WHILE it is public knowledge that the political silly season is upon us, there is a level of political and intellectual dishonesty that is unacceptable — even from the political stump — and should be repudiated in the interest of honesty and truth.

Take the tirade from first-term Member of Parliament (MP) Dr Dayton Campbell at a recent People’s National Party (PNP) meeting in Mandeville, where he offered his theory of “labourisation” as an explanation for the growing “frustration (of Comrades) by decisions made under the PNP Administration”.

In Campbell’s defence, it is obvious from a deeper analysis of the article that the young MP is conflicted by forces beyond the comprehension of a political neophyte. Fed high on the mythical improvements in economic performance, the young MP is finding it difficult to understand why otherwise proud and unwavering Comrades are now seeking handouts.

The truth is the standard of living of the Jamaican people has been decimated under the current Administration, transforming proud, hard-working Jamaicans into beggars and paupers. Faced with the realisation that the PNP has transformed the pearl of the Antilles into the John Crow bead of the Caribbean, Dr Campbell’s only face-saving rallying cry to his audience was apparently to label the dissenting Comrades, “Labourites”.

Knowingly or unknowingly, Dr Campbell is reaping the whirlwind of Michael Manley’s disastrous Democratic Socialism experiment of the 1970s, which destroyed the thrift and industry of the Jamaican people and replaced it with a culture of dependency amongst the masses.

The main feature of the experiment was the State at the commanding heights of the economy, and the main duty of the Administration was to dole out the largesse of the State under the guise of social programmes.

When the largesse of the State could not suffice, private property became the target, culminating with the infamous “five flights a day” speech by Manley. The decimation of the thrift and industry of the Jamaican people, which began under Manley in the 1970s, was completed by Finsac in the 1990s; transforming proud, industrious and independent Jamaicans into homeless paupers.

Young Campbell’s conflicts are laid even more bare when he attempts to take refuge in the PNP’s default ideology — socialism. How is it that he has not recognised that the dependency syndrome to which he alludes is a direct consequence of socialist ideology?

Jamaica and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), as fearless partners, stood against this ideology in 1980. Fast-forward 35 years and the PNP’s only answer to rising unemployment and frustration, even from its most ardent supporters, is a rebranded failed democratic socialist crash work programme — the infamous “JEEP” that quietly doles out sums of money from time to time for low-paying work unlikely to lift any family’s standard of living in a sustainable way.

The JLP was founded on the principle of a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay, and has been the true champion of private property, thrift and industry. In fact, in a clear contradiction of Dr Campbell’s theory, the political fortunes of the JLP have, in some ways, been linked to its repudiation of the ‘handout’ culture. How many times have you heard the phrase, “the PNP takes care of dem people when dem win” as a condemnation of the alternative?

I say without fear of contradiction that Dr Omar Davies’ infamous “run wid it” episode would not have been accepted under an Administration led by Edward Seaga, Bruce Golding or Andrew Holness, since both the JLP and the public at large hold the JLP to higher standards of economic management.

The JLP has been a true champion of the working masses of this country through its commitment to market economics and the advancement of all Jamaicans through personal development.

The JLP understands and supports the important role of small businesses in driving economic development. Seaga’s transformation of ‘higglers’ into informal commercial importers (ICI) and the creation of HEART are just two JLP legacy policies that run counter to Campbell’s uninformed claims. The introduction of the Students’ Loan Bureau by the JLP was also one of, if not the largest contributing factor to the development, expansion and increased access to quality tertiary education in Jamaica. Added to this, the introduction of the Education Tax to fund education development, the historic contributions of perhaps the most famous Education Minister Edwin Allen, the elimination of the onerous cost-sharing scheme under the Golding Administration, and the recent contributions made by Opposition Leader Holness to education development in Jamaica clearly demonstrate, to even the most biased observer, the JLP’s unparalleled commitment to education development.

Dr Campbell, if he will permit himself to consider these facts and apply some deeper analysis, might come to a clearer understanding of the socio-economic and socio-political forces at play.

If by handouts Dr Campbell is referring to the elimination of user fees at health centres and elimination of cost-sharing in schools, then those are policy imperatives of which the JLP stands proud and remains committed on the premise that no healthy, educated population will remain poor for very long.

With creative economic management, the country can afford both programmes, but since economic management has never been the strong suit of the PNP, and the International Monetary Fund programme has severely reduced the State largesse available for another “run wid it” programme, he will find that more Comrades will not only begin to demand answers but will eventually vote JLP, since even to them it’s obvious the PNP has no answers.

Kent Gammon is the deputy Opposition spokesman on justice. Send comments to:

kentgammon@gmail.com