Tragically, fixation on an unusable past is the forte of some among us. In pursuit of their twisted obsession, they invariably find a problem for every solution. If they succeed in contaminating the majority, we could all end up living in a big rat hole.

Preoccupation with an unusable past is not a new affliction.

Google and you will see a long history. But why do some people hang on to an unusable past for dear life? The reasons are pretty much the same as they were 2,000 years ago. Human nature is the same as it was from the beginning of time. Some people, ridiculous as it might sound, actively try to defy the march of Father Time. Some want to preserve niches of control that are advantageous to them socially, psychologically, religiously, politically, or personally. Some are obsessed with opposition itself. They love basking in the underdog’s spotlight.

And there are other reasons. But whatever the reasons, there are some inescapable and far-reaching social, economic, and political realities in our global environment, especially today, which stare us in the face daily. Choosing to be ignorant of them is costly, foolhardy, if not suicidal.

INESCAPABLE REALITIES

Some among us, for reasons which are obvious to the discerning, pretend not to understand the very unpredictable nature of global geopolitical gravity. These charlatans are among the traitors about whom I spoke in my column of June 21, 2026, titled ‘Traitors in plain sight’.

Recall I said, among other things, “Some of these traitors wear well-tailored suits. Some use flowery language. Some are well-credentialled. Some hold high positions in the Church and civic organisations. And, among other things, some masquerade as leaders of civil society.

Many are very adept in the precipitous and murky dark arts of drive-by shootings of people’s reputations. They are adroit in the business of intellectual bouquet-swapping. Some present themselves as exemplars of moral rectitude. And some are trapped in a time warp. These behave as if they have not yet received the memo that they no longer have a monopoly on what ordinary Jamaicans, especially, think and how often we think it. They are strenuously trying to preserve a Jamaica where they were veritable kings.” I stand by | this.

We who have the knowledge have a duty to warn and keep alerting Jamaica about the actions, snares, motives, and strategies of those who seek to push Jamaica back into the Stone Age. Beware of the ‘stone-agers’! These vipers must not win.

Those of us who fervently believe that, “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little,” as Franklin D Roosevelt, the 32nd US president, said, must never kowtow to the deceptions of the miserablists who dig deeper daily into Jamaica’s “magico-religious political culture” and use the information to try to deceive the majority.

Understand this: Certain individuals are deliberately exploiting our historical tendency towards superstition to advance their fanatical religious and political agendas. This is a reality that has been well documented by Michael Garfield Smith, popularly called M G Smith. He was a renowned Jamaican social anthropologist and poet. His research in Jamaican, Caribbean, and African labour issues, social structures, and education in the Caribbean, particularly since political independence, is lauded and cited globally. Professor Smith also did considerable research in the areas of African and West Indian religious practices and superstitious beliefs. Smith posited the view that some of these superstitious beliefs were not without their limitations — my word. Some are busy capitalising on these limitations to advance their devious and devilish titillations. Who is the primary target of these con artists? The poor and uneducated are their major market. Why? The poor and the uneducated are most susceptible to “weaponised lying” and religious exploitation. Believe it, some individuals who have received schooling at some of the best universities in the world,are systematically using superstition and emotional manipulation to negatively retard civic behaviours and reasoning. Those who wear long and shiny gowns and lie through their teeth do not deserve respect. Those who preface nearly every sentence with “God told me so” must be treated with great suspicion. Those who ride and promote the limitations of Jamaica’s “magico-religious political culture” are scoundrels. Beware of the ‘stone-agers’.

More concretely, those who preach and teach that Jamaicans must aggressively and unrelentingly oppose attempts to establish a national identification system are deceivers. Some of these reprobates often camouflage their deception with the dodge that they do not oppose a national identification system in total, and that what they resist is the implementation in its present form.

Understand this: Whichever form the national identification system — which Prime Minister Michael Manley proposed from the 1970s, and which is being implemented by the Andrew Holness-led Administration — takes, the mentioned wretches will continue to oppose it. We must not be tricked. The fact is that nations have been identifying their citizens and denizens since time immemorial. It is even more important today that a State is able to identify all the people within its borders.

Certain benefits could not be rapidly delivered to many because they did not have a taxpayer registration number (TRN), a bank account, and or a fixed address. Imagine, in 2026, when national identification is commonplace, some here are lobbying that Jamaica must move at the pace of a snail over a very steep hill on this critical matter. The Government must get on with the rapid implementation of the national identification system (NIDS) and tell the ‘stone-agers’ to stand far from the necessary advance of the majority.

