Tuesday, November 28, 2017

JAMAICANS ARE AFRICANS, WHATEVER THEIR RACE

(A post on "Restoring St. Ann's Bay" Facebook page.)

MARCUS GARVEY
In thinking about Marcus Garvey and his significance to St. Ann's Bay (SAB), it is helpful to have read "The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey," compiled by his widow, Amy Jaques Garvey. I read it, or much of it, a long time ago. It's an easy read, and even with my poor or even partial reading, ideas hit with a gentle force that changes your life.

It seems to me that Marcus Garvey has been chosen as Jamaica's first national hero for reasons that are not essential to his mission. If we were to survey every adult in Jamaica and ask what Garvey means to them, I wonder what answers we would get. Traditionally, among Rastafari, Garvey is truly loved and honored for much of the right reasons. I'm very uncertain about the rest of the population, however. Garvey was a revolutionary, and to honor his heritage requires revolutionary thought and action. That by no means suggests taking up arms to fight some oppressive force. We are all, in some sense, the oppressive force that must be opposed, opposed through a variety of means, many internal and psychological.

Garvey's emphasis was the African diaspora's historical marginalization and belittlement within a global order that considered blackness something of a curse, worthy of disrespect. Black people had and have grown to think of themselves the same way, and so were/are our worst enemies. Thinking through his legacy and what it means for SAB is puzzling, for racial bigotry gets overlapped with class bigotry. I even argue that from these types of bigotry there is bigotry of place. Towns like SAB get marginalized by others that are easier to market and that mushroom according to a fictitious narrative about them. How is that different from the marginalizing of a race? Garvey's conclusion was that blacks could do all the great things whites and others did. He infused black people throughout the world with love of self and confidence in self. Can't the same thing be done for a place? Garvey's place of birth, for instance? Any place, however lowly its condition, can overcome its negative self regard and rise to the challenge of self actualization. Just like a race of people. It makes no sense for any place (or race) to have its heritage plowed under. It helps nobody. So I take away from Garvey's message something that wasn't necessarily exclusive referring to black people. The idea is that, just as having a world of human winners and losers is untenable, so is it untenable to have a world of places that are winners and losers. Such a world is bound to destroy itself. But greed and ignorance don't give up easily, as the growing inequality based on zero sum games attest to.

We all have been mesmerized by a vision of progress where a peasantry was at the bottom, and necessarily entirely inferior to the classes above it, and there being an ultimate pinnacle that had to be reached to attain human perfection. No matter that this supposed pinnacle was largely defined by European standards. There is the idea of linear progress and hierarchy--the higher is better than the lower. No wonder then that SAB has been savagely neglected. It has been allowed to fester and rot--not just the place, but the people in it. They are the low in every kind of hierarchy. I think Garvey would take exception to this state of affairs. We must also remember that treating the poor, and darker skinned people this way is a formula for lawlessness and disaffection. If we can redress this syndrome in SAB, Garvey would smile in his grave.

BUT WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
Resources of all kinds have been allocated to the support of the middle class and to the foreign interests buying up the north coast. One way that we delude ourselves that Garvey wouldn't tolerate is to make money blind us to our own interests. Money, being a deity, must never be questioned as to its over all effect on society or on living systems. Like environmental disaster for which there is no meaningful plan of action. Money, however misapplied, would solve all problems by its very magical nature. Money, absent any human direction or targeted effort, might magically solve all the problems of society. What is sketched out below is a development plan that views money as a tool rather than a deity.

The Preservation Community:
What can you do when the organizations doing the best and most indispensable work to preserve our heritage is missing a big part of the picture? Maybe it is to start something new and yet complimentary. The Jamaica Georgian Society seems to have a top down approach to preservation. It finds lovely large buildings to study and promote for restoration. These buildings stand alone and are little related to the community around them, Georgian-evocative or not, To pay attention to such communities requires the field of town planning. Town planning (or city planning or urban planning, all related) requires holistic thinking to help a town succeed according to a set of criteria. In the case of overwhelmingly poor towns, rather than resting content with the preservation of large and impressive buildings, preservation planning would need to consider shacks and huts. It would have to consider roads and culverts and gullies. Views would matter, as would tourism. Poor people would need work. Education would be relevant to the place, imparting skills and attitudes to further the work of preservation. The approach would not only be holistic, it would also be bottom up. Meetings would have to be held where people off the street attended. the main players of every stripe would be consulted and collaborated with. Measures that are not preservation oriented--asphalting gravel roads, promoting non contextual concrete, businesses antithetical to preservation--all would be discouraged. This would clearly involve much thought and effort. But there is no short cut. An East Indian friend once advised me as I was complaining about a burdensome project: "To start is to halfway finish." So we must start.

