Dear Editor,

When a nation finds it difficult to do the simple things right, one has to become worried. The marijuana debate was never a debate. Almost every pool/survey done showed that Jamaicans overwhelmingly supported the decriminalisation of ganja.

Elected officials, however, ignored the will of the people and continued to prosecute otherwise law-abiding citizens for a non-violent and personal act.

Now that our “new” colonial masters have decided to become lenient on the plant, we are chasing the tail of the donkey. I will ignore any economic prospects because we have one of the best and most expensive coffees in the world and have found a way to make it a loss-making venture. The social ills caused by this unfair system will take some time to repair.

This nation is faced with many decisions to make in the short term. Chief among them is, do we wish to remain an independent nation? The other islands must be thinking they dodged a bullet, because if Federation went through as Bustamante and NW Manley wanted, they would have been led by a dysfunctional country called Jamaica.

The Ministry of Finance is being run by an external agency with the prime minister and Cabinet seeming to have no say in the affairs of the country. The private sector is saying no Jamaican is good enough to run the police force so we need a foreigner. This, even though the one foreigner in recent times had an unimpressive record.

The prime minister is silent and has basically boycotted the media, hence many have no idea what the overall plan is to move the country forward. I say if we have no confidence in our own and in our abilities to succeed as a nation we need to rescind our Independence and beg England to take us back.

With a weak Opposition and a Government that has refused to govern I see us as a failed state and a failed society. With poverty and crime at close to all-time highs and suffering amongst our people at critical levels, too much time and energy is being spent on non-essentials and non-revenue generating issues.

Simple issues such as homosexuality, prostitution and abortion that can be settled with a single referendum are tossed around as political footballs to distract the nation from real issues. The real issue is, we have a leadership crisis and have proven that we are not able to lead ourselves.

With recycled policies and people that have failed, and the failure of the masses to demand better we will become a case study in how not to run a country. I once blamed the previous generation for the ills of society and how difficult life was. That blame has now shifted. This generation, my generation, has failed Jamaica. And our children will suffer because we have failed.

Richard Smith

richardmc1999@yahoo.com