The State must stop genuflecting to those who want backwardness for the majority while they live high on the hog. Know this, their children often attend some of the best schools. They enjoy access to the latest technology, and they live in some of the best neighbourhoods locally. I don’t grudge them for a single minute. But being a discerning Jamaican, I will continue to stress that Jamaica does not belong to a few who believe that the Tainos bequeathed this land to them. In a functioning democracy, those elected and selected to manage national affairs are given the privilege to make life practically better, especially for the majority. Efficacy is the lifeblood of democracy and all other systems of government.

Recently some have raised stiff objection to actions by the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) and the Jamaica Bankers Association (JBA) regarding the phasing out of all Jamaican-dollar cheques by March 1, 2028. The objection of the charlatans is ignorance and backwardness on steroids. Why? Local banks take three to five business days to clear a cheque. Those who want Jamaica to be trapped in a time warp pretend not to understand that time is money. When a minimum-wage worker, for example, has to wait 3–5 business days to have a cheque cleared, that wait is very costly. Many people across Jamaica depend on wages to pay bills, buy medication, and attend to other critical obligations.

A direct deposit to a bank account is usually available within hours, not days. This makes a world of difference to the majority who do not have reserves of cash or other assets to draw on. Today the majority wants public policy which is outcome-determined. Politics functions best for the majority when the majority is practically uplifted, not when virtue signals are placed on a pedestal and used as scaffolding to reinforce superstition and claptrap.

The implementation of the NIDS is opposed by some who are closely related to those who are hostile to the current phasing out of cheques. This antagonistic and unconscionable bunch has strong blood ties to those who were fiercely against the rural school bus programme which now efficiently serves thousands of children across Jamaica.

Recall that some of the same crowd also angrily opposed the implementation of zones of special operations (ZOSOs), which have proved a great fillip in the fight against crime. The use of states of public emergency (SOEs) to fight crime was also opposed by the same clique. The interconnectedness is obvious. Luckily, the doomers were not obeyed. At the time of writing, murders had decreased by 24 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2025. This means 123 fewer Jamaicans have been murdered in 2026. If Jamaica remains on this positive path, 2026 will see the lowest number of murders in 30 years. We must tighten the laws which protect law-abiding citizens and continue to isolate criminals. Keep them on the run; it’s the right thing to do!

GOVERN!

Some, for reasons which are obvious to the discerning, are working hard to persuade the democratically elected Administration to use its right hand to cut off its left. The Administration would then be disabled. The frauds would rejoice!

Understand this, the reality is there are some among us who are working overtime to see Jamaica ‘burn to the ground’, provided it will enable them to become kings of the ashes. These fiends do not care about Jamaicans. All they care about is feathering their personal nests and those of their cronies.

People elect a Government to get things done in a timely and cost-efficient manner. Individual benefits are crucial to the preservation of a social contract. In return for the certain and consistent satisfaction of individuals’ immediate and aspirational needs especially, citizens entrust their confidence to a Government. This adhesive of confidence glues society together. When an Administration allows itself to be immobilised by constraints and internal bureaucracy it becomes feckless and soon useless.

Recently I heard a news item of a Government senator bemoaning the cumbersomeness of our procurement rules and performance gaps in the public service. I am tired of hearing that old song. A critical mass voted for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to form the Administration for a third-straight time last September. Why? Among other things, because the JLP said it could further improve the lives and livelihoods of Jamaicans. The critical mass did not vote to hear singing about big bottlenecks.

The procurement rules were not handed down from God on Mount Sinai. They are rules that we made and can unmake. I heard the bellyaching about the cumbersomeness when the People’s National Party (PNP) was at the wheel and expected the JLP to correct that problem. The JLP has had 10 years at Jamaica House. That is a reasonable time to effect the necessary changes.

Is the governing JLP working hard but remaining stationary? Whose house is it building? One of the Achilles heels of the governing party is that it has spent far too much trying to satisfy individuals and entities whose raison d’être is its destruction. This is a big waste of political capital.

In my The Agenda column of October 12, 2025 I warned that “One of the biggest mistakes administrations make in a third term is they become bogged down by restraints like Lemuel Gulliver.”

I also warned that, “When an Administration is bound by the ropes of the Lilliputians it loses internal sovereignty. It then loses agency. Then it starts to lose the confidence of the people who voted it into power. The slide down the greasy political pole then massively accelerates.

“Already, I am seeing concrete signs that this Holness-led Administration is allowing itself to be tied down by the Lilliputians among us. Some are wellheeled, some well-credentialled, and some wear shiny robes.” I hate to say it, but I have been proved right.

Things after the general election cannot equal things before the election. The clock is ticking!

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

Garfield Higgins