Fri | Mar 29, 2024

Insulated individual existence

Published:Monday | November 19, 2018 | 12:00 AM

THE EDITOR, Sir:

The letter in The Gleaner of November 17, 'Will robbers make us all cowards' revealed some interesting things about Jamaica and Jamaicans. The response of the bystanders to the robbery of the gentleman in question is nothing less than an insulated individual existence. As long as it does not affect me personally, my response doesn't need to go beyond taking pictures of the affected victim grappling for answers because as far as the crowd is concerned, 'each man for himself, man a nuh informer' and each man becomes an island.

Which can only reinforce the effectiveness and power of those who rob and maim because if you do not care, your time is only 'an hungry belly' away. And as the inroads of theft and violence gain fuel, lawlessness eats away at the puny cries of protests modelling for the cameras and television. Installing the police at crucial locations is attacking the symptoms while overlooking the causes unemployment and a general moral disarray.

But, is it reversible? It brings to mind Jeremiah 10:23 which says, "It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his steps".

Homer Sylvester