We have been here before. We lived through a massive brain drain during the 1960s when many Jamaicans boarded banana boats to sail to the United Kingdom, seeking better for themselves and their families.
It recurred in the 1970s when the communism propaganda was promoted against the government of the day. Many sold homes and assets hastily to hitch a ride on one of the five flights that left Jamaica daily, heading to the United States.
Today, Caribbean island nations continue to suffer debilitating levels of brain drain. Some seasons of mass migration are much worse than others. Islanders rush primarily to the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the face of frighteningly deteriorating economies and the enfeebling loss of hope. Distrust of governments also fuels the flight.
So, we are in a new season; the list of migrating teachers, nurses, doctors, professionals, police personnel, and tradesmen and women is woefully long and unending, and the gaps left in the wake of their departure seem to be widening by the minute.
Jamaica has been very hard hit by this brain drain. It is a nation led by a top-heavy, bang-belly government with its head stuck in the sand, versed in corruption and high on its own hype. It is deliberate in its efforts to soothe discontent, quell worry, and calm shredded nerves among the populace. Those in authority go to great lengths to pretend that the mass migration is not as serious as it really is.
Deep discontent blankets the Jamaican society. High cost of living, low wages, understaffed hospitals, overcrowded and bursting at the seams, a rundown education system, police operating like the enemy of the people, and the pompous government high on the hog. There is a gaping gulf of distrust between the people and the government, and a chasm in the relationship between the government and God.
The government is worldly, lacks the milk of human compassion, and harbours autocratic ideals with a view to control and force a resistant population to comply with its dictates. For uncaring governments, fleeing populations are of no consequence, as long as they do not take their houses, land, or other assets with them.
One of the most significant studies on the declining trust between governments and the people they govern was recently concluded by a team of researchers from the University of Southampton. Findings from this study, released earlier this year, suggest that trust in representative institutions, such as parliaments, governments, and political parties, has been declining in democratic countries around the world.
The research represented the largest and most comprehensive analysis of trends in political trust worldwide to date. It presented the views of over five million respondents. The vast body of work combined the results from 3,377 surveys covering 143 countries between 1958 and 2019.
The researchers indicated that the findings are a ‘warning sign’ that could pave the way for non-democratic political leaders to use the state in more autocratic ways.
The people have always had good reasons not to trust government, and they have even better reasons now not to do so.
Corrupt leaders will implement mechanisms to mask their corruption and force populations to comply with their edicts against their will. Such governments are led by autocratic despots who not only demand compliance but also worship. Corrupt leaders will always walk the way of the wicked, rewarding themselves with massive salary increases and benefits while paying the people peanuts, starving the population of a decent standard of living, and taxing them to death’s door. The world has seen more than its fair share of these goons.
It is another election cycle in Jamaica, and many promises have been made in past seasons, but few have been kept. The patience of the people is thinning. The wait for job descriptions for ministers of government is over a decade old. Jamaica is still waiting for term limits for leaders, still waiting for the majority of the police’s used cars to be delivered, and there are many other matters still languishing in the recesses of time.
Yet we are being asked to trust our government, accept the sugar-sweet promises levelled at us from political platforms, and pay homage to its security forces, who laud it over the lower classes as judge, jury, and executioners.
It is little wonder that a large percentile of Jamaicans would prefer to risk shark-infested swamps to get away from the land they claim to love. As things stand, they refuse to leave their future and that of their children in the grip of a government undeserving of their trust.
Hundreds line up daily in the hot sun in Liguanea to get even a one-entry visa that would grant them no-return access to greener pastures. Up to a year ago, many were braving unorthodox points of entry to get to the land of ‘limitless’ opportunities.
Generally, the United States is seen as the place of inspiration and aspiration. It is the first choice for immigrants, legal and illegal. Billions worldwide break hearts and limbs to head to the United States, their heaven on earth. Many have hopped, skipped, and jumped from country to country, even changing passports and identities, doing whatever is necessary to con US immigration to let them in.
Countless others employ illegal means to make the trip, braving wide open oceans, reptile-infested swamps, and mountainous terrains just to get there. They join millions of undocumented workers, barely surviving for decades, terrified of President Donald Trump’s deportation edict, while playing hide and seek with his immigration officials. Discontent walks hand in hand with desperation, and despite the risks, the brain drain in Jamaica and its Caribbean counterparts is now a deluge.
Jamaican politicians are vying for the population’s trust again, but the people now know that trust is an expensive commodity, which should never be wasted on the wicked. The way of the wicked is like deep darkness, and this nation has stumbled around in it for decades. The people are beginning to understand that the path of the righteous is like the early morning light, which gets brighter and brighter until the full light of day. It is time to choose the path of the righteous. Jamaica must put God above the ballot!