A POLEMIC FOR JAMAICA

Polemic

Wikipedia:

"A polemic (/ p ə ˈ l ɛ m ɪ k /) is contentious rhetoric that is intended to support a specific position by aggressive claims and undermining of the opposing position. Polemics are mostly seen in arguments about controversial topics."

Religion:

if you're too holy, you breed a backlash. Check the current dancehall moves. If you resist African beauty, you breed a backlash. Check skin bleaching among the young.

Sex:

As a nation, we're too involved with sex. Men pester young girls, who are made to feel their role in life is sex. With every passing female, men must importune. Tourists are harrassed with revolting comments. Why do we tolerate it?

Population:

Jamaica and black Africa already have a high population, despite great poverty. Is continuing the trend of high procreation, to the exclusion of more immediately functional programs, all that necessary? If population growth is not an urgent necessity, if we have numbers in sufficient  abundance to tide us over, might we not instead set procreation to the side and pay attention to some known, clear and present danger instead? 

Unity:

What can we get all our people to support? What about a map of all the points of public access to the beach? Who would overtly oppose this? And wouldn't that be consistent with a map of points of access for fishing? And, wouldn't those at least hint at a program of coastal planning with coastal districts? Something for follow-on discussion? And if we have coastal districts, might we not consider tourism? And if we consider tourism, how about heritage tourism? And if so, wouldn't that entail consideration of historic buildings? You might not start with the latter but instead start with the rung of the ladder that gets you to the one above. And it would be very important, if indeed you wish to tamp down on sex and population, which are running wild, to get to that first rung of the ladder soon.

Improvement:

With few exceptions, we are what the world of Garvey's time referred to as "Negroes." And Garvey admonished us to improve ourselves. Thus the creation of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The movement took off like wildfire in America, where the issue of racial oppression was very stark. It didn't go so well in Jamaica, where the issue is too subtle and contradictory to clearly understand. But we from Jamaica might start from the opposite end of the improvement spectrum. While there has so far been no specific Garveyite program tailor made for the home of Marcus Garvey, why shouldn't one begin? We know he went to school and trained as an apprentice all within one square mile inside the border of St. Ann's Bay. He attended the same school system that we attended. His early training is centered on the area between 32 Market Street, Bravo Street, Church Street and Main Street. Why should that geographic area not be a special Garvey-Heritage district?

Balance:

if you identify an undesirable or undesired element within the social system, it's not necessarily advisable to get rid of it entirely. It may be there to teach us something. It might be best instead to balance it with something equally strong, toward having a balance of power. The balance of power methodology might well be one of the most moderating and peaceful ways to run society. Given that none of the powers are strong enough to wipe out the others, cooperation could be enhanced instead of conflict.