Dear Editor,

Prime Minister Andrew Holness came under fire recently for saying that Jamaica is still paying for the actions of Michael Manley.

Though maligned for his views, the truth is that Holness is indeed correct. Not only were Manley’s policies ruinous, thereby resulting in a 25 per cent contraction in the economy, culturally he was a disaster. His leadership culminated in the repudiation of bourgeois values in Jamaican society and as such the society devolved to its present state of hooliganism.

Many praise him for challenging America in the 1970s, but such steps were misguided. Forming partnerships with superpowers is pragmatic for small countries; deriding them, however, can result in their demise.

Unlike Manley, Lee Kuan Yew was not guided by dubious sentiments; therefore, upon assuming leadership, he quickly collaborated with the great powers of the West. To improve the conditions of the Singaporean people Lee Kuan Yew sought advice from the best professors and corporations. In contrast, Manley subscribed to the delusional theories of the dependency school of economics premised on the conspiracy that global capitalism is a tool to enrich developed countries at the expense of smaller states.

Further, his incendiary rhetoric forced many talented Jamaicans to flee, thus depriving the country of immense intellectual capital.

Obviously, the economy was affected by global economic conditions, but Manley’s sentimentality prevented the country from making serious progress. Unfortunately, as emotional people, Jamaicans do not have a proclivity for reason, and hence will always be deceived by the sentimentalism of figures like Manley.

Lipton Matthews

lo_matthews@yahoo.com