THERE are many persons who take the position that anger is not an appropriate expression of feeling. Indeed, not only do many religious persons subscribe to this position, but there are actually many parents of no specific religious commitment who share this perspective and actually beat their children in order to take anger out of their repertoire of emotional responses. For many of these persons, anger speaks of misplaced hostility and a desire for revenge.

On the contrary, anger is one of the most creative of human emotions which allows for the expression of outrage at violations of one kind or another of the human person. Anger speaks of a response to the experience of injury, mistreatment, or the experience of injustice.

In other words, far beyond the destructive force with which many associate all expressions of anger, it is a God-given faculty for correcting violations of human dignity and worth. “Rahtid” captures, for the Jamaican, the sense of anger that is riled up in response to such perceived violations.

The global scene is now rife with expressions of anger by people who have been oppressed by dictators and authoritarian governments, who have found legitimacy in the claim to be able to deliver stability and economic progress to their people, even as they have been propped up by serving the geo-political interests of western governments. Many of the pundits of these western governments have been caught completely off guard by what now appears to be a “spontaneous combustion” of a people’s desire for freedom and justice and the end of oppressive regimes.

Their governments simply assumed that the human desire for freedom and justice could be suppressed by the use of force, kidnappings, and murder. Now it has become evident that even the most seemingly docile people reach a point when the floodgates open and it becomes clear to all and sundry that “enough is enough”.

We in Jamaica pride ourselves in the kind of democracy which we have achieved since the acceptance of universal adult suffrage and the consequent smooth change of democratically elected governments which have been the hallmark of our two-party political system. At the same time, I want to suggest that we have been deluding ourselves into thinking that this seemingly smooth transition and the relative calm which we have enjoyed, notwithstanding our occasional protest demonstrations, are indicative of a peaceful, accepting, if not docile people.

Indeed, I want to differ, and to suggest that the political parties and the system of governance within the public and private sectors may be self-deceived if they continue to assume that we can persist on the present path and with the same modus operandi and all will be well.

In last week’s observance of International Women’s Day, this newspaper was again able to carry a story about the exploitation of Jamaican women in the wholesale establishments in downtown Kingston. The report indicates that after an exposé some four years ago, which indicated that there were working conditions prevailing in these establishments which were likened to slavery, the situation has remained unchanged.

Working conditions are reported to be deplorable, the hours of work way beyond those specified by our labour laws and without the appropriate remuneration, even as the attendant benefits are denied these workers. Not surprisingly, many of these young women who number some 600, are single parents who need to keep these jobs as they are the breadwinners for their families. They are therefore wary about making formal reports or public statements concerning their working conditions as they fear reprisals and the loss of their employment.

It would seem only logical that with the kind of exposé we had four years ago, a close monitoring of the situation in these wholesale establishments would have been undertaken by the Ministry of Labour and the related agencies. Whatever happened to things like intelligence gathering and random checks in order to keep an eye on a troubling situation?

It seems that within our system of governance and in the administration of public and private sector entities, what we have are persons with positions of responsibility who are tied to their desk and are out of touch with the reality on the ground. I am not sure to what desk our members of parliament and parish councillors are tied, but that this is the case comes to the fore frequently when it becomes apparent that these elected officials only become aware of the condition of roads and the absence of domestic water when citizens resort to blocking roads.

Why do we have to wait until the media pick up a bad situation for persons in authority to begin to scamper in order to address a situation which should never have arisen in the first place?

There has been a misguided notion among some political leaders and members of the commercial sector that, because we are in need of jobs in this country, we must tread carefully and not offend those who would come and offer some jobs under working conditions that violate our laws and the rights of our people.

These challenges were present in the era of the 807 garment factories, and have found new expressions in subsequent eras. Contrary to the belief of those who see only benevolence and the need for gratitude in such opportunities, the seeds of resentment and anger are being sown in such situations.

