‘HOWDY an’ tenkki nuh bruk nuh square’ is one of the most well known Jamaican proverbs. It means that being polite and showing good manners costs nothing and does no harm. Saying “I am sorry,” showing sincerity in the apology, and following it up with restitution when necessary often costs nothing and does little or no harm. These are useful fillips.

It is the modus operandi in politics these days for many politicians to be wrong and strong. “I am sorry” seems to have been relegated to a leper colony. This is dangerous. It is stupidity at the highest human level. Politicians and other officials who, instead of genuinely saying “I am sorry” and following up with appropriate remedial actions, are overtly saying to the public that they are righteous and the public is stupid. This is political suicide.

“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time,” said Abraham Lincoln. Clichés such as “I understand the public’s feelings”, “I appreciate the public’s concerns”, and “I misspoke”, instead of an outright apology, are a big insult to the public’s intelligence.

Apology’s Pluses

In schools, children are taught to say sorry when they do something wrong. Is it that adulthood exiles the golden rules of childhood? Or is it that those who are elevated to elected and selected political offices were absent from lessons on good manners?

“Children live what they learn.” This is an adage familiar to most Jamaicans. It is not only children who live what they learn; human beings learn best from examples. When our leaders, high and low, show that they are too big to apologise their actions send chilling messages to the population.

Saying “I am sorry” is not an admission of incompetence. It is an admission that we are fallible. Folks understand and accept that reality. Saying “I am sorry” does not often cause a bigger dent in any budget. If anything, saying “I am sorry” when you have erred often lessens exposure and eventual damages in matters of slander, for example. I am frequently amazed at how some companies and governments foolishly spend huge sums of money on useless public relations dodges when all they needed to do was to say “I am sorry.” A genuine apology is an enormously valuable tool.

Genuinely saying “I am sorry” is always the right thing to do when you have made a mistake. Apologise and move on. It is the common sense thing to do. It is also healthier. As I understand it, stress increases your cortisol and blood pressure. Pretending to be wrong and strong is a stressor. Again, whether in public or private office, it makes sense to lighten the loads of this mortal life. It’s the right thing to do. It is the common sense thing to do.

Thousands of years of human experience have demonstrated that most people are likely to forgive even the most egregious actions when you contritely apologise and accept appropriate and proportionate sanctions. I have seen over and over how politicians and others have foolishly allowed actions, for which they should have apologised immediately and unreservedly, to fester like a nasty sore. What happens in these preventable instances? Diminishing returns are guaranteed. And the 24-hour news cycle is refuelled and allowed to take wings to the detriment of a multitude of individuals.

Wretched voice note

I am convinced that the reprehensible tactic of wishing and actively working to secure national failure in order to gain political advantage, and by extension State power, is the most severe form of corruption there is. Such thinking and actions are part and parcel of a completely reprobate mind. When National Hero Norman Manley spoke about the “corruption of consciousness” I believe he was speaking, among other things, about those among us who are prepared to systematically engineer the demise of Jamaica and Jamaicans so they can get their grubby hands on State power.

Norman Manley

Ten months ago Jamaica was devastated by one of the most powerful hurricanes in recorded history. Hurricane Melissa has done great damage to people’s lives and livelihoods. It will take many years to fully recover from the immense devastation. Some 45 citizens perished as a consequence of the storm’s passage. Some 90,000 families in western Jamaica were directly impacted by the hurricane, and 120,000 were left roofless. Scores have lost precious memorabilia.

There was near-total devastation to key crop lines, including an estimated 90 per cent loss of bananas and plantains and significant destruction across vegetables, tubers (particularly yams), and fruit trees. Livestock assessments revealed major disruption, including the loss of approximately 40 per cent of the layer flock. Fisheries were severely hit, with 25 per cent of the island’s fishing fleet destroyed and 41 per cent of aquaculture farmers reporting damage.

Our tourism sector, the breadbasket of the economy, has been badly damaged. Infrastructure in the western part of the country, especially roads, schools, and hospitals, was hit hard in the solar plexus. Approaching a year later, some people are still ‘kotching’, staying with relatives and friends. Kotching is a most uncomfortable state for most Jamaicans because we are intensely independent.

It is against the realities of hundreds of Jamaicans still facing the Herculean task of painfully and painstakingly picking up the pieces daily that were scattered by Melissa that a voice note of an elected official, who is paid by taxpayers, and another high-ranking member of the People’s National Party (PNP) are heard discussing how national recovery efforts and the head of the national recovery programmes may be systematically disfigured, dismantled, and destroyed.

“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” — Matthew 16:26 (KJV). It is evident that some among us are quite willing to sell even their souls to gain State power. I have been warning about these reprobates for years. They don’t give two hoots about ordinary Jamaicans. They are obsessed with gaining and/or retaining State power.