Some Planning Requirements:
- "Arrested Decay" strategies that can apply to museum and tourism development in and around SAB. This could amount to literally propping up decayed structures till they could later be properly assessed toward a future plan of action--<http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/arrested-decay.html>;.
Arrested Decay is particularly suited to the very poor who rent, own or squat in buildings that are almost falling down. Simply showing some love to the buildings is already start, but we might effect some measures that keep the structures from deteriorating further. And that should be of benefit the people who live in them. Without such a program, the overwhelming normalcy bias is a mindless rush to destroy the buildings, view the land they're on as real estate to maximize for the "highest good," which means making money for rich people by stuffing as many buildings as possible int the space, while pushing the poor residents out.

- Collaboration with St. Ann Heritage Foundation (SAHF), with its extensive knowledge of local organizations and of local and regional preservation issues. SAHF has two focus points that I'm aware of. One is the Seville Great House and related lands where extensive archaeology relating to Taino and Spanish artifacts has international and UNESCO support of some sort. This seems to have so much potential support that it could drive preservation funding for the "Old Town St. Ann's Bay" that is sorely neglected and in need of attention. Integration of historic preservation of "Old Town St. Ann's Bay". In order to coalesce the Seville emphasis with the "Old Town St. Ann's Bay" one, the framework for planning needs to be widened beyond old town to whatever serves today as "St. Ann's Bay," (still rather mysterious to me.) The two program emphases should converge through SAHF's Walking Tours, its other seeming emphasis.

- Documentation of "Old Town St. Ann's Bay" (approximately, between the Police Station to the east and the Hospital to the west). Promote systematic photo documentation of "Old Town St. Ann's Bay" by street.

- Fundraising campaign for the restoration of Blue Bowl. Starting to research and list possible funding is a an urgent need,

- Research possibilities for academic integration into the restoration program for SAB. The SAHF is chartered to support this effort. But it apparently needs non profit designation that it is simply too short staffed to pursue. They need help with this.

- Promote installation of hurricane straps on all applicable colonial SAB buildings..

CONCLUSION
By American (or continental) standards, 97% of Jamaicans are black. Apart from the pure question of race, this represents a huge advantage. The percentage of black people is considerably higher than in South Africa. We are at least a very significant entity within the African diaspora. Jamaica has experienced hundreds of years under colonial rule, and has developed a powerful creole culture and language that binds every single Jamaican--whatever their shade of skin or racial strands--into a single cultural entity. It is this strong culture that makes us a single indivisible people. And our culture is inseparable from our land.

We have, however, been plagued by the universal denigration of dark skin and negroid features, albeit confounded by assimilation through class. The people forming a poor, dark skinned underclass majority have always been subjugated, despite much that has changed since independence. A disproportionate number of those people have been left behind in the widening gap between haves and have nots.

Yet, in the eyes of the world, we are a black nation. But "black" can't stand in isolation. It belongs somewhere on land. Marcus Garvey clearly saw that land as Africa. And here it gets rather confusing: It is a Garveyite tenet to say that Africa is wherever an African goes. Certainly, wherever an African has lived for centuries. Garvey also spoke about an African Empire, and just on the face of such a term, one would have to examine the issues and concepts around Jamaica being a part of that African Empire. When Britain left, who knows what it thought would come of us? One likely thought is that we would be colonizes by America, and this would not have been far fetched. But might some not have been smart enough to know that our place was with Africa? And, if so, why tell us? Let us wander around sheepishly and exploitable for a century or so, till we figure it out ourselves. But it would seem to me quite Garveyite and logical to see Jamaica as a part of Africa. I see no reason why it would be subservient to any part of the African diaspora, and why it couldn't lead as well as follow? I see that as congruent with being part of the African Empire Garvey envisaged. But since we're swimming in a sea of paradoxes and conradictions, we need not forget that we are also creatures of the British Colonial Empire, as is a considerable portion of continental Africa. We are both things, one clearer and easier to trace than the other.

