There are none so blind as those who will not see. — John Heywood, renowned English writer and poet

Wilful blindness, whatever its origin and/or motivation, is a malady upon our politics. One of the awful consequences of wilful blindness is that the voluntarily impaired often take on the persona of Luddites. As merchants of ignorance, they ride like witches on the faulty broomsticks of ideology, fear, and dependence. They are also fervent subscribers to the outdated view that it is better to give a person a fish, rather than teach an individual how to catch fish for him/herself.

Today, the have-nots and those who do not have enough can best be helped by teaching them how to become the owners of the pond in which they catch their fish. Some among us who vie for very high political office just do not get that. Why? They are preoccupied with being discounted with a society which no longer exists. Consequently, they do not understand that it is possible to be very radical and, at the same time, still be contemporary. Myopic thinkers will ruin us, if we let them.

Shelter is essential

Most if not all Jamaicans want to own a house and/or piece of land here at home. ‘Rent house’ is not the final destination of any Jamaican I know. Long-term renting, not ownership, some tell us is all the rage in some countries. While that is indeed the case in some foreign lands — some famous for colonising others — Jamaicans, by and large, have not evolved to those higher heights, and I sincerely hope we never do.

Why? In summary, landlessness, among other things, was used by our former colonial masters as method of systematic control. Our fore parents, certainly the vast majority, did not have access to or own land.

The term labourer or “common labourer”, for obvious reasons, is not a term of endearment. It is not difficult, therefore, to understand why most Jamaicans desperately try to own a piece of this rock. Among other things, owning one’s own “piece of ground”, as the late South African singer, and civil rights activist Miriam Makeba phrased it, is integral to what the late Professor Rex Nettleford called “smaddisation”.

I think any self-respecting Administration — especially given our colonial past — has not just a responsibility but a duty to deliberately foster inclusive and affordable homeownership.

Whatever its weaknesses, the National Housing Trust (NHT), which was established in 1976 by the late Michael Manley, is one of his genuine and most worthwhile achievements. Thousands of Jamaicans have benefited from various housing solutions since NHT’s inception.

I once heard ace journalist, the late Wilmot “Motty” Perkins say on radio that contributors to the NHT would be way better off if governments refrained from taking monies from their earnings. Perkins argued for many years that NHT contribution was an injustice visited especially upon the poor because the majority of contributors would never live to benefit from their contributions.

Abolishing the NHT on these grounds would be the equivalent, in my view, of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. In 2021, the current Administration took the decision that NHT funds would be channelled to the building of houses. An article in this newspaper, entitled ‘PM says NHT funds to be refocused on building houses’, said, among other things, “Prime Minister Andrew Holness says a policy decision has been taken to return the National Housing Trust (NHT) to its original mandate of building houses for Jamaicans, while pointing out that governments have, over the years, been guilty of diverting funds from the entity to assist in funding the budget.” (Jamaica Observer, December 2, 2021

“Let the market decide,” meaning unbridled neoliberalism is the best solution to treat with our shortage of shelter, some shout.

I believe they need to have their heads examined. While they do so, hopefully voluntarily, the provision of shelter through all shelter facilitation outlets like the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) and the National Social Housing Programme (NSHP), which was set up in 2018 as a component of the Housing Opportunity Production and Employment (HOPE) Programme, by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who is also the Minister of Economic Growth and Job Creation (MEGJC), need to be ramped up 1,000-fold.

Container housing

A very sad, no, tragic reality is that the provision of shelter in this country has been retarded for decades because, among other reasons, it has been used as a political football.

Consider this latest example: “Arguing that poor people must be able to live in dignity, [Dayton] Campbell said he doesn’t support the idea container housing, pointing out that the National Housing Trust (NHT) takes money from people’s salary.

“Addressing a PNP divisional conference on Sunday night at Bellefield High School in Manchester, Campbell said that, after making mandatory NHT contributions for many years, people should not be introduced to container houses.

” ‘Me want brick and mortar house fi live inna. Me waan walk inna decent house,’ Campbell said as he criticised the Government for welcoming the introduction of container models to the local housing market.” (Jamaica Observer, April 2, 2023)

Those who study the swirling of the political tea leaves saw this outburst coming from a mile away.

Indeed, in recent days, some who have openly declared their umbilical connections to 89 Old Hope and others, who hide behind numerous burner social media accounts, had started bombarding the social media space with misinformation, disinformation, what I maintain should correctly be called lies, about container houses. These peddlers were soon joined by segments of other media.

Last Sunday, I noted here, among other things, under the caption ‘technology revolution’: “As I see it, access to good Internet speed is one of the most valuable tools in the toolbox of any citizen today. It is within the context of this technological revolution that countries like Jamaica have to quickly foster opportunity creation, expansion, and redistribution. To achieve these critical objectives require some important recognitions. For example, the old labour markets of the 1960s are gone and the working class as it existed then is gone too.”

