Dear Editor,

“You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks”, said Winston Churchill. He highlights distractions as the ubiquitous barrier that impedes the advancement of man. Jamaica has lost its savoir faire and, instead, has adapted an ornery peccadillo of neglecting critical issues, only to replace them with trivial matters.

In fear of having light shone on the mismanagement of the affairs of the State the Government feeds us frivolous information on which the majority of the masses quickly feast. They then waste time and energy into such distractions. It is for this reason we must be firm in our beliefs and not be easily swayed by the barking dogs that appear on our road to political, social and economic success.

We must learn to differentiate between important and interesting. Important is the misuse of public funding by Government and public bodies. Interesting is how much money the Opposition leader chooses to invest into his private affairs. How easily we sharpen our pitchforks and light our torches to destroy the reputation of a man because his progress intimidates us. Should it not motivate us to develop stronger dreams that lead to stronger working habits? We must remember that the product of ‘bad mind’ is only strife, not strive. It gives us an idea of where politics has us bound; and sadly, it is by our minds.

Why allow a party to entice us with short-term plans in exchange for holding the reins of our minds? I always thought being poor affects one’s state of financial security not their state of mind. As such, no longer should the government find refuge in distributing inessential information among Jamaica’s poverty-bound. If there are issues to be raised let them be ones of substance; ones that can raise the standard of our nation, ones that can see to the advancement of the nation’s people.

Tashani Durrant

tashani95@live.com