My profound spiritual sense of things is that Garvey would essentially share this vision.

Garvey ended his Jamaican career working in the legislature. He was a constructive man, interested in the levers of power that enable nation building on a visionary scale. I see SAB as the challenge to build the first governmental entity on earth to bring Garvey's constructive African mission into reality.

Jamaicans are African, whatever their race.

Sunday, November 26, 2017

CARS

"I think that cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals: I mean the supreme creation of an era, conceived with passion by unknown artists, and consumed in image if not in usage by a whole population which appropriates them as a purely magical object." Roland Barthes

To the extent that one sees this, the car is not only viewed as a utilitarian object.

Saturday, November 25, 2017

xabier says:
There’s a – partial – parallel process in the Contemporary Art market. The supply of old masterpieces is of course very limited, and many are in museums and will not come on the market unless revolution occurs (or be burnt when the mobs riot). – –
In the Contemporary market, however, dealers, and those who try to rig the market (museum directors, critics, curators, etc) have the advantage of commissioning living artists to create new works which then become tokens in a speculative game – say, three large paintings to be offered at $1.3 m each at a big art fair, for which they were created to order.
They call the artist a ‘rising star’, point to a historical rising trajectory in their prices, and see what happens.
The price is simply plucked out of the air and has no foundation in real value, except that the purchaser is willing to play the art investment game with them.
The perceived value is based, of course, on the assumption that no great economic crisis will occur, and at some stage that purchase can be redeemed at a profit, or will lose less than other possible investments.
The painting itself produces nothing, and is very vulnerable to decay or damage – like a new real estate development that sits empty. In the meantime, commission is made on the transaction. The investor may have an asset to leverage in other ventures.
All from something created from nothing, some wood, linen and pigments costing next to nothing, using the labour of an artist who is usually incapable of doing anything else.
Is this honest or dishonest, or just human delusion and self-deception?
One Oil Spill per Day

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-ca-cm-building-type-boring-buildings-20171119-htmlstory.html
QUIET ARCHITECTURE

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-ca-cm-building-type-boring-buildings-20171119-htmlstory.html

