The Ministry of Culture must do more to help the nation fight crime. Culture, after all, is not a distant abstraction, it is the rhythm of our lives, the invisible scaffolding upon which our interactions, values, and aspirations are built.

In Jamaica, culture is the pulse beneath the reggae bassline, the Patois we speak, the dancehall rhythms we move to, and, unfortunately, the wayward glorification of crime that has seeped into our collective psyche. If “culture is a way of life”, as anthropologists define it, then our way of life as a Jamaican people must change. The time for excuses has long passed.

Many argue that crime is a result of poverty, but this claim warrants scrutiny. While Jamaica indeed struggles with economic inequality, poverty alone cannot explain our staggering murder rate — among the highest in the world. The poorest countries often exhibit the opposite trend. Niger, for example, ranks among the least violent nations despite having a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita that would make the average Jamaican shudder. A 2021 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report revealed that while Latin America and the Caribbean had the highest murder rates globally, sub-Saharan Africa — a region with far greater poverty — showed markedly lower levels of violence. Poverty is not the great incubator of crime we often assume it to be.

Furthermore, the vast majority of the poor in Jamaica do not commit crimes. The single mother selling ground provisions at Coronation Market, the fisherman casting his net in Old Harbour Bay, the school teacher walking miles to work — these are not the perpetrators of violence. So, if poverty alone isn’t to blame, what explains the corruption and criminality that flourish in high society? What justifies the existence of white-collar crime in places where wealth abounds yet greed knows no bounds? Crime in Jamaica is not merely an economic phenomenon, it is cultural, a shadowed inheritance shaped by decades of glorifying the wrong ideals.

Our culture of crime, disturbingly akin to Sicily’s history of murder and revenge, has deep roots. Donmanship, with its twisted moral code and Robin Hood allure, has long been romanticised. Dancehall music, a cultural juggernaut, risks becoming a death cult, celebrating murder as though it were a rite of passage. The lyrics glorify gunman-ism, while the visuals in music videos fetishise violence.

But it is not just the men who are lost in this quagmire. Toxic femininity, “sketelism”, and prostitution — now digitised via platforms like OnlyFans — are eroding the moral fabric of our society. In the quest for quick money and fleeting fame, we are sacrificing our dignity.

And yet it is not just the poor and the disenfranchised who perpetuate this culture. Oligarchy and nepotism run rampant in our political and corporate systems, reinforcing corruption at every level. The “big man” culture in which connections supersede competence stifles the aspirations of those who dare to rise on merit alone. This is why Jamaica must embrace meritocracy — an ethic that rewards excellence, discipline, and integrity. We must let go of the tribalism that has divided us for decades and instead strive for collective progress.

To change our culture we must adopt practices of continuous improvement, such as the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen. Imagine if every Jamaican household, school, and workplace committed to doing better daily. Imagine if excellence became not the exception but the rule. Imagine if we taught our youth that greatness is born not from wielding a gun but from mastering a craft, excelling in academics, or contributing meaningfully to their community.

We must also reject the glorification of mediocrity and criminality. It is time to stop romanticising dons and gunmen, to end the fetishisation of violence in our music, and to curb the descent of dancehall into chaos. Let us not forget that art imitates life, and life imitates art. If our creative expressions celebrate destruction, then destruction will become our reality. As the late Professor Rex Nettleford once said, “Culture is the way we are and the way we become.” Let us choose to become better.

The road ahead will not be easy. Crime is deeply entrenched, and cultural shifts take time. But if we are to save Jamaica, we must start now. We must demand accountability from our leaders, reject corruption in all its forms and foster a national ethos of discipline and excellence. Only then can we transform our culture into one that uplifts rather than destroys, that inspires rather than corrodes, that unites rather than divides.

It is time to reclaim our way of life. The Ministry of Culture has a crucial role to play in this fight, not as a passive observer but as an active agent of transformation. Let us not waste this opportunity. Let us rise.

yannickpessoa@yahoo.com