email to PNP official

I see that the PNP is planning protest demonstrations; what possible effect that can have I cannot imagine, except possibly if things go wrong getting somebody killed. I have never been very impressed with the value of such activities, except in very specific circumstances, like the collapse of the Communist regimes in Europe 20 years ago. Our present situation is so dire, world-wide, that the only useful activities will be those which bring people together - national governments perhaps; the encouragement of individuals, groups and communities to work on our own solutions to our particular problems in our specific circumstances. Unfortunately the PNP, which had so many years of opportunity, almost entirely failed, or perhaps refused, to tackle the challenges we have faced for a generation at least, and are now far more severe.

Do you have work groups on population policy, alternative energy, local manufacturing, agriculture (some signs of awakening here?), education? That is what is needed not political grandstanding, and I think that the intelligence of Jamaicans would be under-rated - as usual - if the politicians assume that they can still be taken in by such politicking.

I certainly agree that the new taxes seem very badly thought out, but that is what we have come to expect from politicians of all stripes. To me it seems cynical 'politics as usual' to take this short-sighted and dangerous policy of risking stirring up serious trouble for and among the ordinary Jamaican people who have been in essence abandoned by both parties. Events in other countries warn of societies spiraling out of control.

I just have to hope the fundamental good sense of the people wins through, and that there are no disasters. These are some of the most dangerous times in my life-time; having been born during the Great Depression, lived through WWII, the Cold War, and the '70s in Jamaica, I know that what we are experiencing now is something of a different order - one of the great turning points in human history. Those who aspire to lead in such times must rise above the old ways.

Perhaps we should take the air crash during the night as a warning!