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

SAB walking tour

http://www.georgianjamaica.org/blog/spotlight-on-st-anns-bay-a-walking-tour

Life Yard

Images of Jamaica

Paint Jamaica for SAB

Monday, November 20, 2017


We represent a Facebook Group called "Restoring St. Ann's Bay. The group is administered by two natives of St. Ann's Bay. It's members are primarily Jamaicans, based at home or abroad. Blue Bowl and National Trust Designation: This is to alert you to the very tenuous condition of St. Ann's Bay's only remaining original and unspoiled 19th century wooden building. It was known in the old days as Blue Bowl, a watering hole and eating place of great community importance. It is now being left to rot, and we feel that National Trust designation, and possibly ownership, will be needed to save it from total ruin. The photograph of the building has received numerous likes on Facebook, and, properly restored, will greatly contribute to the tourist economy of the town. Context For Preservation - St. Ann's Bay is important as the setting for Jamaica's first colonial settlement. - The town is also situated exactly in the center of the nation's North Coast, which is experience hotel development apace. How St. Ann's Bay historic preservation can benefit from and affect this burgeoning tourist industry must be urgently considered. - St. Ann's Bay is the birthplace of world renowned Marcus Garvey. The forthcoming Garvey Center in the town will be a magnet for tourism, and the preservation of what remains of the town Garvey grew up in will lend a degree of magic to the town. - Of all the centers in St. Ann's Bay, where the courthous, the Burrowe
We represent a Facebook Group called "Restoring St. Ann's Bay. The group is administered by tw
  • WASTE: TOWARD SOME UNDERSTANDING OF 
    – Waste: Built into the system, since it provides jobs at all levels.
    – Conserving (reducing waste): Enables more waste–leaves more to be wasted, over a longer period. Enabling more jobs.
    – Creating waste and inhibiting waste are part of the same system.
    – Excess Waste Supply: This era could be called one of peak resources. But BAU can keep on wasting for a while due to the extraordinary over production of manufactured stuff that serve as a secondary source of natural resources. (There’s still a lot to waste due to the profligacy of extraction and the unprecedented past power of IC to produce.)
    – Finiteness: The stuff to waste is finite. A simplified way of viewing our economy might be that the big heavy stuff based on a maxed out period of surplus energy and consequent industrial production (1945-1975) is over. So, while we can continue wasting embodied energy now, we can’t keep doing it for much longer.
    – The Economy of Refinement: Jobs that were once involved in producing raw natural energy now switch to jobs refining and extending the products of that original energy. For my focus on the “built environment,” it’s straightforward to see how shelter can be doubled using the existing structures and merely refining them.
    – Absorption: Part of refinement is absorption, a means of mitigating the harm of waste. For instance, an over development of a rural scenic route can be mitigated through refinements–landscaping, for instance–that disguise (absorb) the visual effect of this over development, enabling the route to continue serving a scenic-tourism economic role much longer.
    – A Design Economy: Refinement and absorption are generally based on aesthetic sophistication (which can be found among tribal people as well as in western art-related academies). It is not generally found in the business world, which has the major power to shape the world.
    – Overlap: It is unclear where more surplus energy will ever come from, and it might be that while the waste economy continues but steadily declines something to compensate for the decline has to be created before the decline goes too far. Food, water, health and nuclear security have to be part of this. Shelter need not be a problem.
  • Artleads says:
    What I learn on FW has an unexpected effect on my view of aesthetics (the study of beauty). If there HAS to be waste to survive–and I think aesthetics are bound up with what enables you to survive–your aesthetic ideas might change to accommodate waste. The same sea coast whose development I recently bemoaned now is seen differently, and might even prompt me to want more of it. Why? Because the mind seeks pattern, and pattern is involved with the idea of beauty. Now, the maze of roads you see on a Google satellite map is less like a creeping cancer and more like veins, enabling circulation in a new life form.
    NYC’s Manhattan island comes to mind. Early prints and maps give you a sketchy idea of what it was like before European settlement. Nothing like what a Google map would have shown. But if we’ve lived in Manhattan, or seen it represented in movies, we might think of it as having a compelling beauty based on its very rational pattern. Streets align one way, and avenues another, perpendicular to the streets. It’s very easy to figure out where you are and how to navigate your journey. The order of the road system produces an order to the buildings that line it. They all have the same setback from the curb. They are of similar height. There windows and story levels might more or less align too. A lot of energy is conserved through this patterning based on an original grid concept.
    But even though a human-imposed angularity replaces nature, it doesn’t remove the pleasure and efficacy of having nature nearby. In Manhattan, there is Central Park.
    So, in the name of economy to survive, must a lovely coastal area with endangered turtles and conches be turned into a version of Manhattan? Without FW (ourfiniteworld.com), I wouldn’t even have considered such a thing–despite the economic system steamrolling over my objections anyway. FW gives me a handle in why this it happening, why it might need to happen, and better ways to think about it.
  • Interesting observations! There is definitely more than one way to see situations.
    This is why we now have such diverse political parties.
Google SAB Map

https://www.google.com/maps/@18.4401715,-77.1862695,802m/data=!3m1!1e3

Sunday, November 19, 2017

NORTH COAST ARCHITECTURE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L41rUGGrXag

Saturday, November 18, 2017

THE ECONOMY OF WASTE

What I learn on FW has an unexpected effect on my view of aesthetics (the study of beauty). If there HAS to be waste to survive--and I think aesthetics are bound up with what enables you to survive--your aesthetic ideas might change to accommodate waste. The same sea coast whose development I recently bemoaned now is seen differently, and might even prompt me to want more of it. Why? Because the mind seeks pattern, and pattern is involved with the idea of beauty. Now, the maze of roads you see on a Google satellite map is less like a creeping cancer and more like veins, enabling circulation in a new life form.

NYC's Manhattan island comes to mind. Early prints and maps give you a sketchy idea of what it was like before European settlement. Nothing like what a Google map would have shown. But if we've lived in Manhattan, or seen it represented in movies, we might think of it as having a compelling beauty based on its very rational pattern. Streets align one way, and avenues another, perpendicular to the streets. It's very easy to figure out where you are and how to navigate your journey. The order of the road system produces an order to the buildings that line it. They all have the same setback from the curb. They are of similar height. There windows and story levels might more or less align too. A lot of energy is conserved through this patterning based on an original grid concept.