I have previously pointed out in this space that some of these persons are status-deprived individuals, “Frighten Fridays” who use politics as a means of satisfying their status deficits. Some of these “never see come see dem” are obsessed and absorbed by the trappings of State office, especially titles like ‘Minister’ and ‘Senator’, etc. These charlatans forget their obligations to the people and use their political appointments as mere crutches of convenience. These are parasites and wretches who hinder Jamaica’s advance.

Some in the PNP evidently believe that the severely wretched and extremely un-Jamaican contents of the mentioned voice note will sooner rather than later be relegated to the rubbish bin of nine-day wonders. They are wrong! Some at 89 Old Hope Road who are fat with importance evidently believe they can spin anything — anything excludes nothing — and that eventually a majority of Jamaicans sufficient to get them back the keys to Jamaica House will reward them. They obviously don’t understand today’s Zeitgeist.

The PNP is important to our developing democracy but it is by no means indispensable. On the present trajectory the PNP is rapidly spending its reserves. It has branded itself as a party which is fuelled mainly by grievance and very little else. Some years ago I said in this space that the PNP was suffering from a famine of ideas. I have been proved right. The PNP is getting increasingly more immature with age. I have been saying here for a long time that the PNP needs a life raft. Without that life raft it is going to continue to drown.

The PNP is killing the source of its own sustenance.

No surprises

I was not surprised that PNP president and Opposition Leader Mark Golding made a mess of a golden opportunity to stamp his class on the party when he spoke about the voice note at a recent National Executive Council (NEC) meeting. The movie Mr Golding showed at the mentioned NEC is one we have seen before. It was badly produced. It was amateurishly written. It was poorly directed. Golding evidently does not understand that a big photo opportunity without good content ranks zero.

Genuinely saying “I am sorry” is always the right thing to do when you have made a mistake. Apologise and move on.

After almost six years of auditioning for the post of prime minister, Golding continues to leave us in no doubt that he is even more politically immature today. Golding was obviously pressured to respond to the ghastly contents of the voice note. Even Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ), to its credit, came out in strong condemnation of the frightening revelations. Incidentally, to date the Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC), Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches (JUGC), Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP) and other civil society groups have all kept a stony silence. Discerning folks know why.

Golding does not understand that humility, more often than not, adds to, not subtracts from, political capital. Does he understand that in politics when you are right you can still be treated as wrong, and when you are wrong you are finished, unless you are contrite and take responsibility as the leader? That is how real leaders lead. Golding needed to apologise to Jamaica for the un-Jamaican contents of the voice note and indicate an effective way forward regarding credible sanctions, including dismissals from the PNP’s inner sanctum and ineligibility to run on a future PNP ticket. He did not do anything even remotely near that. Instead, he fumbled and failed.

I was not surprised. We have seen this awful movie before. Recall that after 41 days of indecision Golding was seemingly forced to renounce his British citizenship. He says he is a man of principles. What principle is this? Golding should have renounced “without hesitation” — think PJ Patterson. Yet Golding mouths that he is a diehard supporter of “full decolonisation now; not a piecemeal approach”. His consistent double-speak is tremendously frightening. We need to be afraid!

When an opposition leader is trapped in discussing and defending the past instead of painting a practical picture of the future, he or she is on the way out. Golding has succeeded in rendering himself peripheral. Many months ago I noted here that the PNP had become a parliamentary curiosity. I have been proved right. New blood with new thinking at the very top is urgently needed by the PNP.

Many months ago I said here that if the PNP is to have a fighting chance of getting back the keys to Jamaica House it needs an authentic, visionary, and disciplined strategist. Golding is definitely not it.

“We believe that it is best for the PNP to form the Government; therefore, anything that will lead or cause us to be in power is best for the PNP and best for the country.” This frightening statement was made on the radio in the 1990s by Robert “Bobby” Pickersgill, the chairman emeritus of the PNP. Many years later the PNP has still not distanced itself from this abominable utterance. I believe that when the PNP meaningfully begins to distance itself from this debilitating politics it will begin to recover its soul.

Mudslinging

Some in the PNP obviously believe that if they throw enough mud, some is bound to stick. The weakness of that sordid approach is that when you throw mud, mud is bound to splash into your face.

By mudslinging I mean incessant and provocative propaganda, pointless political slugging matches, fake news (lies), razzle-dazzle, theatrical deflections, wholesaling and retailing of conspiracy theories, character assassinations, drive-by shootings on people’s character, and performative politics on stilts.

When politics is reduced to the lowest common denominator, ultimately political mathematics arrives with a “cocomaka stick” comeuppance.

Three consecutive general election defeats and two successive local government election losses later, the PNP still hasn’t figured out how to do the math.

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

Garfield Higgins