There are pivotal, brutal moments in history that, depending on how society views itself, often result in a stand of “no more, never again”, being taken.

The Jewish holocaust caused Jewish people to let go of a culture of turning the other cheek and embrace one of absolute intolerance to all who stand against or threaten them. This, in time, extended to Israel.

The holocaust had the effect, therefore, of inciting a violent culture that will defend itself by any means necessary.

I must confess I like their spirit, even if I disagree with their political decisions from time to time. “Never again” is not just their slogan, but also a commitment to kill and die, rather than ever again be a passive victim to anyone.

The burning of the female child in Vietnam on June 8, 1972 by American-supplied napalm stunned the world and, in effect, woke up the American conscience. It also drove the anti-war movement to simply take a stand of “no more”.

If they had to burn down the country to stop the burning of one more child, they were going to do it.

The entire country followed and a movement became the flag-bearer of a national consciousness. Out of this tragedy and the photo that represents it came a stand against violence in another land with the threat of carrying out violence at home.

The murder of George Floyd has already begun to change American police practices. There is a misnomer that society is divided between police officers and civilians. It is incorrect and the only difference is the job done by the police that, in effect, gives one citizen authority over another.

It does not make the police special or different. The George Floyd disaster saw one idiot murdering a man whilst his fellow officers sat idly by. It was as if they no longer had free will or thought. The murder has caused criticism of the police by the police.

It is not just race relations that will change because of this, but the divided society also. This senseless killing was so much more than white vs black. It was a representation of the gap between the police and the public. If not, why didn’t the police minorities present do anything?

The reason is that the view of the police and the public as two separate entities has existed in the United States of America since the Hoover era. It has only got worse. The George Floyd tragedy will change this.

The Eventide fire, which occurred in May 1980 in Jamaica, resulted from the arson of an old-age home for females. A total of 153 elderly women died in the fire. This was us at our lowest. We hit moral rock bottom. This was our life-changing, thought-changing trauma.

What impact did it have? Did it wake up a feeling of intolerance in our society — one that, on account of it, like the Israelis, we will kill and die before we let the weak suffer?

No, it simply did not have this effect. Oddly enough, it made us accepting. We became a society that accepts that innocents will die at the hands of evil and that is our reality.

I have never accepted this because if I do, then, I will have to accept that I cannot do anything about it. I must believe, as unrealistic as it is, that if I get up every day ready to fight then one day I can defeat them.

Eventide made us afraid and, by extension, selfish. We fear for ourselves, fear for our families. I can identify with fear. I also fear for my family. Many police officers do. My son, who is an adult and lives in Jamaica, is at an age where he needs to begin to accept his role in the struggle.

I told him that if he has to decide between joining the fight to protect the innocent or ensuring the safety of his children, then the best solution is to have no children. This, I think, is an incredible sacrifice. However, standing by and doing nothing whilst more innocents burn is unacceptable. It is also not an option.

Does it sound drastic? It only seems that way if you do not really think and realise that our fellow Jamaicans are being ruled by animals who kill them, rape their children, extort their earnings, and stand on their dignity. And I am talking 15 minutes away from wherever you sleep in Kingston, Montego Bay, Clarendon, and St Catherine.

These things are done by people they did not elect. If we accept this and do not oppose the degrading of others’ children because we fear for ours, then what does that make us?

We must be the only country that still accepts the oppression of a minority to have dominion over us — the minority being the gangs.

Recently, a woman in central Kingston was burnt to death in her sleep because of thugs in the area. It was some silly act of violence motivated by some rubbish and carried out by human garbage. The nation is not even bothered.

We, the accepting cowards, are fast becoming the sore of the Caribbean. We need a national movement so that the good majority can neutralise the evil minority. However, for this we need a framework. This must be provided by the Government. Find a way to open up the reserve of the Jamaica Defence Force and the Jamaica Constabulary Force to the willing, able, and law-abiding public.

Enlistment needs to become a culture, not a means of employment for a few among us. When you leave school it should be automatic, if you qualify. You join either part- or full-time. But you join with the intention of helping to end gang domination.

Not joining should cause a person to be seen as a coward. An applicant should only be rejected because he does not have the grades, or because the background check revealed him to be a cruff. Whatever the reason, the individual should feel disappointed and ashamed that he is unable to carry out his duty. That is the national mindset I seek.

Only controlled societies could fight this large a problem with a full-time police force and we are not one, nor do we want to be. Plus, we are simply not wealthy enough to become a welfare society like Great Britain or Holland. So we need a Jamaican solution to a Jamaican problem.

All plans to fight these monsters to the point of defeat with a full-time police force is bull. We can no more defeat them without the citizenry than the British could have survived the Nazi threat without a draft. Anything else is just a Government accepting the existence of the gangs. It is that simple. The legal framework just does not allow for victory won by a full-time force alone.

The Israelis’ problems are no different or greater than ours. More die here, both per capita and in actual numbers. The difference is that the Israelis are determined to ensure they are never brought to their knees again, whereas we have accepted that we belong there.

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