ONE of the greatest challenges to economic recovery in Jamaica is the low level of earnings and high poverty level of too many Jamaicans. The reason why this is an economic challenge is that business earnings depend directly on the level of consumer confidence and spending.

It therefore stands to reason that the more money consumers have the better businesses will do. Significant economic growth depends on the spending power of wage-earners. In other words, value-added economic activity will improve when income levels are way above basic spending needs and into more discretionary income.

The elimination of poverty should be a major policy initiative for all governments, but the problem is that this takes a lot of will and, in many cases, will not happen because of the need to be re-elected. Therefore, you will hear many politicians say that land or resources should be made available to people, without any real consideration of the consequences, just to ensure some votes. This is the driving philosophy behind many of the welfare programmes we have seen in Jamaica. An example is land distribution, which does not have any productivity objective — but rather a political objective.

The problem of squatters

But we can’t blame only the politicians, because many people support the same belief. So, if the police make a move to remove squatters from private property, you hear an outcry of many of our citizens — who should know better — saying that the Government or police are wicked to remove squatters without finding suitable alternatives, such as relocating them.

Many people blame the politicians for indiscipline, yet when the politicians make a move to address indiscipline, these same people call the politicians “wicked” for not considering the people. I have seen where the authorities have (i) tried to move vendors off the sidewalks; and (ii) made moves to clamp down on illegal businesses; and the comments on social media are that the politicians are wicked for trying to enforce this discipline without making adequate arrangements for the people otherwise. These are the same people who say that the same politicians do not enforce the law effectively. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

So we say “Jamaica no problem” and encourage indiscipline in the name of “loving the poor”, but when we go to other countries we conform to the structures and rules that exist. And at the same time we ask why we can’t be like other countries. We want to have our cake and eat it too — but that is just not possible.

If we are to see Jamaica develop, we must have poverty elimination as a major policy. And to eliminate poverty, there are certain things we must do which will cause some amount of dislocation because of the necessary cultural shift. The problem is that too many of us can’t deal with change, especially amongst our leaders, as it takes a special type of leader to be able to bring about fundamental change.

From connections to competitiveness

We must change our economic and fiscal arrangements. This, I think, is being attempted with the current economic programme, and we are seeing some of the necessary fiscal and economic changes happening. It is these necessary changes that are causing the dislocation that we are seeing in the fiscal and economic landscape, which are causing some amount of pain. This is because the way in which some people, and businesses, made money before (through welfare and connections) is now changing to one that demands competitiveness and service. Another issue is that the Government is showing a tendency to introduce taxes and fees, in order to relieve the fiscal pressures — resulting in damage to business confidence and investments.

We must resist the temptation to give in to both urges, and I think the finance minister has so far shown a willingness to listen to different sides.

Secondly, we must bring about a disciplined society. This means enforcing rules of business and personal engagement, just as in other societies where citizens freely go about their personal lives.

Life in the US

One of the reasons why the US is such an attractive place to live is because it is a well-organised and ordered society, where the average citizen can live in peace without fear of that peace being compromised by either the Government or other citizens. There is also an attempt to make people’s lives better in every respect. This means having a structure of how businesses operate (legally registered and properly located); respect for everyone’s property and individual space; predictability of laws; an attempt to lower the cost of living; and a system to ensure basic living standards (including proper health care and pension).

We go to other societies to achieve this life, but do not, in many respects, want to make the necessary changes here to ensure that our own Jamaican citizens can achieve the same.

So we continue to (i) encourage indiscipline on the roads (by drivers and pedestrians, both of whom assume they always have the right of way); (ii) disturb other people with playing loud music; (iii) ignore zoning laws and allow our properties to be in a state of disrepute — which the Parish Councils also fail to enforce; (iii) make it difficult for the average citizen to access good health care or other public services, through inefficient bureaucracy, poor service, and policies that are geared towards protecting Government revenues, rather than improving the lives of citizens.

Great leader needed

The last thing I will point out (although there are many others) is the unwillingness of the average citizen to change. As Peter Tosh says: “Everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die.” We want a better way of life, but we are unwilling to make the changes necessary to have that better life. This is like an individual who says he wants a better future but refuses to make the short-term consumption sacrifices to save.

For us to see the elimination of poverty, we will need extraordinary leadership. Nowhere has there been any positive change in social arrangements that has not caused dislocation for those who benefit from the old system. We just need to think about apartheid in South Africa and the civil rights movement in the US. At the same time, we see leaders such as Mandela and Martin Luther King emerging, and making personal sacrifices. Will we ever see that leader emerge who will bring that needed change in Jamaica? I long to see Jamaicans in a better place.

Dennis Chung is a chartered accountant and the author of the books Charting Jamaica’s Economic and Social Development AND Achieving Life’s Equilibrium. His blog is dcjottings.blogspot.com

Email: drachung@gmail.com