The Ministry of Culture and the Government at large must be congratulated for the planning and execution of this year’s Independence celebrations.

Of course, this is a special year, being the country’s diamond jubilee and all that this suggests. The Grand Gala at the National Stadium was as spectacular as it was innovative. The drone display simply took your breath away. It was a clear demonstration of how seamlessly Jamaicans can adapt to and use emerging technologies to their own benefit. Kudos to those who planned this segment of the event, especially the private sector, who worked with the ministry to get it done.

After the anxieties of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Jamaican people deserved to exhale, and that they did over the weekend.

There are many things about which we can lament as a nation, but there are many others about which we can rejoice. I believe that after 60 years we are in a much better position, murderous crimes notwithstanding, to chart a better future for our country.

What will Jamaica look like in 2082, 60 years from now? However powerful anyone’s ability to predict the future, no one truly knows. But one can hazard a guess from the present iterations of the society and the road over which we have come the last 60 years. The hope, and hopefully the determination, must be to create a society better than the one we now have.

We all have a role to play in building this future, but those standing on the bridge of leadership in every sphere of life in the country must realise their role in creating that kind of society. For too long we have relied on our political leaders to set the tone for the kind of society we want to build and then sit on the sidelines or on our verandahs and patios and gripe when things are not going right.

The society we should want to build from here on must be one in which every citizen from every walk of life feels that they are important stakeholders in this project called Jamaica; that they are not mere appendages to a process, but are integral to the very survival of the society; where economic activity is at a premium and if they take risks they can thrive; where the social fabric is strong and there is respect for the dignity of human life.

Yes, I know this sounds like poppycock in the present iteration of what Jamaica is and what the future seems to portend. So my critics will say to me: “Raulston, what have you been smoking? You are hoping for a utopia, pie in the sky aspirations that will never become reality in this country.” But I refuse to be that pessimistic. If we cannot achieve these basic things, which make for a liveable society, then one cannot see that there can be any future in the alternative — a society at war with itself, one overrun with corruption and a moral relativism which only regards radical self-interest, hedonism, and social irresponsibility as values to be striven for. The alternative is to create a society which will lurch into an ungovernable state not unlike that which is fast emerging in our neighbour Haiti. I refuse to accept this alternative because the large majority of our people still desire a better path and I believe most are willing to work towards it.

For these aspirations to become a reality, there are some things that we must get right. We can begin by not paying lip service to the legendary resilience of the Jamaican people. On any national occasion, the constant refrain of our political leaders is how resilient Jamaicans are. But you wonder to what extent they truly respect the resilience of our people. To what extent do they really recognise the latent greatness that is locked up in the Jamaican spirit and Jamaicans’ aspiration for greatness?

I ask this question especially of our political leaders for far too often what they seem to interpret as resilience is their ability to exploit the people for political gain. If they truly admired their resilience and truly wanted to reward them for being resilient, they would see this as a strong springboard to motivate them to achieve, to lay the governance and economic foundations that can help them in this achievement, and to remove the impediments that often lie in their path to do the simple things that cause them frustration almost on a daily basis.

For example, too many, especially the poorer and more vulnerable segments of society, have to be literally begging to have the basic utility infrastructure functioning in their communities, not to mention the shabby treatment meted out to them by civil servants when they have to engage government agencies. In some deep rural communities people have to be still carrying water on their heads in pans and buckets. And there are the ever present potholes in our roads.

There are still some rural schools that have pit latrines, and too many businesses do not have toilet facilities for patrons to use. It is a crying shame to behold the ramshackle state of our public markets, many of them not having the toilet facilities aforementioned.

I could go on, but you get the drift. What I am talking about are the simple, doable things that can restore some dignity to living in this country. Over the last 60 years we have sought to do big things while neglecting the simple things that should bring dignity to people’s lives. If we cannot get these simple things right, which is often a matter of the will and not the absence of resources as our political leaders like to trumpet, the next 60 years will not see us far on the road to building a strong, respectable, and viable society.

Let us, with great deliberation and fixity of purpose, get the small and doable things right or there will be greater lamentation when 2082 rolls around.

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storm, Your Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life, and Beyond Petulance: Republican Politics and the Future of America. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or stead6655@aol.com.