But even though a human-imposed angularity replaces nature, it doesn't remove the pleasure and efficacy of having nature nearby. In Manhattan, there is Central Park.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Manhattan,+New+York,+NY/@40.7791915,-73.9790181,10248m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m8!1m2!2m1!1sNYC,+manhattan+island!3m4!1s0x89c2588f046ee661:0xa0b3281fcecc08c!8m2!3d40.7831411!4d-73.9712906

So, in the name of economy to survive, must a lovely coastal area with endangered turtles and conches be turned into a version of Manhattan? Without FW (ourfiniteworld.com), I wouldn't even have considered such a thing--despite the economic system steamrolling over my objections anyway. FW gives me a handle in why this it happening, why it might need to happen, and better ways to think about it.

Friday, November 17, 2017

HUXLEY

It works best when you have no resources to steal….
CARDBOARD CITY

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/ephemeral-city-cardboard-metropolis-being-built-in-barangaroo-sydney-20160114-gm5tvr.html

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Trevor Burrowes This house could be showing us a better alternative for north coast hotel and resort development. So far, I haven't seen a better example than Golden Eye Hotel and Resort in Orocabessa:. It is built on property formerly owned by Ian Flemming, author of the James Bond stories.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldeneye_(estate) The odd thing is that I've been thinking in terms of aristocratic traditions being a part of tourism, and Golden Eye has it in spades. I need to look into how affordable the hotel/resort is compared to others islandwide. Another odd coincident is that I've been dreaming of long, simple, horizontal building shapes, with only jalousie windows and no glass...and lo and behold, this is isn't too far off what the famous author built himself: For a medium-size hotel, the building(s) would be considerably longer, and there could be one or two parallel structures of the same shape, and rising step-like, the one behind taller than the one in front, so that each allowed a view of the sea.
Reply
1
4 mins
  • Tim Groves,
    I think I’ve already grasped what you’re saying…to a significant degree anyway. I hope the following makes a valid point to the effect that you can have your cake and eat it too. I have a problem with looking at the money system in a simple, isolated way. There are many other considerations that the money argument tends to ignore. Those, like energy that no one considers, ultimately affect the money system too. So I look at a typical mega hotel beach design, and comment about it (one with similar design issues) beneath.
    Depriving the beach of natural vegetation seems to be a cultural decision and not an economic one. You could argue that this bare-beach style is popular around the world, and is what tourists expect. I would argue that there are (admittedly fewer) examples of tourists enjoying beaches with their original natural vegetation. I could argue that this would be better for the wildlife and aesthetics, and that there are tourists who would like that too. I could also conclude that the mass culture mentality–treat people like cattle and cater to their basest instincts–is not a winning strategy over all, and can successfully be opposed. So no, thumbs down on this beach.
  • I was pointing to it as an insensitive design–huge environmental destruction, loss of local nature and beauty–not having anything to do with making money. I argue that you can train tourists to fit in with a more natural setting. I find that being sensitive means you consider more things, including innovative ways to cater to a diversity of income levels.

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Google SAB Map

https://www.google.com/maps/@18.4401715,-77.1862695,802m/data=!3m1!1e3

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Rastafari-TV

http://rastafari.tv/memories-west-indian-service-men-ethiopia-italys-invasion-world-war-1/

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Importing vendors to SAB from Kingston

To Idris Johnson: I believe it was you who recommended importing business people from Kingston due to over supply there and under supply in SAB? It's taken me a little while to digest the idea. But importing Kingston vendors sounds to be in line with the problem of vacant buildings going to seed in SAB. If vendors could live rent free in a little flat in back of the store, might that entice them to come? So thanks. This seems like a really practical and substantial suggestion.

Friday, November 10, 2017

A-I Highway

John Rickman OK But the deed is already done and the solution to the 670 Million US$ debt owed is to buy back this critical piece of the Jamaican Infrastructure and to this end I hope the current PM and administration make moves like enlisting the investment of the Diaspora and current working taxpayers to do so via Bond Issue purchases as investment and collateral for future development.Can be Done and those wonderful but expensive highways can become the Asset to Jamaica and it,s future.

