Some two decades ago I identified for the readers of this newspaper the causes and symptoms of the condition I have called the More Forward Syndrome.

It derives its name from the tendency of dancehall acts performing before a live audience to resort to inflammatory themes with the hope of energising fans and eliciting positive feedback. While in such circumstances artistes are often able to excite their immediate audiences (and draw a “forward”), they usually alienate the broader populace with their controversial comments.

Many readers are familiar with the deluge of vitriol which some Jamaican artistes direct at those they consider to be sexual deviants, and as a result of these utterances, some have suffered significant damage to their finances and reputation.

Many politicians, both local and foreign, have also fallen victim to the More Forward Syndrome, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Dennis Meadows and Everald Warmington are among the more recent local casualties. Both made intemperate remarks before largely partisan audiences. They seemed to have succeeded in extracting positive feedback from their immediate audience; however, their comments did not fare well beyond the locations from which they were delivered.

One should point out that, with regards to the More Forward Syndrome, it is usually not a question of whether what is said is true or right, it is often a matter of whether it should have been left unspoken.

A number of our distinguished political figures have been stricken by the More Forward Syndrome. Such political bigwigs like Michael Manley, Edward Seaga, Bruce Golding, and Portia Simpson Miller have had their own brushes with the condition. Manley’s “five flights a day”; Seaga’s “over my dead body; Bruce Golding’s “bangarang”; and Simpson Miller’s “Don’t draw mi tongue” are all symptomatic of the syndrome.

Yet the More Forward Syndrome is not uniquely Jamaican. One can cite numerous examples of foreign leaders being stricken by the condition. Former US President Barack Obama (guns or religion); US Senator Mitt Romney (the 47 per cent); and former majority leader of the US Senate Trent Lott (praising Strom Thurmond), are all indicative of politicians being afflicted by the condition.

Since
Facebook introduced its ‘Like’ button in 2009, users are able to get immediate and direct feedback from their followers. The spread of extremist views has accelerated on social media sites, as the algorithms of these platforms tend to privilege opinions which fall outside the mainstream.

Social media has provided a certain measure of immunity against the syndrome by bringing extremist ideas into the mainstream. Through the process of bringing the extreme into the mainstream, social media is able to make ideas which would normally have been deemed marginal seem conventional. This has led to the gradual diminution in our sense of shame.

Social media now allows politicians to gauge public sentiment, which they were unable to do before the advent of the technology. In this digital environment, outliers will usually not feel the isolation and attendant shame associated with holding ideas that are outside the mainstream. Many statements and actions which would have attracted opprobrium and sanctions in the past are now accepted as normal or even laudatory.

In 1988, US Senator Gary Hart had to withdraw as a presidential candidate for the Democratic Party because he had an extramarital affair. Governor Howard Dean had to pull out of the Democratic presidential primary, in 2004, because he let loose what sounded like a primal howl. Such behaviour today would not have attracted much by way of attention.

Let’s be clear, social media has increased the levels of accountability in some areas, as there are few secrets which are now able to escape their ubiquity. However, a case could be made that social media has, in fact, helped to normalise certain kinds of extreme behaviour.

clydepmckenzie@yahoo.co.uk