Dear Editor,

Jamaica has degenerated into a Hobbesian state where life is now “nasty, brutish and short”. The nexus of crime and politics has crippled Jamaica to a point where, “force and fraud, the two cardinals of war flourish in an atmosphere of perpetual fear and strife”. Civilised living is under threat, and life for the vast majority amounts to nothing but a daily struggle to “keep the wolf from the door”. The dirty politics practised over the years cultivated seeds of criminality which germinated into community enforcers known as dons, sprouting up in most inner-city communities. We are now reaping what was sown.

We find ourselves in a situation where government creates more problems than it solves. Having ploughed and fertilised the soil that nurtured the growth of political garrisons with criminal organisations now overgrowing like a canopy, attempts are being made to solve the problem by cutting down what was planted. After creating mayhem and taking several innocent lives as collateral damage, gunmen and politicians who created the turmoil sit with religious and civil society leaders to make a compromise and work out peace initiatives. There are values which, if sacrificed on the altar of partisan politics or for political mileage, will cause a state to fail. The mire of corruption at the highest levels of society provides fertile ground for the breeding of social decadence.

The moral crisis in political leadership which lacks transparency and accountability leaves the government in a compromising and untenable position. Are we going to sit idly by and watch our country falling into an abyss? Are the misery and oppression not yet too much to bear for us to rise up? Maybe the people are so divided and powerless they simply hope for a better life in the hereafter. We must take back our country. Freedom without the rule of law is anarchy, but law without freedom is tyranny. Pulling Jamaica out of its current dilemma will require a new political sociology as it involves the de-synchronisation of certain mores, norms, values and attitudes which were cultivated with the tribalistic political culture for over 66 years. Of all the principles and habits which lead to social and political prosperity, morality is indispensable. When a government loses moral authority, it loses legitimacy. An effective government that will foster national unity, be transparent in its operations and accountable to the people, is what Jamaicans are clamouring for.

Maurice Drysdale

Lyssons PO