Dear Editor,

In just a few weeks many will revel in the festivities of Independence Day. Black, green and gold will be everywhere and the winning festival song — that nobody knows — will play at least once on the radio. For that one moment, Jamaica will be the centre of the universe.

By August 7, however, the backlash about how much money was spent on national festivities and how the “young people these days disrespecting the holiday with their partying” will reek in the summer air.

The birth of the nation 57 years ago ushered in a flurry of hope and patriotism as is typical of young nations. Jamaicans believed in Jamaica.

Fast-forward to today and, even as the economy is now finally out of hibernation, the dream is still a dream. With employment the lowest it’s ever been many will say Jamaica is on the right path. However, an inspection will reveal that the types and quality of jobs that make up the new statistics are concerning. Take, for example, the rise of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, currently the fastest-growing and most accessible industry on the island. Completely meritocratic, there is low employment discrimination as the standards for entry are typically low. With pull factors such as upward mobility and the ability to “make up to $200,000 per month” it is not hard to see why it is flocked. No doubt call centres offer lower educated youth a chance at employment and are a great first step to a career. But what is ignored is that it is also becoming the replacement for higher education and the repository for those who have received higher education. Jamaica must be the best place for BPOs to thrive with a highly educated and very dispensable workforce. Align this to a nation that does not pursue new talent or diversity within its “intellectual minority”.

This gives rise to the questions: What is national development to underemployed graduates who are paid to help disgruntled American customers figure out how to use a power button? What is it to a poor student leaving sixth form facing the prospect of acquiring debt to get a degree that will not result in a job to pay off those loans but can make “up to $200k per month” right now? What is it to the children of the rich who can flash a green card, jet out and find life elsewhere with decent pay and the possibility of self-actualisation? Nothing but an unreachable ideal.

If Jamaica must indeed grow, young Jamaicans must first believe there is something worth fighting, staying and taking responsibility for. Growth must be inclusive and equitable; not just for Kingston, but also for the man in Troy, Gubeh and Yallahs. Furthermore, a nation of talented youth, stifled by its own corporate sector, will never see the likes of true development. People who walked into a job 30 years ago with nothing but passion and a few GCE O’ Levels now demand that graduates have at least three years’ experience. Yet they only provide internships that give exposure to dusty files and a neglected back room with bus fare wages for the summer.

Still, should Jamaica truly develop, the present must believe in a future that it is worth pursuing. Grand speeches may have worked for the Baby Boomers, but millennials must be actively convinced with tangible and accessible results. If not, then globalism will be the death of Jamaica and partying on Independence Day will continue to be the least of our problems.

Dave A Richards

d1darichards@gmail.com