Mark Wignall | I feel your pain, Ambassador Perry

It was an early afternoon on a sunny day in 1965 as we turned the corner at North Street and headed up South Camp Road. About four of us Kingston College (KC) boys. The plan was to ‘bum a lift’, or in American terms, hitch-hike to the stadium. At that time, and in that era, Kingston College was in the firm grips of a long season of arrogance. In sports and in beating the books, failure seemed like an impossibility.

And the football results would be easily predictable. A KC triumph and the gnashing of the teeth of another rival school. Six love, anyone?

Included in the pack was Perry, the boy who would later grow up to be a very big man, known as Nick Perry, the current US ambassador to Jamaica. Quite apart from the fact that our KC tie had pulling power among those who drove cars, Perry had the gift of gab and he could sell ice to Eskimos. Whenever a car stopped for us, we sent Perry to link with the driver. If there had been 10 of us, we were convinced that Perry could convince the driver to stow a few of us on the hub caps.

In an April 18 article by the Observer, he said: “I was born in Jamaica in Kingston. I grew up in Rose Town and Whitfield Town. Since I’ve been back, I’ve driven through those neighbourhoods, and it hurts my heart. The house I used to live in ... there are no houses there on that street anymore. And I learned that place was devastated by crime — criminal activity, fights between young people, shooting, killing each other over simple little disagreements that turn into death and violence,” Perry said at a Local Partner Development youth awards ceremony at Jewel Grande Resort in Montego Bay.

HELD UP

In 1999, at around one p.m., I was held up by three young men close to the corner of Sunlight Street and Maxfield Avenue. That would be part of the Rose Town experience that Perry spoke of. A few days ago, a friend sent me a message about a single mother who had had her business severely burgled. Her son is an A-student and she is unable to send the boy to school. The part of the message that pained me was this: “She does not give up, but despite her best efforts, she is not making it.”

Middle of last week, I had an informal meeting with a few retired civil servants, small-business operators, and professionals who had done well in life. I was not prepared for the general position adopted. I had formulated six different positions that one could take on highlighting key negatives in the society that need attention.

The one that was most agreed on is, “While the JLP trumpets fiscal responsibility, the man in the street is hungry, underpaid, overworked, and does not see many opportunities for advancement and prosperity.”

At the same time, just about all of us recognised that social media is on a rapid, ever-changing graph. I know this young woman, not yet 30. She had a medical degree and is not the least bit interested in ‘doctoring.’ What she is full into is a big presence on social media, where she pushes the most ridiculous trivia, by day and by night. And guess what? She seems much happier than her early days of ‘doctoring.’ And she has many thousands of followers.

RESHUFFLING POWER POINTS

The two great global conflicts (World Wars I and II) brought about physical, political, and economic reshuffling. The unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine is taking on much of the same global pushing and shoving.

A country seemingly far removed from the direct physical heat and destruction of the conflict like South Africa has found reason to cosy up to Putin almost as if it is calling in some of the chips when the US palled around with the Apartheid regime of 1980’s South Africa.

India is not seeing any reason to sidle up to the the US when it has its own meeting with a destiny where to drink the US Kool-Aid.

China knows that America has trapped itself into supporting Ukraine to the point where is has to do so but only to fight a war of attrition and added pain on the people of Ukraine. In other words, the ‘noble’ thing to do if all attempts to seek a peaceful solution fail would be a full-scale US invasion of Russia. But President Biden knows that that would only trigger nuclear Armageddon.

Because China, like India, can plainly see the dice game trapping Biden, China also wants to cash in its chips on the US. Biden is currently burdened by domestic politics and the armed Russia-Ukraine conflict is dealing potent body blows to a Biden significantly slower that when he was Obama’s sidekick, who must be truly feeling the weight of all that surrounds him now.

CHINA STILL HAS THE CHEQUEBOOK

China is still in the business of buying allies on the continent of Africa as the broader Pan African institutions fail to bring together the political and economic institutions needed to realise the independence that many African countries have never truly lived.

Joe Biden knows that the mighty US cannot even slow down the forward motion of the Asian tiger. Stopping it dead in its tracks is definitely off the table. The all-compelling big picture that countries like China and India and Brazil are seeing is that the body blows that America has been absorbing must at some time shoot up to the head. In the meantime, they will push their way into the vacuum.

“China will become the biggest driver of global growth over the next five years and will contribute double what the US adds, according to the International Monetary Fund. Based on Bloomberg calculations from data in the IMF’s World Economic Outlook released last week,” said a recent article from Bloomberg.

- Mark Wignall is a political and public affairs analyst. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and mawigsr@gmail.com.