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Jamaicanism will reduce poverty in Jamaica but unless she rejects the money-hogging rat race culture, there will not sufficient improvement in the quality of life.
Jamaica, like most countries worldwide, is affected by a pervasive addiction which has corrupted the living environment. Jamaica is smaller, so itβs more noticeable there. It is the evil created by the addiction to money and power. The love of money is the root of all evil and Jamaica is no exception. Out of this lust for money, societies have become a money-hogging materialistic rat race. The characteristics of the money- hogging, materialistic rat race are: riches, poverty, selfishness, discontent, inequality, belligerence, waste, extravagance, insensitivity, luxury, ostentation, vanity, snobbery, exploitation, deceit and even war.
The supreme prize for winning the rat race is money, lots of money. Rat race societies are driven by our love of money or what Pope Francis calls, βThe idolatry of moneyβ. We have been addicted to money. It is an addiction worse than drugs. Just as drug lords and drug pushers increase their wealth and power by spreading the addiction, the money lords and money pushers do likewise. However, drug lords and drug pushers must do their evil deeds in the dark corners, abandoned buildings, in the sinister shadowy furtive places. But, money lords and money pushers ply their trade in the open by seductive unrelenting advertising. Drug lords and drug pushers are reviled but money lords and money pushers are revered. They are so revered that they become the leaders and role models for society.
Addiction
The rat race has driven us to become money-materialism addicts. Addiction is slavery. Many, because of addiction to drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc., have lost their jobs, families, friends and ended up in the gutter. Such is the nature of addiction and that is what restoring the goodness of man is up against. We lose the freedom to choose. We are driven. It ruins the quality of life. Some abandon family for it. It allows us to be manipulated. Up the price and we go along. Addiction is a curse. It invades the addicts life and takes control of it. It is destructive.
The Addict
The rat race has so conditioned us to money as the universal goal and key to happiness in life that money has become a sacred cow. So, money is unchallenged and accepted as the βnormalβ goal of life. But, we do not realize that we are just addicts to money, wanting more and more and never being satisfied, never having enough. The things people do for money!
It is for this love of money that some :
β’ Kill for it
β’ Steal for it
β’ Mug for it
β’ Invade countries for it
β’ Bomb innocents for it
β’ Cheat for it
β’ Intimidate for it
β’ Lie for it
β’ Ruin reputation for it
β’ Sell their souls for it
We are driven by consumer mania and manipulated by advertising. We are so brainwashed that it is very difficult to break this addiction. All addiction is difficult to break, but even acknowledging this money mania as addiction is difficult. Instead we are told this lust for money is good. It shows we are ambitious, want to get ahead and receives all sorts of praise in our society.
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The Pushers
The pushers, these money lords, enrich themselves at the expense of their victims, the addicts. It is the source of their power, so they have a vested interest in keeping us addicted and will fight to protect their turf. Pushers control your life. They have you running all over the place like a chicken with its head cut-off trying to feed your addiction.
The worst consequences β crime, political corruption and division
Even if Jamaica reduces poverty substantially, the quality of life will not improve sufficiently as long as the money-hogging rat race dominates our culture. But this addiction is curable. The first step in addiction is to choke off the demand, this insatiable demand for more and more money, this voracious materialism. It has overvalued money and devalued people. When we devalue people we make relationships with people unimportant. Relationships are the social glue that holds our society together. So all relationships, such as family relationships and friendships, become unimportant and deteriorate.
The 3 Mβs: Money, Materialism, Meanness
If money and materialism are the way to happiness, then poor people will always be the unhappiest people in the land. If the attainment of riches and wealth is the way to happiness, then poor people will never be happy. Fortunately it is not, but most of us have been brainwashed into thinking so.
Buy to impress!
But let us not kid ourselves. We have been so brainwashed that rejecting this universal goal of the love for money is not easy. In our money-oriented society we must deal with the siren song of advertisers. This new form of slavery is voluntary mental slavery due to the brainwashing of advertisers. As Bob Marley sings the words of Marcus Garvey, we will have to βfree ourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mindsβ.
