these British adopted a lot of our way of life,,,,so go and do your research.
11/3/2010
There is good and bad in every nationality and people are people.
11/3/2010
Jamaicans on a whole are hard working and well behaved whether at home or abroad.
It could be taken into consideration that the behavior of the government is passed down to the populace who feels they are able to do things their own way without recourse.
Jamaicans overseas are afforded the luxury of being exposed to a little more positive influence which encourages them to live up to what we can be which is hard working , polite, well behaved and good citizens.
We can be the same at home!
11/2/2010
Camille Grier, no offense, but which Jamaica are you talking about? Not the one I know. To every one decent, well behaved Jamaican, there are at least 20 savages: Crude, rude, boorish and ill- mannered breathing bodies, ready to unleashed their ignorance without shame. Metropolitan countries do not tolerate such behavior, so it is not hard to see that, when Jamaicans go abroad they finally have to act like humans, not wild beasts, though some still do.I hide my Jamaican-ness when I meet them!
11/2/2010
People jus waan keep dem visa. ;-) I'd much beg to differ however. Jamaicans behave same way a yaad an abraad, except they don't have as many Jamaicans around them to amplify that behaviour (call it a feedback system). The local media tends to focus on the good fram farin, not the bad, while they focus largely on the bad a yaad, not the good. So much so they fool themselves into writing editorials about perceptions they themselves helped to create. Lol...
11/2/2010
This is not true and this is a broad generalization and does disrespect good decent Jamaicas who have always been well behavwd at home as well.
11/2/2010
I find this article very offensive.Jamaicans at home are also well bred and well behaved people of course any element of rebel in any society will behave badly....many people whom I know who have migrated were always upstanding people and of course the dregs also come along with that package.....it is offensive to say that those educated people, business owners and career people who migrated acted intolerable while living in Jamaica this is simple untrue and too much of a broad speculation.
11/2/2010
The reason is simple: it is societal. No developed society tolerates the level of slackness Jamaica does. Law abiding and industry are integral to any society's development. These are largely missing in Jamaica.
Then, there are destructive values that are embedded at every level of Jamaican life: crime, laziness, excessive fornication and covetousness. Rid a people of these and it is not hard to see that them thriving.
11/1/2010
...spoken as persons who don't really know what Jamaicans - outside of their own networks - do in New York, Toronto, Hartford or London. That's why I can't take the newspapers seriously. Dem yah people si one fowl fly an' gawn go talk bout flock a geese!
11/1/2010
I find it difficult to believe that Jamaicans have suddenly become lazy. I know guys who travelled from Bombary, Linstead, to Kingston ever day and at the end of the week they have nothing to show for it, because bus fare and lunch consume all of their merger pay. Yet just to feel like somebody, they keep coming. The Kingston Freezone employed thousands and these men and women worked their fingers to the bones and at the end of the week hardly have anything to show for it, yet they keep showing up to meet their quotas every single shipment. How can you say Jamaicans are not hardworking?
11/1/2010
Editor, you are trying to defend claims based only on observations. You look and then draw conclusion, without really knowing. No research was done to show if those Jamaicans were hard working, line-joining, decent and law-abiding citizens before migrating. These are matters for the social scientists and if you are going to write on such serious issues, at the least, you need to have some credible sources from which to defend your claims, otherwise, you are just appealing to the emotions.
11/1/2010
The majority of Jamaicans who lives abroad fallow rules because they have to or pay the price so i don't think it's the Jamaicans who are the problem. I think the government of Jamaica is to be blame becuase they don't enforce the laws and they don't have enough laws to lead Jamaicans living in Jamaica on a productive part. Not only Jamaicans living abroad fallow these rules and regualation but every green card holder, visitor and citizen.
11/1/2010
Is the editor too sensitive about my comment why it's not being posted. If that's the case then you must be prepared to deal with critical comments to your editorial. My criticisms of your editorials are not intended to be personal as I have no clue who you are.
11/1/2010
It has everything to do with a progressive society designed for individual growth. One is able - no matter the poverty level - to achieve growth through educational and entrepreneurial pursuits while being guided by strict enforcement of law.
Until politicians embrace the promise that is Vision 2030, the value of a visa will remain at a premium.
Clovis's cartoon is missing the Pinocchio nose for the PM. Missing also, and more important, is the PM's foot on the flag while pulling. Wheel, Clovis!
11/1/2010
Meat Head, we must begin with the individual. Without the individual, there is no culture. The problem with most humans, and not only Jamaicans, is that they tend to blame others or circumstances for their bad behavior. "I didn't have a father figure growing up." "My father was an alcoholic." Until people hold themselves responsible, nothing will change. I tend to believe that "decent" Jamaicans live abroad. The deportees are deservedly back in Jamaica.
11/1/2010
Like the great idiom goes "when you go to Rome you do as the Romans do" The Jamaican society is languished by inadequate discipline & social behavior in all sectors are at ground zero . Our country is yearning for paramount leadership & in my heart i do believe if we all stick together then every little thing is going to be alright. ONE LOVE .
11/1/2010
In paragraph 9 it is said that the SAME Jamaicans who are violent and unruly at home are peaceful & productive abroad.
Did you do a survey or study which led you to that conclusion?
Is it all,a few, some,or a majority of Jamaicans that the editorial is reffering to?
I know of quite a few jamaicans living abroad who were neither violent nor unruly in Jamaica,who were peaceful & productive in Jamaica.
11/1/2010
What you say is true for all social animals, including humans; most of us conform with the prevailing culture. This is essential for our survival. Europeans living in Europe tend to ignore lines as we do. Those living in America do not. There is an element of self selection as well, the people who migrate tend to be the ones more willing to conform. If we want to change Jamaica for the better, we must begin with the culture.
11/1/2010
It is a common thing, when driving, to see drivers overtake police vehicles, exceeding the speed limit. What does the overtaken police do? Nothing. It is apparently only wrong the exceed the speed limit when police are doing a speed trap. This is just one example of why indiscipline is so rampant in Jamaica. Nobody really cares. People KNOW they can get away with it here. They KNOW they can't do it abroad. Simple.
11/1/2010
"It is our belief that the difference in conduct is directly related to the differences in circumstances between home and abroad, such as culture, remuneration, law enforcement and mind set."
There you go. That's your answer
11/1/2010
No need to look at Toronto, Virginia or Connecticut. You just need to look at places in Jamaica, like resorts in the tourist meccas. These places have rules and order and you can see Jamaicans working and behaving as they do abroad.
.
The problem with JA is that there are no law and order and consequences. Govt either fail to pass laws or it does not enforce laws to arrest what really is uncivilized behavior.
.
In JA, It is more a free-for-all mentality and with that comes chaos.
.
Richie
11/1/2010
We are our worst enemy, keeping ourselves and our country back by failing to take the proper socio-economic decisions to enable us to grow and prosper as a nation, country and people. The failure to plan for development, the failure to implement development plans, to follow rules and regulations, adhering to the rule of law, those are the things that saps our energy as a people and takes away our ability to be industrious and creative in our own land of our birth yet abroad the opposite happens.
11/1/2010
The rule of law is not equally applied in Jamaica.
If you commit a crime in Jamaica and you are very wealthy you are likely to get off.
If you are a bank manger and steal millions you are allowed to leave - no charge.
If on the other hand you are poor, then you get the full weight of the law on you,.
Peter Tosh said it " I want equal rights and Justice".
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