Corruption is a deeply entrenched, supported, and activated operation that plunders the public purse. It robs the poor to line the pockets of the rich. Overtly and covertly, this system of wickedness has become the lifeblood of the political class, the business class, communities, and even families across Jamaica.
Corruption robs public funds paid into the system by taxpayers and international grant-funding agencies. These funds are intended to bolster the education of our children, provide acceptable levels of health care for the masses, and fix roads and other public facilities, but they are syphoned off and used for the benefit of a few.
The majority of the population does not understand the abject wickedness of this wretched system of corruption in their everyday lives.
When money allocated to resource schools is stolen, thousands of students attend classes without basic resources like chalk for blackboards, charts for learning, and even clean classrooms.
When corruption hits money streamlined for the health sector, public hospitals are starved of much-needed medicine, bed space, sanitisation material, and even basic technical support facilities like working ultrasound, CAT scan, and MRI machines.
Poor people who attend public health facilities have to go elsewhere for important tests that are not available because the critical machines are not functioning or are not available.
The stench of corruption in society is so pervasive and familiar that it is accepted as normal by the very people who suffer the most from its presence. Corruption is properly protected and defended by those who feed at the public money trough, gobbling up copious amounts of funds and opportunities, and clinging to available power with their very lives.
So normalised is this wickedness that no effort is made to disguise the blatant theft and extortion that accompany road works, the rehabilitation of major facilities, and the purchase of large amounts of imported goods and services.
Unexplained wealth is not questioned and is absolutely defended. Illicit gains by politicians are hidden and shielded by even those who are charged to protect the public purse.
While politicians have been the main culprits fingered for corrupt practices over the years, there is a secondary tier of offenders, mainly in the private sector, who are beneficiaries of public largesse. They gulp down government contracts and cushier jobs, which provide them with access to the trough.
The next rung in the strata is occupied by party faithfuls, who, themselves, benefit from the smaller contracts and third-party access to power through party lines.
This dance of the corrupt is well-choreographed and rehearsed. It is taught to generations, regardless of which political party is in power.
This ‘fool dem’ system is supported by some in the security forces, who are rewarded with promotion and political protection.
There is no regard for righteousness, except to engage elements of the church and haul them into the covenant of corruption or silent support. Contaminated funds are offered and gobbled up with a grin by compromised men and women of the cloth.
No one in this network of dishonesty can successfully call out anyone, as too many have been exposed and fingers of accusation are pointing in nearly all directions.
The idea that government is employed by the people through their votes is an alien notion for the Jamaican electorate. Politicians have schooled voters into believing that their power belongs to them and their generations. Voters, believing they have no choice but to support them, have given in to the urge to join in maintaining the unjust system.
Elections are won or lost based on the strength of the treasure chests and the ability of a party to buy votes.
Jamaica has honed and fostered this environment of Anansism for many years. It is no wonder that Jamaican youths believe that honesty is not the best policy. In this environment, the tomfoolery of their betters suggests that it is better to con than to pursue a legitimate career. Hence, scamming is a ready and lucid option. Mainly across the tourism belt, young people quickly learn that the con game against frail and vulnerable foreigners is lucrative.
They have seen them in hotels, with wads of cash and credit cards, spending on a whim with no compunction. They have noted their gambling addictions and their loose way of handling their finances.
In a country where financial matters are managed under strict rules and regulations, these foreigners have no understanding that in Jamaica, the black market and the street have no such obligations.
Too many cases of scamming, whether in hotels, on the street, or online, go unreported. It is a new game, much of which is played beneath the eyes of law enforcers.
It is a game of turning a blind eye for many to allow others to win and pass on portions of the plunder.
Young boys, not more than 18 years old, are known to have made cash purchases of mansions and luxury vehicles without any legitimate authority asking a question.
Many who have not held a job in their lifetime possess wads of cash, displaying the lifestyle of the rich and famous. Extortions, gangsterism, trading in narcotics, and the fight for turf open lines often lead to the gritty political underbelly and lucrative government contracts.
Women are not to be left out of the line to the trough; they support wicked men and offer various services, even of themselves, to maintain the clamour of the corrupt.
Their involvement in the occult spans both the local and the executive, all trying to maintain some semblance of order in the corrupt underbelly of this monster.
Calls by the righteous for three consecutive days of repentance fall on deaf ears. To those plugged into the trough and who are benefiting from the wealth in the gritty underworld, repentance and turning away from their mammon do not appear lucrative when compared to what is at stake. They are willing to dismiss the church and God, as their involvement in wickedness and the forces of darkness seem to avail much.
The corrupt cling to the temporal, gaining the world, only to lose their souls. Not many live to see their winter years. When all is said and done, everything, including their money, their motorcars, their secret society memberships, and their mansions, will fast fade away. They refuse the offer of salvation, failing to understand that whosoever shall choose to live righteously, turning away from wickedness, shall gain eternal life. The fact that the wicked ways of the corrupt can only lead to destruction is lost on them…until they face death and eternal damnation.
The question is asked: For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world with all its pleasures and forfeit his soul? It is a choice of temporary pleasures for permanent sorrows. It is the senseless, foolhardy way of the blind and those of carnal minds. But, as long as there is life, the hope of salvation is still available. It still begins with repentance.