Vision 2030 Jamaica This site provides you with information on Vision 2030 Jamaica - National Development Plan, the Medium Term Socio-Economic Policy Framework (MTF) 2012-2015, and related issues. http://www.vision2030.gov.jm/
+++ James, Owen Everard (2014): Sufferers' Manifesto. A Challenge to the Best in Us and Among Us. s.l., 2014: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform http://tinyurl.com/q5rlzq6 Publisher's Abstract: "It is undeniable that new, unusual or radical approaches are now required to address Jamaica’s intractable problems. This is not only necessary but imperative. As a nation, Jamaica is currently faced with perhaps the most crucial set of choices in its history. These choices involve a few critical questions: Do we continue to genuflect to the status quo or do we actively, in good conscience and with clear purpose, attempt to change course in terms of how we are governed, how we hold those who govern accountable and how we transform our system of governance to meet the challenges we face? Why do we not recognize the reality that unchanged behavior in the face of unchanging problems is most unlikely to bring about changed outcomes? Our colonial overlords immersed us completely into two-party-system-democracy as willing, subservient converts. Our own brethren, as assertive, opportunistic surrogates and hopeful partners in the pursuit of national Independence, consolidated our conversion. Outcomes over 50 years of Independence have been grossly deficient and disaster inducing. [...] It is not surprising that Democracy in general is in crisis in old, new and aspiring democracies. Even America’s vaunted claims about the exemplary nature of its democratic practices are now questioned with unparalleled legitimacy. It should surprise no one that among a number of former Caribbean colonies there is a growing movement to seek reparations for slavery. Those who think that this amounts to a fool’s errand should rethink their position. Apart from the pure and simple righteousness of the claim, the fact that the British could have so easily calculated compensation for loss of property eliminates the common contention that there is no reasonable way in which to calculate the value to be assigned to reparation. The proclaimed natural benevolence of traditional Democracy is a myth. There is nothing naturally endearing or culturally exemplary, let alone altruistically unique, about traditional Democracy. The continuing favorable progress of transitional systems of governance in places such as China and Singapore strongly supports this contention, as do the visible institutional dysfunction and clearly systemic societal failures in places like the United States, the United Kingdom, Greece and Spain, in the face of serious economic challenges. By the very tenets of democratic systems we should expect to see Democracy directed Capitalism. Instead, we are witnessing the most harmful demonstrations of Capitalism directed Democracy in response to an unusually disruptive and extended global recession. It would appear that while Democracy is put ahead of the welfare of those it claims to serve, Capitalism is put ahead of Democracy. This is a most instructive dilemma." +++ Sufferers' Manifesto reviewed by Glenville Ashley, March 8, 2015, Kaieteur News online: Author blasts the two-party system; challenges a people and nation In political terms a manifesto is a document that details policy decisions aimed at bettering the lot of a people. An interesting title for a thesis that struggles to find solutions to a people mired in time. There is a prophetic, revolutionary element to the author’s choice of words. Maybe at the end of this compelling book, sufferers in Jamaica would finally have the last say. In this incisive, judicious, yet combative offering, Owen James has thrown down the proverbial mantle to embark on the herculean mission of identifying the social, political and economic malaise that has beleaguered Jamaica. But this detailed work reads more like a treatise in psychology and between the lines is a haunting psycho-cultural archetype that poses an existential threat to a people. [...] Jamaicans must sever a system and ideology that have pauperized them. And there is the undercurrent of Frantz Fanon ever present in this seminal work. The islands had not forcibly earned their independence. Citing Louis Lindsay, James is provocative, “The truth is that at no point in our history did our leaders reject, let alone destroy, the subjugating linkage between our colonial masters and ourselves. In fact, our leaders appear to have seen this continued linkage as essential for meritorious and sustainable independence. James later reviews Vision 2030 Jamaica. He can live with its ideals, but its implementation requires a new cultural paradigm. Crime and corruption must be extirpated and left for waste. He shuns the idea of a retributive society and advocates for a Truth and Reconciliation model. Jamaica’s rebirth, he argues, demands the involvement of every institution, big and small. Also, a fair, consistent and binding tax system must be readied. And a constitutional overhaul, he posits, is necessary to dismantle the failed two-party system to make way for a unitary system. It’s a radical approach with in-built provisions to better vet parliamentary representatives and do away with cabinet that he calls irrelevant and an instrument to reward failed politicians and “stalwart party loyalists.” [...] full: http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2015/03/08/book-reviewauthor-blasts-the-two-party-system-challenges-a-people-and-nation/ _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