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Dennis Higgins Update

KEEPING YOU POSTED


Return Email From Dennis Higgins:

Dear Trevor,

I got your email and how delightful it is for us to be in comunication. We have no time to loose. My current struggle is to save my late aunt's residence and business place as it is actually the town agent for Annandale property plus her husband was the first Mayor of St. Ann. Let me print your last email and appreciate it.

I did form St. Ann Heritage Foundation for some years as a formal NGO but so much documentation. We actually used it to make Marcus Garvey's house a national heritage site but the Govt. is rather slow in implementing the project. There is funding in grants available but there are those who only are trying to get at the money and heaven knows what happens to it.

Mr. Hugh Lyon is so concerned that the Den where his ancesstors were born the ownership was changed by another family member and although we had a preservation order from the Jamaica National Heritage Trust we do not have a copy. I did create a heritage tour of StAnn's Bay as an income generating project ocarry on our work but there lies the greedy ones. You may visit www.walking tour of St Ann's Bay / Georgian Society.



SOME IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATIONS

- money
We can't afford any sloppiness with money. When I was founding director of East Palo Alto Historical and Agricultural Society (next door to Palo Alto) we were never in the red. 

- control
I did not get significantly paid until weeks before the "welfare" board members who wanted jobs fired me. (The organization quickly folded.) Dennis might be having trouble with such types, and we have to make sure to steer clear of them.
 
- transparency
Radical transparency is needed in order to avoid entanglements over and misuse of money.

- goals
A Marcus Garvey Heritage Preservation Program could aim to make the whole of "old town" of SAB a heritage site.

- nature of organization
How do we go about this--an ambitious concept that has many moving parts--effectively and efficiently, saving ourselves unwanted stress and overwork?

- mark lyon
Dennis mentioned the issues with the Lyon legacy buildings, but it's far from clear where Mark stands on almost any issue.

- coordination of interests 
Which among these are in step with "us?" -- Marcus Garvey High School, Marcus Garvey Center, National Trust, Burrowes "family," Lyon "family," town's monuments structure, Georgian Society, cemeteries, statues, planning prescriptions, etc.  

- Arscott Building Restoration
Where does my Ntl Trust draft letter fit in?

- Louise Pink Henriques
Louise is the daughter of my first (favourite) cousin, Paul Pink. As a somewhat beleaguered child I was befriended by older cousin Paul, to whom I was forever attached. Louise has also been a good past support to my mother, and is someone that we all greatly trust and admire. But she's also super practical and focused (failings of mine) and I'm very reluctant to try and involve her. I once heard that she gave tours, but I don't know details. Someone else would have to try (diplomatically) to work with her.. 

China Thinks Strategically

http://www.ianwelsh.net/china-thinks-strategically-and-we-dont/
China' Role in St. Ann's Bay (SAB)

I’m learning the extent to which global infrastructure development is being aggressively promoted by China. A major highway system that runs through SAB, similar to transportation systems in Africa, with many similar homogenizing (and other “negative” cultural) effects foreclose potential localized systems that are or could be stable, given the right attention.

Although these third world places affected by China's aggressive global reach, aren’t taking advantage of local resources, the Chinese program is making sure they never will. One example would be creating a bypass highway that cuts off a slumbering/festering coastal town from the water. A different investment emphasis could have gone to figuring out and educating around a local economy built around access to the the shore (or could it have?). That local economy might best have been served by the coastal-tourism resources the highway is foreclosing on. (There might be workarounds that are less direct than those foreclosed on and that preclude pedestrian “circulation,” thereby promoting more complexity.) Any jobs that the highway promotes will require driving, and will have to be dependent on the high-end economic system the Chinese infrastructure is geared toward. I imagine that Chinese debt is behind all major building…like the proliferating African megacities, and, in our case, all-inclusive-hotel construction. These high end places are very unlikely to employ the majority of the population in most instances.

So while these third world places that are being swept away by Chinese construction are incapable of financing an alternative local economy, the one financed by China is forcing them into irrevocable over dependence on complexity, as well as on increased economic disparity.

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

CHINA AND THE WORLD

I come from a place that depends on tourism too. There are geographic and cultural attractions that make it attractive.

I'm learning the extent to which related infrastructure development is being aggressively promoted by China. A major highway system, similar to transportation systems in Africa, with many similar homogenizing (and other "negative" cultural) effects foreclose potential localized systems that are or could be stable, given the right attention.

