FIVE months ago, I had discussions with a very bright, ambitious, promising, and hard-working 32-year-old Jamaican resident. Though factual in content, to protect the identity of the chap, as well as to preserve the rules governing confidentiality, I hereby assign the pseudonym John Doe. I received his approval to relate his story within the broader context of why he believes young people should not give in to the daily diet of cynicism, but should instead push themselves to accomplish, maintain and then possibly exceed their rightful place in life.

Government will never deliver sufficiently to meet all our wants. Frankly, government should not attempt to do so because it exists to do for those only that which they, individually or collectively, cannot do for themselves.

It is true of most of us of Jamaican descent that we were not born with silver spoons in our mouths. Our accomplishments, therefore, are most likely to come from the results of hard, but smart work, and from the informed decisions we make. Doing so imposes tremendous honesty on the part of young, middle-aged, and older folks to accept that it is never about how good we think we are, but about how much better we can become. This is particularly relevant because complacency and instant gratification are the parents of failure. Similarly, the unwillingness to learn how to “stay on crooked and cut straight” and to “use yuh hand an’ mek fashion” could stymie a lifetime of success.

To begin with, John Doe comes from a typical middle-class Jamaican family and lives in the dormitory community of Portmore, St. Catherine. A graduate of the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech), John Doe holds a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Administrative Management and is currently in the employ of a large and successful Jamaican conglomerate located in downtown Kingston. He owns a 15-year-old car that he uses to get to and from work. He exhibits good social conscience and is conspicuously passionate about Jamaica, its traditions, and its future. He too, like many people his age, is very concerned not only about the way things have deteriorated, but also about the pace at which the deterioration has occurred, especially concerning values and attitudes.

However, of equal weight but of greater significance was the obvious displeasure between his “ought to financial position” and his actual financial status; hence, a huge segment of our discourse surrounded personal finances. There was nothing strikingly untypical about the nature and flavour of the challenges he mentioned, because many people, young and old and from all walks of life, have to contend with the same struggles of trying to balance their personal budgets day in and day out. What struck me, however, was his candid willingness to adjust in action [Schon & Rein, 1994] and to accept the reality of the challenges, but with a view of changing them. This is a rarity, because seldom do people identify shortcomings, acknowledge them, and then take the requisite ameliorative actions.

Without asking for help, or a handout, John Doe described the nature of the financial struggles he faced. His was a situation where both his discretionary and disposable income (take-home pay) was inadequate to afford him and his household a reasonable middle-class lifestyle. It was very unsettling to him that, “having successfully read for an undergraduate degree and having secured a mid-level position, I am still struggling to make ends meet…” While this is not unique to Jamaica, the details of his struggles would depress anyone with an ounce of sensitivity. We combed through his expenses from “tap to battam”, to quote the late Sir Alexander Bustamante, to identify areas of wasteful spending and misprioritisation.

At the end of the exercise, we found but a few things to cut. Nevertheless, he was adamant about making changes in order to improve his cash flow and long-term financial stability. We ended the conversation without identifying any significant item that he could eliminate that would lead to some savings. To my surprise, he called back several hours later and declared: “Eureka, Burns! I have found something that I can change that will help me to accomplish my financial objectives…” I inquired about his discovery and he told me, quite matter-of-factly, “I have to quit driving to and from work. I will start taking the JUTC bus instead…”

I quizzed him endlessly on the psychological pressure such a “riches to rags” move could cause, but he was determined to pursue his decision. He was fearless and very determined to buck the school of thought that continues to see car ownership as elitist, even though ownership resides with a financial institution until the car note is fully satisfied. In the end, I related my own experiences taking public transportation to and from work in some of the world’s most famous cities, such as London, New York, Paris, Toronto, and Berlin. He had it all thought through. He assessed the inconveniences to be immaterial and adjusted to the reality that public transport is sometimes overcrowded, which is a universal truth. He allayed fears of the inconveniences by underscoring the fact that JUTC buses are air-conditioned, run on schedule — or as close to schedule as possible — and are more than relatively safe.

His plan went like this: “If I take the Number One JUTC bus from Hellshire to downtown Kingston, it will cost me $240 a day or $1,200 per week — assuming a five-day workweek — for the round trip. If I continue to drive to work, using the toll road as I currently do, the tolls would cost me $340 or $1,700 per week. Truth is, sometimes I drive Mandela Highway on my way back from work just to circumvent having to pay the one-way toll. In addition to wear and tear on the car, petrol normally runs about $3,250 a week. For the last few months, JUTC has been having regular promotions where commuters receive double the value for topping up a Smarter Card on the day of the promotion. The bottom line is, I could save between $3,000 and $3,750 per week, between $12,000 and $15,000 per month, or between $144,000 and $180,000 per year. If I assume a three-year run at this, I could amass $540,000, which, when compounded at $2,000 over three years, at two per cent could be as much as $574,000…” Five months into his project, John Doe is well on track to realising savings of between $60,000 and $75,000 so far into the programme.

For emphasis, the preceding is not fictional; it is factual. The cynics among us will naturally dismiss this as insignificant because, in their world, $63,000 cannot purchase much. They may even engineer a slew of problems for the solutions identified in this real life experience — just to say why it would not work for them. Nevertheless, the lesson we should take away from this example is how to prioritise without regard for what others may think or how they may act toward us. For, as small as the potential savings will be, no one would just hand that kind of a money to anyone without expecting something in return. While this example speaks specifically to John Doe, its applicability could prove bankable, when applied to others faced with opportunity-costing decisions.

Young people, please live undefeated, but also prepare to adjust to reality. The naysayers are aplenty, their fascination with gloom and doom will last until they give up the ghost, but if you do not compromise on fundamental principles, and if you hold true to your good ideals, realistic dreams undergirded by hard and smart work, success will attend your efforts. Realising too that, like individuals, every country, every civilisation known to man, has had its share of challenges and faces its unique set of circumstances that test the resolve of its people; yet the country must go on. Yes, it is reasonable for citizens to become overwhelmed or discouraged by the daily struggles of prioritising and balancing between needs and wants as they try to survive. However, throwing up our hands in the air as we declare “Lawd God, wi dead now” will not improve our lot in life, not even by an inch of ground, much less by a blade of grass.

Burnscg@aol.com