“…Clark’s mi prefer Clarks fi the summer Clarks fi di winter…”
For far too long have I sat by and let the news go on and on several hot issues and I have held my tongue but this one draw mi out like shoes lace. As I sit in my office and listen to the senior management discuss the virtues of allowing those found counterfeiting the immortal “Clarks” brand to continue as well as seeing my most well thinking friends put forward the same view on social media I had to resume my “go against the grain” role.
Before I delve into a self-righteous monologue let me say upfront to me this is a very complicated issue and what makes it complicated is that unfortunately is the fact that the scales of justice are so unlevel in Jamaica. So we get the following quotes:
• “Bet if it was some uptown people it wouldn’t go so”
• “We know it wrong but a so the people dem can mek a living and a dem tek care a dem family”
• “Rich people commit whole heap a crime how dem nuh lock dem up”
• or the today’s special “They do it china and dem rich off it so what’s the difference?”
Again, don’t get me wrong all of the above have merits but my fundamental issue is where do we draw the line of right and wrong. As one of my friends loves to say “I don’t believe in moral equivalence.” The sole justification of committing a wrong act cannot be that someone else does it too so it is okay. In fact in my view that is probably one of the major problems blighting Jamaican development… everybody is okay with wrongdoing so long as it is benefitting them and/or allowing people “to eat a food.”
We cannot continue this way. By this measure the drug dealer that sends kids to school is the epitome of moral virtue. I know this is far from a perfect analogy but it shows the logical conclusion of the slippery slope we are on as a country. We have no moral compass as we show confused compassion.
If we want to tackle it from the societal inequality standpoint then let us do that. Let us take to the street since that is in vogue nowadays and march against the tyranny of the elites in society that can get away with anything BUT WE CANNOT STOOP TO LEVEL OF “SINCE THE POWERFUL GET AWAY WITH WRONG WE MUST ALL BECOME WRONGDOERS OR SUPPORTERS OF WRONG.”
Otherwise what we will have is what we have a society teetering on the brink of collapse because once people a eat a food everything is alright or low di ghetto yutes since Mr Chin up so a break laws too.
We are and can be better than this. Whether lawyer, doctor, Indian, chief Christian, Muslim atheist etc. Wrong is wrong and right is right let us as a society start standing for right
If you have no clue what inspired the above – see the link below
Reasoning with The Cunning One 