Dear Editor,

Both Portia Simpson Miller and Andrew Holness are excited that their roots grew from poverty and have declared their undying love for the poor. They have vowed to emancipate them from this scourge. However, can the poor trust anyone anymore?

Recently the former stridently defended her integrity in Parliament, while the latter declared at conference that “I am not a liar”. I am suggesting that these leaders, and many before them, have taken unto themselves a role larger than messianic proportions when making such promises.

Generally speaking, have the poor been liberated? Not by any stretch of the imagination! We have only moved from physical bondage to a more subtle type of economic slavery in Jamaica and around the world. That is why CEO salaries are on the increase, even in recession, while unemployment is on the increase.

Jesus, the only true Messiah to this world, contrastingly said in Matthew 26: 11 “…you will always have the poor with you”.

The statement by Jesus came about because He looked down the corridors of time, even to the 21st century, and saw how the world would be divideõ.5d economically — rich and poor. His words are meant to be an indictment and not an endorsement of the status quo. That is why he told the parable of Dives the rich man, and Lazarus the poor man. He saw that trickle-down economics would still be the order of the day. He saw that, as reported in The Daily Ticker on 22/1/2014, the richest 85 persons in the world would control as much wealth as the bottom half of the world’s population. He saw that about half of world’s wealth is owned by the richest one per cent of the world population. He saw the poor of this world (Lazarus) would be relegated to competing with the dogs for the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table.

Therefore, this claim to love the poor by politicians, church leaders and the mercantile class amounts to nothing but an opiate; not necessarily to give hope, but to keep them in mental slavery.

In the world’s largest economy we currently see man’s injustice to each other being played out on prime time news. President Obama is fighting an uphill battle which he may never win. At the root of immigration reform is economic justice for the poor. The former strangers and pilgrims (the Dives’) have become so rich that they are using the power of wealth to keep the more recent strangers and pilgrims ( Lazarus) in an undocumented state so that their business can employ them, pay them less than minimum wage and offer them no health insurance coverage. No status, therefore, living in poverty with no bargaining power.

Hear the words of the Lord, you poor of the world, for such a time as this. It is, interestingly, the middle text of the Bible: “It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man.” (Psalm 118: 8)

Homer W McKenzie

remohran@yahoo.com