IT is easy for the court of public opinion to tarnish the reputation and character of political representatives without consulting reason.

I write to make clear what is seemingly ambiguous. There are some of us in this process pursuing an outcome rather than an income. It has also become apparent that speaking the truth is rapidly being equated with being controversial. However, I have no intention of compromising the truth to evade controversy, nor am I prepared to adopt what is popular instead of what I know to be right.

Travelling the length and breadth of St Ann North Western I have met many regular Jamaicans who are fighting to move from poverty to prosperity. My own story of being the offspring of a domestic helper and a farmer who was incarcerated for many years makes me sensitive to their struggles and affords me the opportunity to relate to them even though we are not related. The outcome I am pursuing, therefore, is to give the same opportunity that I received to these people who I can relate to and help them chart the course from poverty to prosperity.

If we want to give this hope of elevating from poverty to prosperity to every child and every family we must continue to work and do the right thing and not necessarily the easy thing. Hope is not some far-fetched idea, I have actualised my dream, and I know that success is not about how much money you make but about the difference you make in people’s life, hence I have learnt to place a higher premium on the outcome not the income.

Working as a specialist in medicine or combining my latest law degree with medicine would afford me a better income than politics does. I have realised that I can’t become distracted by the noise, as the process is not a Twenty/20 cricket match but is much more like a Test match.

We must therefore come together as a country and promote unity and fixity of purpose over delusions and fear. It was this drive that led me to offer free GSAT and CSEC classes to hundreds, and over 2,000 in skills training, irrespective of political affiliation. I also offered over 4,000 free back-to-school medical checks to all who sought, and several community health fairs and health talks in churches or schools since being in politics.

This approach has been met with varying responses, but as I recall the tear-stained face of parents like mine at the graduation of their child that it was said would amount to nothing, I remain resolute in focusing on education and health care.

We are at a defining point in our history, the size of our challenges has outgrown our divisive politics. We are confronted with the challenges of creating equality in access to education, universal health care that is accessible and affordable, creating employment opportunity, and creating the environment for private sector to thrive and entrepreneurs to unlock their full potential, curbing the crime and violence, addressing in a distinct way the issue of global warming, reducing the cost of energy and adapting to newer technologies, etc, the approach to these issues will require all hands on deck. This is indeed a chance to build a new majority by getting the silent majority involved.

This requires that we remove any remnant of the divisive politics that has held us back for generations… this divisive politics that even I myself would have fallen prey to at times. This therefore is a clarion call to allow the politics to be more about the lifting up of the country and less about tearing down the opponent. If we lose this opportunity to fix Jamaica’s economy we will lose the next generation.

The questions is, when must the fixing take place? The simple answer is NOW. We have been told we can’t, we have been told not to offer false hope, but in the face of impossible odds, people who believe can be the change. Years from now when we have made the changes you will be able to look back with pride and say this was the moment.

Call me a dreamer, but dreaming has done well for me, and I believe that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, work for it, and fight for it. This is our moment, this is the moment for those who hunger for equality and thirst for justice. We must open some doors for people who want to work, for people who want to move from poverty to prosperity. Jamaica is up against a politics that says it is acceptable to do or say anything to win an election. There is a notion that has been perpetuated to say independent voters or non-voters don’t care or JLP can’t change or rich people don’t care about poor people. There are also some other issues such as morals, good family values, parenting that have been eroded and in need of urgent attention. I am encouraged by the bipartisan voices speaking out against child abuse.

It is clear that no party has a monopoly on solutions, this will require us to become patriotic. Patriotism is supporting your country and being devoted to its development. This also means that we recognise the supremacy of the laws of the land and we submit ourselves to be governed by those laws and not men, thus no one should feel constrained by the accident of birthplace.

Many people have interpreted patriotism to say they are not PNP or JLP but they are Jamaicans first. Well, I am Jamaican only, as this is the only country to which I have sworn allegiance. I am not a dual citizen. I am PNP because I am a Jamaican, Mr Andrew Holness is JLP because he is Jamaican as those are the main political parties in Jamaica. Politics is the vehicle for achieving change and politics is run by political parties. Patriotism is therefore supporting your political party when it deserves it. Those challenges I previously outlined must have the Government’s hands on deck to overcome them. At every point in history that required choice of change to advance the people, the PNP made that choice to offer that chance for regular Jamaicans to advance themselves and in turn advance the country.

An association with a political party does not make one unpatriotic, the reality is that Jamaica will have to be led by a government which based on our system of governance is normally by the party that wins a majority of the seats.

The issue confronting the two major parties is therefore how will either party appeal to the majority by focusing on the issues of importance to the country and not those of the political party.

The major problem facing Jamaica is the huge debt which essentially sees us spending 55 cents out of every dollar to service that debt then spending another 25 cents on wages and salaries only leaving us with 20 cents to fix infrastructure like roads, run schools, hospitals and provide national and social security. By reviewing these figures we see that any increase in one category will impact on the others, say for example if you increase the amount paid to wages and salaries it will either mean you have to default on loan payment or reduce the amount for social spending, this shows us that the true patriots are our teachers, nurses, police and other workers who sacrifice to keep this ship afloat.

One thing must be sure is that these problems are above the political divide, as either party would still have to deal with this reality and a commitment must be made to once and for all consolidate the economic recovery to bring our debt to less than 100 per cent of GDP, thus giving us the ability to spend more on social services and raise the quality of living of our public sector workers but properly compensating them.

There are two ways of reducing a percentage (1) is to reduce the numerator in this case that means reducing our spending or (2) increasing our denominator in this case growing our economy which has to be a central and pivotal plank in any plan going forward.

If our collective goals is to get to that point then we must continue in the struggle to achieve our goal, it becomes necessary to say that there is a big difference between suffering and struggling, when you are suffering, you are enduring hardship for no reason at all. Struggling is when you are enduring hardship but you have a goal in mind. Struggling is when you are working to achieve your outcome in spite and despite of the condition that you find yourself in. If our goal is to save the next generation, if our goal is to attack the major and minor issues afflicting us as a people, we must continue the struggle, we must continue to be patriotic.

The politics must become more about the people and less about us. We must not just seek to win an election by doing and saying anything but by putting forward practical solutions for complex problems. We will only lose if we stop fighting. A luta continua — the struggle continues.

Dr Dayton Campbell, a medical doctor and lawyer, is Member of Parliament for St Ann North West.