It seems obvious to me that Dr Dayton Campbell does not understand this reality. He does not get it; that revenge politics, as we say in the streets, “nah keep again” (has lost its relevance).

Consider this from the mentioned news item: “This Government took the previous Government to court when we were taking money out of NHT when they left the IMF [International Monetary Fund] programme and make the country nearly crash; this current Government — when they were in Opposition — took the PNP to court. They have been taking $11 billion out of NHT every year and now turn ’round a look on the contributors ’bout container house,” said Campbell.”

“Containers are used to transport deadly poisons.” Some say this is why they are objecting to container housing. Most of our food is transported in containers, of course, that reality is buried deep in the when political deflection, obfuscation, and worse, are the primary objectives.

Dr Campbell could be greatly helped by this bit of information from the mentioned news item. I am assuming, of course, that he does have some kind of genuine interest in assisting especially ordinary Jamaicans to acquire shelter: ” ‘The size of the container home market in 2021 was estimated at $56.85 billion worldwide and it is expected to grow to $87.1 billion by 2029. We see how this is possible because companies that are involved in shipping, architecture, furniture, design and development, are merging the technology to provide solutions to meet housing demand,’ Holness said.”

It bears repeating that there is a technology revolution happening. Its consequences are and will be far-reaching, even more so than the Industrial Revolution, which started in the 18th century. This revolution is changing everything and fast.

Jamaicans are known throughout the world as great innovators. One of the areas in which our innovative skills shine most is home expansion and improvement. Anyone who has driven around this country would doubtless have seen how thousands of Jamaicans, many with very limited financial means, have transformed one- or two-bedroom starter units into palatial homes in a matter of only a few years.

Dr Campbell seems to want to harm this massively creative side of the Jamaican people. This is disturbing. We cannot but assume that what Dr Campbell said is endorsed by his president. His silence is loud. This is more disturbing.

‘Bad mind is active’

Many at 89 Old Hope Road still do not get it that ‘bad mind’ is despised in our culture. Rural folks in their philosophical wisdom maintain that, “Bad mind [envy] is wuss than obeah.”

I agree.

Consider this: “Mr Holness, tek why yuhself. Yuh think a yuh alone want to love inna mansion.”

This was Dr Campbell at the mentioned event desperately trying to resurrect the failed political strategy of the prime minister’s house. This among other ‘strategies’ failed miserably in 2016 and cost the People’s National Party (PNP) dearly and failed even more miserably in 2020. Yet the PNP continues to pursue sowing the seeds of ‘bad mind’. Folks hate with a passion “the green-eyed monster,” Dr Campbell.

Jeremiah 5:21, says “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not. Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear.” (New International Version) Some among us would do well to think carefully on these words.

Critical shifts happening

I don’t believe some among us understand the changing character to today’s society and the wider shifts in the social and economic realities of Jamaica’s population.

The big, divisive issues that used to excite our population — race, class, religion and ideology — no longer trigger the same kind of mass response today as they did in the 60s, 70s, or even the 80s and 90s. To be clear, I am not saying these formerly mega currents are dead, they are not. What is different today is that folks respond in much more segmented ways to issues of class, race, ideology, religion and related.

While some are shouting, “Away with container houses,” folks at the press of a button are clicking online and doing their own research. The addition of container houses to the offerings of existing shelter solutions will not resurrect water turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the killing of firstborn children, these were the 10 Plagues of Egypt.

Mail alert!

“This is not a job for a mortal man.” That is the view of one of my readers in relation to the job of national security minister. She was responding to, among other things, my declaration last Sunday that the job of minister of national security was one of the hardest in Jamaica.

“Jamaica needs a superman prime minister,” she proposed.

I disagree.

I decided to share this because it is a view that is not singular to her. Somehow a lot of us have got it into our heads that Jamaicans are the most or certainly among the most difficult to govern anywhere on the face of the Earth and that only superhuman individuals can “successfully govern the Jamaican people” — my reader’s perspective.

I disagree with this view. And, yes, I know the whole history about the most belligerent slaves being sent to Jamaica, etc, etc.

I believe the average Jamaican is just like citizens elsewhere. We want certain basic and reasonable tools to enable us to strive and thrive. When those are indeterminately absent, we rebel. That is human nature all over.

I would not want a superman-type prime minister. My reader’s e-mail got me thinking, though. Using what I see as the best attributes of our former and present prime ministers, what qualities would I give to a superman-type prime minister, assuming it were possible via say cloning or artificial intelligence (AI)?

Such a person would have to be valorous as Sir Alexander Bustamante, astute as Sir Donald Sangster, affable as Hugh Shearer, charismatic as Michael Manley, have a gift for figures and panache of Edward Seaga, the placid demeanour of P J Patterson, the amiability of Portia Simpson-Miller, the sharp-wittedness of Bruce Golding, and the administrative gifts of Andrew Holness.

Someone with all these qualities would be untypical of most of us.

I think I much prefer a mere mortal.