We are 48 hours from the start of a new year. “Nutten nah gwaan inna Jamaica,” is the anthem of some. They will continue to bellyache into 2025. Some will continue to pray for the sky to fall on this country. Some will continue to petition God, minus prior work. And some will seize opportunities ripe for picking. Which category describes you?

During the upcoming year, many things will remain the same for some because they continue to do the same things in the same ways, hoping to get new results. I believe those who are fixated on “nutten nah gwaan” will continue to reap the whirlwind of self-defeat. Those who Bob Marley described as people who say “prayers to the devil, every day”, these are first cousins of the “nutten nah gwaan clique”. They will continue to bicker and wallow in self-pity, ‘badmind’, and/or worst. Those who believe God will solve all their problems, while they do nothing but pray, will continue to be ensnared in the Waiting for Godot trap.

In Samuel Beckett’s play of the same name, Godot never comes. But those who see and treat challenges as opportunities, they will likely advance.

WRONG TRAIN

“If you get on the wrong train, get off at the nearest station; the longer it takes you to get off the more expensive the return trip will be,” is the guiding of a Japanese proverb.

We have a sad but popular practice in this country of wringing our hands in great regret and shouting, “If mi did know…” We need to totally delete it from our consciousness.

Of course, no human being is infallible. We make mistakes. Some mistakes are discovered quickly, others are not. But mistakes left untreated are not mistakes. These are decisions.

Some, due to lack foresight and/or other reasons, are genuinely ignorant of the consequences of their actions. For some, however, ignorance is a convenient crutch. They know they are boarding the wrong train from the get-go, but they board anyway, hoping that by some stroke of luck the wrong train will take them to the right destination. Fat chance!

Even though it is very late in the day, some might have just discovered that they had boarded the wrong train in 2024. Please get off now and board the right train. Self-preservation, one of man’s most basic instincts, demands it.

For the new year, I suggest the abandonment of the rickety train of “nutten nah gwaan inna Jamaica.” This negative, poisonous, and severely contagious mindset is a most evil potion. It relentlessly destroys. Dozens are ruining their life chances with the daily imbibing of “nutten nah gwaan inna Jamaica.” This is a long-standing sickness.

Indeed, scores among us have conveniently, others ignorantly, been drinking this fetid brew of self-defeat. It has been retailed, wholesaled, but mostly given away free by cruel merchants whose specialty is the distribution of misery, for decades.

This hugely destructive brew — and a general willingness to drink it in the population — has made Jamaicans poorer, weaker, and less respected for years. To be sure, the manufacturers and distributors do not drink their rancid brew. Their children and inner circle do not either. I think these misery merchants are close relatives of the devils who a former police commissioner said “seemingly had a switch to turn on and off crime in Jamaica”. These are destroyers of human potential. They must be resisted with every democratic tool in 2025.

Psychologists say the muscle of the mind is most powerful. The crucial battles of life are first won or lost in the mind. “A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but a wonderful thing to invest in,” is the iconic slogan of the United Negro College Fund in the US. This makes sense.

How do the merchants of misery carry out the contamination and corrosion of the minds of our people? Among other things, they do it through music which degrades and destroys. These days the glorification of guns, ‘gal’, and gangs are no longer fringe themes in several music genres, including dancehall. These are now dominant themes.

Misery merchants also tacitly and overtly promote badmind as a virtue. They unceasingly push the falsehood that, for some to do better, others must do worse. The spewing of envy is a plague in this land. High productivity and honest success ought to be national premiums, instead.

The Bible says: “By the sweat of thy brow thou shall eat bread.” I fervently believe in this principle. You should too.

Get off, the badmind train, now. Badmind is a devil. “Resist the devil and he will flee,” says the
Bible.

REFRAME YOUR MIND

“How do we resist,” some might ask. Here is a suggestion. Some years ago, while I was on my way back to Jamaica from an overseas engagement, I found myself seated in the same row with two Indians. The sugary timbre of their English got me interested.

“Are you headed to Jamaica for vacation,” I asked.

“Oh, no, we are going there to do business,” one replied enthusiastically.

During our conversation I learned that they had flown a total of 22 hours. They were from Mumbai, India. I had boarded the flight in Panama City. I was extremely impressed by their great initiative and their expectant and exploratory spirit.

