People’s National Party (PNP) President and Opposition Leader Mark Jefferson Golding, affectionately called Markie G by his devoted followers, appears to be in choppy waters as there have been repeated rumours that he is likely to be challenged for the leadership of the party come September next year. His main contender is likely to be the perennial pretender to the throne, Damion Crawford.

In the meantime, there are elements both inside and outside the party who are becoming increasingly concerned that the PNP under his leadership will not be able to outfox the Andrew Holness-led Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) whose ebullient supporters have already been spouting “fourth-term loading”.

Against this backdrop, he has trashed a recent newspaper report which suggested that under his leadership the PNP would be revisiting Michael Manley’s adventurous pursuits via democratic socialism. This, in fact, led to the party’s crushing defeat in the October 1980 General Election as the JLP — aided and abetted by the communist bogeyman, big business interests, and the Central Intelligence Agency because of the Fidel Castro bromance — was able to effectively use the elements of fear and desperation to convince the Jamaican people that capitalism should be the preferred path. As Edward Seaga succinctly put it, “It takes cash to care!”

To many well-thinking Jamaicans, including myself, Golding oozes with sincerity when he speaks about leading the Jamaican people to the long-awaited Promised Land, but there has been an underlying naivety in his approach. It is good, therefore, that he has since denied much of what was reported with regard to his affinity for democratic socialism, which is advisable.

Quite frankly, it should be made clear to him, in no uncertain terms, that it will never happen again in Jamaica. Never mind what is now happening in the United States, where a number of so-called democratic socialist contenders are gearing up to run in the November primaries in a bid to turn the tables on an autocratic Donald Trump. That is just a temporary segue into political adventurism, because there can be no doubt in anybody’s mind that the world will not wake up one day and find an American society that has fully embraced democratic socialism. So if Markie G were to ever consider using that unfolding scenario as justification to reintroduce democratic socialism in Jamaica, it would be, to put it bluntly, a flight of fancy.

To begin with, there is no country in the world where democratic socialism has been successfully implementeded. Golding ought to revisit the final years of Michael Manley in office, after the PNP was returned to power in the early 1990s, when a besuited “Joshua” made an about-turn and embraced the free market system, discarding in the process his once-revered Kareeba regalia.

Michael Manleyphoto

Indeed, it may well be that Golding became a beneficiary of that return to capitalism, which encouraged individual entrepreneurship and private enterprise as against the establishment of a welfare State in which the Government controls the commanding heights of the economy.

Perhaps Markie G should be espousing social democracy. This ideology is practised successfully in countries such as Norway and Sweden where they have kept the capitalist market system while using high taxes to fund large-scale social welfare programmes. These countries, per capita and otherwise, have been able to gift their citizens with the best quality of life standards while maintaining a stable democracy.

Consequently, it must be stressed that democratic socialism, in the final analysis, seeks to move past capitalism entirely, which intrinsically stifles the competitive spirit among a nation’s people. Take China, for example, and how it has embraced aspects of the capitalist ways of doing things without shouting communism or democratic socialism from the mountaintop.

Fidel Castro

The average Jamaican is a competitive creature. Just look at our higglers from the turbulent 70s until now. In fact, many years ago, this writer was told that the United States, through one of its agencies, carried out a study on the Jamaican socio-economic infrastructure and it was found that communism would never flourish here because of the psyche of the Jamaican people, who are, at heart, hustlers and entrepreneurs, albeit very often informally.

When all is said and done, the PNP president needs to become a student of history and he should also seek guidance from academia which would help him better understand the Jamaican people, most of whom are capitalists at heart — just like him.

In the meantime, Markie G should bear in mind that any attempt at this time to publicly support the ideals of democratic socialism would put him and Jamaica in the crosshairs of the Trump Administration, which could see Jamaica once again experiencing unnecessary pushback from Uncle Sam, inclusive of sanctions, tariffs, and other destabilising measures similar to that which Jamaica, under PNP leadership, had to endure during the turbulent 70s. Can Jamaica afford to go back down that road again?

SEAGA…it takes cash to care.

Markie G should espouse a pragmatic approach towards governing Jamaica, land we all love. It may well be that he should explore the possibility of being a servant leader and embrace the role of a compassionate capitalist. According to one online source, “Compassionate capitalism is an economic approach that blends the profit-making efficiency of traditional capitalism with a deep commitment to social responsibility, fairness, and community welfare.”

In the meantime, Golding and the PNP should be focusing on retail politics, which is what helped to bring it back to power after the 1980 debacle. Right now, the JLP is focusing a great deal on wholesale politics and is on a winning path because it understands the dynamics of social media, public relations, and how best to appeal to the new generation of voters who are not likely to have an interest in democratic socialism, an archaic philosophy which is out of sync with today’s realities.

Lloyd B Smith has been involved in Jamaican media for the past 50 years. He has also served as a Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. He hails from western Jamaica where he is popularly known as the Governor. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or lbsmith4@gmail.com.