It is significant that this story of the exploitation of women is being publicised at the same time that the pastor of the Hope United Church in St Andrew, Dr Margaret Fowler, while preaching at the service to mark the centenary of International Women’s Day (IWD), drew on the lyrics of Reggae great Robert Nesta ‘Bob’ Marley, No Woman No Cry, as a way of encouraging women in their struggle for justice and equality.

In a very strange way, those tears have a way of becoming, not just a medium of expression of passivity but a rallying cry of righteous indignation, which has the power to challenge and to transform institutions, structures, and governments.

But the neglect of women which is apparent in this story about women in the wholesale shops, and its anger-generating potential, are evident in many other areas of human endeavour in this society. It is interesting that within the same issue of this newspaper there is the expression of frustration and lack of responsiveness by a public utility company as experienced by a female columnist, Tamara Scott-Williams. Her experience of this utility company is not unlike many others who are angered each day by the treatment they receive, whether it has to do with light or water.

And the question which arises in all of this is, to whom do you turn for redress? One only has to walk into the customer service section of these utility companies each day to hear customers vent their anger, only to receive a “take it or leave it” response from the representatives of the company.

Having had the experience of a recent unwarranted disconnection of my electricity supply, I was sharing the experience with my electrician. He shared with me his own experience of having the contractor of the electricity company come by to disconnect his electricity supply. He indicated to the gentleman that he was current with his payment and it would take him only a minute for him to go inside and fetch his receipt. The response was quickly forthcoming that the contractor was given instructions and had no time to waste.

The customer decided that he would have his revenge. He waited until his refrigerated goods were spoilt and then he went to the company with his claim. At that point they were most gracious and enquired why he did not contact them before. You can probably guess his response.

While it is true that many Jamaicans have made illegal connections to the electricity and water supply systems, it is also true that many retired, elderly, and poor people struggle to pay their utility bills and have nowhere to turn when these bills suddenly show an inexplicable spike and they are then told that they must pay the figure being charged or their supply will be disconnected. Having no choice and no one to protect them, some have had to simply endure life without the utility.

Columnist Scott-Williams cites the position of the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) on the matter of overcharging on the calculation of the bills and wondered why nothing has been done to correct the situation. Like many Jamaicans, I am not sure how the OUR protects my interest. If, as is being suggested, the OUR has made a ruling on this matter and it cannot see to its enforcement, then to whom are consumers to turn?

The current national milieu is one in which nothing short of a drama is being played out in the Manatt Commission of Inquiry. This commission was set up to investigate matters related to some serious developments in the life of this nation, which resulted in the deaths of some 70-odd persons, depending on the source of the information; emotional scars for many; and the reputation of this nation in the international arena being tainted.

Many, if not most Jamaicans, simply want to understand some of the facts surrounding the extradition request which started the ball rolling, the sequence of events, and the players involved in the process leading up to the eventual extradition of Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.

What has in fact happened is that the two major political parties have decided to do what has become a hallmark of their way of handling national affairs, that is, turning the commission into a partisan political affair, in which the parties, through their most learned team of lawyers, not only show off their brilliance, but turn the process into a partisan circus, apparently with the intentional or unintentional consequence that the people of this country must watch and applaud our favourite, or what we determine to be the winning side.

There is already a growing band of persons who have lost interest in the party political games to which the parties subject this nation and who feel that this is at the base of the limited nature of the progress which we have made since Independence. Many persons are of the opinion that it is nigh impossible to break into the political parties in ways that can be transformative of the institution and of the approach to the affairs of this nation, even as the major political parties seem to take consolation in the fact that no third party has ever succeeded in this land.

If people get to the point at which they feel that the political system does not serve the interest of the nation, but that of the narrow partisan interest, frustration may one day lead to anger, and like the movements of the Middle East and North Africa, this may creep up on us as something that was not on our radar, but more of the order of “spontaneous combustion”.

As I reflected on this matter, I came upon the following verse of Scripture which speaks for itself, even if it has no weight for the cynic. “For as pressing milk produces curds, and pressing the nose produces blood, so pressing anger produces strife”. (Proverbs 30:33)

Howard Gregory is the Suffragan Bishop of Montego Bay