Even among the poorest, who virtually have no money and donβt stand much chance of getting any, advertisers crawl inside their heads and keep telling them to buy, buy, buy.
βYes master. I hear and I will obey. I will go out and buy an overpriced, gas-guzzling, environment βdepleting, ugly, huge, non-streamlined, overturn-prone, 4-wheeled drive SUV capable of climbing Mount Everest in a blizzard. I hea, master and I will obey. I will obeyβ¦I will obeyβ¦β¦β
Resist! Donβt fall for all that rat race buy propaganda. Buy smart instead.
Abuse of Power
The rat race has also created a lust for power. The more money we have, the more power we have. So, just as we crave material things, we also crave power. Now power itself is not bad. Parents need power to raise their children properly. It is a necessary part of society. But, remember power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely But money is not the only source of power. Give a man a gun, he has power. Promote a man to be boss, he has power. Make a man a cop, a president, he has power.
The lust for power is one of the products of the money-hogging rat race. Unfortunately, some misuse or even abuse of power is an acceptable cultural norm. This widespread misuse and abuse of power is one of the most serious problems our society faces, which is even more critical because it is not recognized as such. Everywhere merit takes a backseat to power. It pervades almost every aspect of our lives. It is of epidemic proportions.
Some proponents include:
β’ Police
β’ Spouses
β’ Bosses
β’ Politicians
β’ Bullies
β’ Gangs
β’ Employers
It produces:
β’ Racism
β’ Class discrimination
β’ Police brutality
β’ Extortion
β’ Inefficiency
β’ Victimisation
β’ Wars
β’ Exploitation
Unfortunately, our rat race society is replete with the abuse of power. Power is used to bully and exploit. Schoolyard bullies grow up to be perpetrators of domestic violence and other types of social misfits. Too many lust for power. Marriages disintegrate as spouses battle for power.
The fact is we have constant power struggles in all aspects of life, not just marriages. We have power struggles in, our jobs, our organisations, politics, between countries. You name it. These undermine relationships and threaten our ability to work together.
Conversely, the less power you have, the more you are likely to be pushed around and abused. Black people in the ghetto in the USA are powerless, are pushed around and are subject to abuse. They have no money, so, some get power by getting a gun or joining a gang.
However, let us not forget that one of the most powerful men in the world had neither wealth nor did he wield a gun. He derived his power from doing good, from being good. I speak of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..
Resist
To create the magnificent society in Jamaica, we must resist this buying mania. It is not easy. That buy-propaganda is strong stuff. We are up against a rich and powerful brainwashing advertising industry. This advertising industry have employed psychologists, psychiatrists, marketing experts, and all sorts of head experts at big bucks for the sole purpose of getting into our heads to distort our thinking in order to buy their unwanted products. In our present culture:
β’ We must buy to impress friends.
β’ We must buy to prove that we are worthy human beings.
β’ We must buy these un-needed products or our spouses or lovers might leave us and some indeed will.
If you do not buy ,this society will think you are one of the poor and wretched of the earth and despise you. So many poor people cannot afford to buy these but feel driven to acquire them by hook or crook in order to disguise their poverty.
Surplus Money
To reject money and materialism does not mean going without money. We need money to live. We need money to satisfy our basic needs. We need money to live comfortably. The rich have more money than needed to satisfy their needs. So, they have surplus money. The poor do not have enough money to satisfy their needs. The problem is that worldwide, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. This means the rich are getting more surplus money while the poor are getting less money to meet their basic needs. That does not seem fair.
Money for basic needs includes at least food, housing, clothing education, and health care. Money to live comfortably is not as straightforward. It actually depends on our culture. Our prevailing money-hogging culture demands we go beyond comfort and acquire as great a money surplus as we can. It puts money on a pedestal. This culture generates a powerful love of money which is the root of all evil. We must reject this culture. It is time for a cultural revolution.
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