From: richard@auvax1.adelphi.edu
Subject: Re: Jam gone to Perdition - a reply
Organization: Adelphi University, Garden City NY
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 19:01:49 GMT

In article <1993Jan22.142144.20816@ultb.isc.rit.edu>, pac8702@ritvax.isc.rit.ed
u (PC) writes:
> Richard, I don't know which utopia you are presently living in but, the
> problems you described seem pretty universal to me. The trouble in Jamaica
> is always exaggerated by those of us who hear it second hand or who have
> recently had to face it. As the saying goes, No Whe' No Betta Dan Yard. Foreign
> Lands are  just as bad but, we delude ourselves into thinking otherwise.
> PAC8702@RITVAX.ISC.RIT.EDU          : If you live in Hope .... you die     
> Rochester Institute of Tech.        : in Constant Spring.              Cargill
> Rochester, New York.                : Sa wha' !? Ina dis ya sun hat, dat de man
> 14623.                              : de mus'a drink Dragon ...        Big Boy                     

.......True, the troubles I mentioned are indeed widespread but where I am at
now I do not face them every day. In Jamaica, there is nowhere to run from the
gunman's bullet, knife or acid bottle. Perhaps I have become too 'first worlded'
out of my prior 'third world' existence, but the rough roads and inferior
service (at high cost) began to get to me.  I wish to be honest about my
feelings, whether they be popular or not, but I really do not miss Jamaica as
much as I used to though I go home every christmas and summer.  Too much
ragamuffin crude behavior man, no matter what class, and though I am quite
tolerant it was more than I could bear.  A lot of pretentiousness
and high-minded-but-poor-ness.  People would rather buy Kelloggs cornflakes for
over three times the cost of the local brand, and this is going to bring the
country down.  We do not support our own companies that provide local
employment and reduce foreign exchange outflow.  Damn, so what if local is not
as good as foreign....that is the price you pay in order to live a better
standard of living eventually. Then there is pollution of the harbors and
beaches.  It is so bad I even heard some tourists commenting about it, along
with their other negative statments about the people, airport, transportation,
etc.  Talking about transportation - I used to take the bus, but now I would
rather walk.  It has become a monstrous failure.  People, tired after work,
must stand and wait for hours to fight their way into a sardine can.  And the
poor schoolers, unable to get to school because the van operators refuse to
admit them since they pay less fares.  I could go on and on, but do not believe
that I am naieve or that I misunderstand what is happening in Jamaica.  I think
that it is something like the Emperor's new clothes - nobody wants to admit
that things there are getting extremely FUCKED UP! - and at a rapid rate. 
Something has to be done....and soon.  And the reference to Haiti:  Rich upper
class, no middle class, poor underclass with all of the color discrimination
and corruption and gunmanism that goes along with it. Jamaicans are now getting
either very wealthy (light brown through yellow to white - with some pepper
sprinkled here and there), or very poor (blakk).

	"Big man have the money, so him get the pass, while the little poor man
dem fi kiss him <bleep>" - Big Man - Capleton

"Big man fi boogie woogie, and have all de fun, while the likkle poor man no
fe have none" - How Massa God Worl A Run - Buju Banton
 
	Listen to the lyrics of these two songs carefully.  They are signs of
the times, warnings to those who can really hear what they are saying.

Peace....but NOT before justice!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Richard L. Dennison               -\--/-  Internet: richard@auvax1.adelphi.edu
President, Caribbean Club        |  \/  | Fone:(516)352-1926 Fax:(516)877-3296
Chairman, Afrikan Concerns Assn  |  /\  | Caribbean Cultural Awareness Club
Editor In Chief, AFRIKA UNBOUND!  -/--\-  Adelphi U., Garden City, N.Y. 11530
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Newsgroups: soc.culture.caribbean