Although these third world places aren't taking advantage of local resources, the Chinese program is making sure they never will. One example would be creating a bypass highway that cuts off a slumbering/festering town from the water. A different investment emphasis could have gone to figuring out and educating around a local economy built around access to the the shore (or could it have?). That local economy might best have been served by the coastal-tourism resources the highway is foreclosing on. (There might be workarounds that are less direct than those foreclosed on and that precluded pedestrian "circulation," thereby promoting more complexity.) Any jobs that the highway promotes will require driving, and will have to be dependent on the high-end economic system the Chinese infrastructure is geared toward. I imagine that Chinese debt is behind all major building...like the proliferating African megacities, and, in my case, all-inclusive-hotel construction. These high end places are very unlikely to employ the majority of the population in most instances.

So while these third world places that are being swept away by Chinese construction are incapable of financing an alternative local economy, the one financed by China is forcing them into irrevocable over dependence on complexity, as well as on increased economic disparity.
Google Map

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Total+St+Ann's+Bay/@18.4369247,-77.2031674,779m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x8eda55896c8a5f37:0xed53dca70f673f70!8m2!3d18.4366384!4d-77.2037072

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

My Humble Opinions


Role of Jamaican Immigrants Abroad

The brave people who stayed put in Jamaica through and post the 1970's have had to struggle through hardship to recover some sense of normalcy. It may be understandable if some are defensive about "outsiders" seeming to criticize "their" country. I've come across that sentiment from Jamaicans of different backgrounds. The 1970's are brought up frequently, the time when many of us on social media left for foreign shores. I don't know about others, but I'm not in the least bit concerned with the 1970's. I'm much more interested in the present and the future. I have the same attitude to Jamaica that I have for places in the US where I've lived and tried to make a difference. And I try to make a difference everywhere I live. Not surprisingly, new residents in those places insist on how much things have changed since I left. They don't understand that I track global trends and that nothing which is happening where they are is of surprise to me. The same thing is happening everywhere else. We live in a highly networked and interrelated global system. So, if the same things are happening everywhere and I wish to address them, where should I locate myself? If I'm not supposed to discuss any place other than where I currently live, what kind of global opinion can I express? If I know something that I consider useful to Jamaica or elsewhere, or a danger I am specially equipped to see, what rule says I must shut up about it?


Internationalism

In an international world linked by NEW social media technology, we relate in new ways. We have Facebook groups like Vintage Jamaica and Jamaica Colonial Heritage that are administered by emigrated Jamaicans. These sites stimulate and interest local Jamaicans, Jamaicans abroad, potential tourists to Jamaica, potential investors in Jamaica, etc.. In a nutshell, Jamaicans abroad can contribute to their native land by sending money, but they can also use social media to learn, inform, keep in touch, share expertise, bring together, share stories and memories, and help keep Jamaica's heritage thriving at home and abroad. Foreigners of all sorts, who were not born in the island, are taken seriously and appreciated for their input. Why not apply the same receptivity to Jamaicans abroad? Is the idea to tell Jamaicans abroad that their money is welcome, but they can go to hell with their opinions?


Soul/Character

Soul: I'm sure Browns Town, in the same parish, is busy losing its heritage like every other place on earth, but, from a recent video clip I posted, it still evokes the old Browns Town, and it's not hard to see colonial buildings with their original wooden roofs and louvers. These lend to the place what I call a quality of soul. So far, I see less of this soul in SAB. Being in the epicenter of north coast tourist development that is not geared to preserving Jamaican heritage, this is not surprising. But retention of soul might be a matter of degrees. Restoring as feasible colonial structures will contribute rather than detract from soul in SAB.

Diversity: Why should places like SAB not celebrate their uniqueness? Why should every place be exactly the same? Just take one possible issue of diversity and uniqueness: As Cuba is opened up to American tourism, it will increasingly be in competition with Jamaica for those tourist dollars. Cubans are capitalizing on their Spanish Colonial heritage. I'm not sure if Jamaica is to say it has no cultural heritage, but wants to be like every other place--Miami, California, etc. Why is ensuring that Jamaica looks like every other place in the world helpful in competing with Cuba?