These two gentlemen stayed halfway across the world and saw opportunities in Jamaica that were ripe for the picking. They told me, they had planned to send for several members of their families to live permanently in Jamaica after five years. Fifteen years later, these two gentlemen have business outlets in three of our 14 parishes. And their businesses, from what I know, are growing stronger, so much so they are now diversifying. I am very happy for them.

Sadly, I have to make an unpleasant admission, but an absolutely necessary one. Too many among us are preoccupied with maiming, physically, socially, economically, politically, mentally and even religiously. Our long-standing preoccupation with the destruction of each other is one of the reasons that the mentioned gentlemen were able to spot and grab opportunities which we, here at home, did not see. Years of experience/evidence secured from travelling the highways and byways of this country tell me that my unpleasant admission is valid.

Please, don’t get me wrong, I am not for one moment seeking to discourage people from around the world coming into Jamaica to set up legal businesses. These investments benefit Jamaica. But, as a Jamaican, I would like to see many more Jamaicans own businesses in Jamaica.

Why have we underachieved in this area? Among other things, our priorities have simply been misplaced and misdirected for decades. Consequently, we have been majoring in minors to our national detriment.

Now, I know some are going to shout, “Higgins, what of the burdens of slavery and colonialism?”

I accept, without hesitation, that the systematic dispossession, displacement, and brutality of slavery has done great damage to our psyche and has set black people back economically, culturally, socially, etc. I accept, too, that colonialism has done great damage to us, similar to the damage done by slavery. I also accept that the near-catastrophic, but hugely preventable economic and social meltdown of the 1990s — which resulted in the near total decimation of the black business classes in this country — was one of the greatest injustices ever perpetrated on the people of Jamaica.

But, even in the midst of the realities of these mammoth debilitations, I still fervently believe we have the power to — as international reggae superstar Peter Tosh sang, and here I take slight liberties — “Pick ourselves up and start, all over again,” each and every day. This process, I believe, begins with what our first National Hero Marcus Mosiah Garvey called the emancipation of our minds.

The reframing of our minds is a prerequisite to really fast economic, social, and political growth and development. This should be a top priority for all Jamaicans in 2025. Why? Among other things, a general election is in the offing, and the stakes are extremely high.

I believe those who trade in constant and poisonous doses of misinformation and disinformation will quadruple their attacks, starting the moment the holiday season ends. Their cruel objective is keeping especially unsuspecting Jamaicans addicted to falsehoods. Social media is perhaps their favourite weapon these days.

Here is another tool of practical resistance. Avoid ignorance like the plague. I believe ignorance eats away at the mental health of people like an aggressive tumour. Those who sanitise and deodorise ignorance are involved in an elaborate scheme of betrayal. Sadly, this betrayal is often perpetrated by those who have had the benefit of higher education at significant public expense.

No matter who sings it, no matter who says it, no matter which lettered person embraces it, I maintain that ignorance is never bliss. Those, especially, who glamorise and monetise “dunce-ness” are not doing this society any good.

“Never argue with stupid [I prefer the word ignorant] people; they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience,” said Mark Twain. I agree. Avoid ignorant people like the plague. They are bad for good mental health.

If we choose, we can establish workable defences against purveyors of, especially, fake news:

1) Pay attention to where your news is coming from. Put greater trust in verified sources.

2) If you get information from social media, check the original source.

3) Within news articles, examine the sources and how they are included. Read beyond the headline.

4) When you see your friends and family share lies, correct them.

Too many among us have spent far too much time engaging toxic social media individuals this year.

I suggest that you get off that train now and focus on that and those who edify the mind in 2025. Resist the misery merchants and they will flee.

RIGHT TRAIN

If we stay on the right train, and/or board it, when we discover we have made a mistake this country will continue to strive and thrive in 2025.

Jamaica’s continued advance is dependent on the maintenance of our robust macroeconomic gains. Sound management by the Andrew Holness-led Administration has caused us to have a stable dollar, historically low inflation, low unemployment, and the highest net international reserves (NIR) ever. Massive reductions in our national debt; creditable decreases in crime, in particular murders; huge improvements in especially social and physical infrastructure nationally; very commendable increases in public sector salaries; etc have made Jamaica a better place for all of us. Jamaica is now on the right train headed in the right direction.

My wish is that you will strive and thrive in 2025. Happy New Year, everyone!

Garfield Higgins is an educator and journalist. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or higgins160@yahoo.com.

Garfield Higgins

Jamaica’s continued advance is dependent on the maintenance of our robust macroeconomic gains.