JAMAICANS stubbornly refuse to face the consequences of years of living beyond our means. We see nations in thrall to debt having to cull public expenses, downsize firms, rightsize, and make adjustments, and we say ‘it will not happen to me’. Many are trying to “screechie” to avoid pain. We want to get to the good land but bypass the valley of the shadow of death. We must eat but will not plant.

What have you heard about hardship? Do you know what the next four years on this IMF programme holds? I have been asked many questions, and I do not have answers. How high will prices go? How deep will jobs be cut? Gas rationing? Will children have to share textbooks? Who will give us a scenario of what life will be like in 18 months time? When will we get to the green pastures of prosperity? We have never even seen these pastures though all around us have been there. What is our reality?

I was passing through an airport and saw a big red sign with white lettering. It read:

“Due to Federal budget cuts Customs and Border Processing (CBP) staffing has been reduced.” What?

It said service times would be longer and asked passengers to be patient. This was not a sign in some African country; it was America! They give us aid, free food and visas. We have never seen such a sign here despite generational poverty. Yet, in the greatest nation since Rome, they cut their coats to fit their cloth. This is a marvellous example for us. What then do people want to know?

How deep will job cuts go? How high will prices go? What about devaluation? Our dollar was dearer than Barbados’. Theirs is stable for 40 years, ours hopelessly devalued. We are big, bright; have more economists, businessmen and every kind of growth expert. Ours is the deepest economy in Caricom and the worst performing. We have large businesses and an abundance of micro businesses. Enterprise? We can talk the stripes off a zebra. We have not prospered, so what about growth? Growth is how we measure some good things, but it does not guarantee them. We once worshipped growth until we discovered “jobless growth”. Gainfully employed people, not growth, is the key to our prosperity.

What about plans? Cabinets have created industrialisation plans (from steel to domestic stoves), agricultural plans from industrial fibre (Agave Sisilana) to food (Hearts of Palm), services (from export of domestics to export graduates), freezone plans; many plans but we never had five years of prosperity.

Vision 2030 is in a long line of wordsmith productions. Growth is not enough. Prosperity is our endgame. So we grew last month. “Where?” We cannot judge growth, but we can see prosperity. Growth is trash talk. I look over the fence and can tell you are doing well. I can’t tell if you are growing. I land at your airport and I need no economic report — keep the brochures, JAMPRO! People invest where they are appreciated, safe and would live; to misquote a famous book “where your money is there is your heart!”

If someone from Mars asked you to advise them where to invest, would you say Jamaica? Say what? So how do we get to prosperity? Literacy and numeracy are not enough today. We must all be proficient in English and maths, and thank God TVET/STEM will be mainstreamed across schools very soon. Every student needs a marketable skill; ICT, goldsmith, carpentry, and must be able to think. If I can’t live here I will not do business here. Forget readiness for business, just make the country liveable. If you run away why should foreigners invest? What about obstacles? I just got a TCC and I ran like crazy; then someone spotted my name, liked my views and helped. What if they did not approve of me? We need the system to work for those who no one knows and who know no one. Don’t bore me with innovations. Do they work?

What about hard work? There are people who want work, get work, then they rest. Many want a job not work. I got jobs for people and am surprised when I see they are “on leave” — already?! “I had some things to do so I took a few days.” I knew one who planned his vacation while on probation. Once the job is “in the bag” they begin to organise the rest of their social lives. The job cramps their style.

What does the future hold for us? First, let’s look within the region. Take Barbados — yes, them again. Last time they faced problems I hear they called a meeting of labour unions and it went like this: “Brothers and Sisters, we are in deep trouble — inflation, currency slipping, prices rising, unemployment — we can take a wage cut, work hard to build back prosperity, or we can be like Jamaica — What you say?” Fear engulfed the crowd and they went back to work with gusto and built their nation.

So how have other IMF states fared? In 2010, Greeks were upset. They had enjoyed prosperity and did not like austerity. Will we react differently since we have never had prosperity? Will there be blood in the streets? Poor people rarely take to the streets. They live on them and the police are prepared. Mayhem involves the poor, but the organisers and sustainers of mayhem are not poor. Protest wracked Greek cities. The first reaction was from military and transport people in a text-message campaign. Anarchists took to the streets, marched on Parliament and tear gas brought on Molotov cocktails. Banks were besieged by depositors who wanted their money. Air Force pilots declared a “white strike” by refusing training missions. Special Forces and submarine crews who lost their hardship allowance went on strike. As hardship deepened public sector unions, private sector unions and Communist party unions called strikes. Cabinet merged ministries and made those they could not fire redundant. Buses, trams, trains, and air traffic controllers went out. Judges and courts worked four hours per day. Why do our people have no stomach for a just protest? When Government announced welfare benefits cuts Greece went into paroxysms. Can you imagine if our Cabinet cut meagre PATH benefits? “Ah so dem stay; das why mi nuh vote fi dem!” Greeks riot for benefits because they paid contributions; our people know they paid nothing; just a handout. No one marches like the Communists and Anarchists in Europe. Salonica had many marches and multinationals who did not allow strikes were blockaded. This is what people do when they know prosperity and see it slipping away. Really poor people do not start revolutions. The spirit of Nanny died with Nanny. It is buried in our psyches. A sad day.

So how have other IMF states fared? In 2010, Greeks were upset. They had enjoyed prosperity and did not like austerity. Will we react differently since we have never had prosperity? Will there be blood in the streets? Poor people rarely take to the streets. They live on them and the police are prepared. Mayhem involves the poor, but the organisers and sustainers of mayhem are not poor. Protest wracked Greek cities. The first reaction was from military and transport people in a text-message campaign. Anarchists took to the streets, marched on Parliament and tear gas brought on Molotov cocktails. Banks were besieged by depositors who wanted their money. Air Force pilots declared a “white strike” by refusing training missions. Special Forces and submarine crews who lost their hardship allowance went on strike. As hardship deepened public sector unions, private sector unions and Communist party unions called strikes. Cabinet merged ministries and made those they could not fire redundant. Buses, trams, trains, and air traffic controllers went out. Judges and courts worked four hours per day. Why do our people have no stomach for a just protest? When Government announced welfare benefits cuts Greece went into paroxysms. Can you imagine if our Cabinet cut meagre PATH benefits? “Ah so dem stay; das why mi nuh vote fi dem!” Greeks riot for benefits because they paid contributions; our people know they paid nothing; just a handout. No one marches like the Communists and Anarchists in Europe. Salonica had many marches and multinationals who did not allow strikes were blockaded. This is what people do when they know prosperity and see it slipping away. Really poor people do not start revolutions. The spirit of Nanny died with Nanny. It is buried in our psyches. A sad day.

What will happen here? Will we suffer? Will anything good come out of all this? This week I saw a headline which said that the Chinese had loaned Caricom US$3 billion and my heart sank because I know we have the largest population, are most needy, and we will pay back at least a third. I don’t care if it is to build a foreign affairs ministry downtown, do we need more debt? Stay conscious, my friend!