Tourism

Tourists treated as if they are stupid are likely to rise to the occasion. If they are encouraged to act like lemmings rushing to the sea, then that is what they'll do.
Tourism doesn't have to be dependent only on the beach; it can benefit from knowing the interior. It can benefit from uniqueness of the interior, its unique cultural landscape character, and how different it is from the tourist's home. Tourists also like places and experiences they can't get at home. People who live abroad have as much knowledge of the tourist's character as people in the tourist destination. A collaboration between these two groups could be useful. 


Conclusion

Restoring SAB is administered by somebody from Jamaica and somebody from abroad. Could this combination be something different or even practical? Among the stories, ideas and observances that fill out the picture, my interest for this group is to identify SAB heritage, see where it stands on the ground at present, and try to integrate it with the trends we have no control over. If we take the Burrowes printery as a metaphor for the unnecessary destruction of SAB heritage, then there is clearly work to do. I don't see a case for complacency. I obviously have a stake in it, since it's a part of my family heritage. So why am I not entitled to have opinions and make suggestions about SAB? I am categorically opposed to the removal of historic structures and replacing them with concrete in the name of progress. SAB could develop its economy AND retain some of its historical colonial character. It's lost way too much of the latter already. 

I'm not interested in looking at shiny new concrete buildings and celebrating those as a sign of progress. If others wish to do so, I will respectfully disagree with them, and say so.
Trevor Burrowes A marine master Plan for the Caribbean, anyone?https://www.planetizen.com/.../95606-washington-gets-its...
The Pacific Northwest's competing and sometimes conflicting stakeholders have created a master plan…
PLANETIZEN.COM
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Adynton's Child Horrible...we have to do better!
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Dore TateGroup Admin and the sea creatures are suffering,we have contaminated their habitat - how many have died from ingesting this garbage -human beings are the most selfish creature on earth-
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November 4 at 7:34pm
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Anthony WongGroup Admin it is not just the ingestion but that do happen a lot. Fishing lines wrap around marine life and birds to suffocate them. Not only that it also get wrap around our props and cause us problems. We constantly watch for those things in the water. We always fishing those things out.
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Hugh Vaughan Plastic is a very useful material. Its irresponsible use by some should not be used to deprive the world of its use. Make and keep rules that regulate its use.
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November 4 at 7:47pmEdited
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Anthony WongGroup Admin there are rules but we humans don't follow them.
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Gillian ScottO'Connor Well as I dont buy ,bottled water or soda, at last those type of bottles arent mine!
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November 4 at 9:14pm
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Elizabeth Evans It has to stop!!! 
That crap is not from just the Caribbean it is coming from other parts of the world!
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Trevor Burrowes The Caribbean's problems are more global than realized.
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Chris Robinson More education focused on changing behaviour is needed. It’s not that long ago that the thought of buying water seemed absurd and all else came in glass bottles.
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David Taylor As Colin would say, 'Good luck with that!'
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Yesterday at 10:14am
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Dore TateGroup Admin AND TO THINK OF IT A MOUTH WAS CONNECTED TO ALL THOSE PLASTIC BOTTLES - MAYBE IF THEY KNEW THIS WOULD BE THE OUTCOME -JUST MAYBE THEY WOULD NEVER TOUCH ANOTHER PLASTIC BOTTLE OR MAYBE THEY WOUD LEARN HOW TO RECYCLE-
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Janet Hope Delvaille Very hard in Jamaica because no emphasis is given to recycling. People need a leader who encourages this practice. Instead every single product uses plastic. Oil, vinegar, mayonnaise, bleach, water, sodas etc. We would have to begin from the manufactur...See More
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Vilma Ruddock Completely agree with you, Trevor. This is the reason I commented a few days ago that this ought to be viewed as a global public health crisis (as we do for epidemic infectious diseases) and thus a global call to arms by the major public health entities. This problem affects the entire globe. 
As you said, the problem is so massive it hard to imagine where to start. But start we must and requires a multi-pronged approach. Attack the problem from every angle and we will have an additive result. Requires a master strategist with some coordinated master strategies.
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Trevor Burrowes Yes. It's one cluster of systems against another. The cluster of systems that produces the plastic is dominant--speed, convenience in a world on the run. Desperation where we grab on to any straw to get us through the day. The most incredible prolifera...See More