Dear Editor,

It has been said in some quarters that Jamaica has become not merely competent, but quite proficient in matters to do with crime, corruption and consistently making its people poorer. There is another attribute that needs to be added to that growing list however, and that is talking a good talk with little or no action whatsoever behind it. We need to coin a word for that, something like “jamaicious”.

How many times have we heard flowery utterances from lofty perches only to see nothing come of them? A glaring example is of our beloved prime minister who, upon assuming office, caused her colleagues to rabidly thump their desks when she spoke emotionally about transparency, accountability and the buggery law. The subsequent Richard Azan affair, and deafening silence in the face of questions from the gay lobby tell a different tale though.

Still, the PM cannot be judged too harshly, as she has seen from one of her predecessors what talking, talking, talking can do. The people in the inner cities, too, will tell you that word is indeed wind, as things that the commissioner of police is alleged to have said about human rights and the rights of citizens usually bear no resemblance to what they experience at the hands of his charges on the ground.

Another glaring example of the talk phenomenon comes in the form of the popular sound bite, “Buy Jamaican”. Now, which rationally thinking person is going to choose to spend his hard-earned money on more expensive goods, coupled with consistently poor service and inconsistency in quality, simply because it is Jamaica? Not even Captain Horace Burrell or Theodore “Tappa” Whitmore subscribe to that concept and have opted for mostly overseas-based players to represent Jamaica in the World Cup Qualifiers. Interestingly, we don’t hear the voices of the “big” people bemoaning this, and it seems only when their money is involved that the buy Jamaican — sound bite is still applicable. The fans and family of Jermaine “Tuffy”Anderson are asking pertinent questions, though, and a large segment of the populace has been alienated. How could it be that the top goalscorer in the national league for the past two seasons has not even made the bench?

Personally, I prefer action as against lip service. With this in mind, I am hopeful that one of these days some enterprising university student will provide us with a study showing the effects of us replacing corporal punishment with talking. Still, digressions aside, all this talk is not without some benefit. I suspect that if the figures were made available, we would see that talk shows make big bucks for radio stations. Who said talk is cheap? Incidentally, has anyone noticed how many of our politicians have ventured into the talk show business?

Robert Mitchell

Christiana PO

Manchester

mitcib@yahoo.ca