LETTER OF THE DAY: The Jamaican dream

THE EDITOR, Sir:

There has been much talk on verandas, in bars, boardrooms, bedrooms and even the chambers of parliament about the need for a new kind of thinking, a fresh approach, new ideas.

They put on seminars and have speakers trumpeting the call for new ideas, talking about the benefits that new ideas can bring. Some even go as far as marketing their companies as capable of telling you the value of new ideas. Politicians advertise themselves through speeches on how these new ideas will shape the future of Jamaica.

Our radio talk-show hosts rant about Jamaica's lack of ideas as if talking about their absence will somehow bring them out of hiding. Maybe it's me, but don't you find it odd that the ones calling for new ideas don't seem to be offering any?

Many of you may work for a company where, as soon as a new idea is given birth, it is beaten to a pulp by bureaucracy, stiff-necked superiors, and 'bad-mind' co-workers. In our political sphere, new ideas are dismissed as 'youthful exuberance', yet many of our politicians who parade as fair-minded pragmatists still offer recycled ideas which have proven wrong over and over.

Well, I have an idea. Let's stop talking about the need for ideas, and start offering some. We, the Facebook generation (I use that term loosely), have unprecedented access to information. What takes some of our elders to learn in a month, we learn in a few minutes. We have great ideas coming out of the yin-yang, and we have all the tools we need to get those ideas out there, literally at our fingertips. And while we do need the wisdom that experience brings, let us be confident that the power of our ideas can shape our country and our world for the better.

Not enough

To our Jamaican young people abroad, reading the Gleaner Online and telling your friends "that's why I couldn't stay there" is not enough. We need you here, your experience, your ideas, particularly those of you fortunate enough to have acquired skills and resources that will enable you to build new industries.

For those of us in Jamaica, we know how difficult it is becoming, but there is something you feel about this country, that, like other great nations, Jamaica, too, holds the promise that if we work diligently at our chosen endeavour, we can better our lives and those of others. That is our dream, the Jamaican dream.

I am, etc.,

PAUL THOMPSON

paul.icon@gmail.com

Kingston 6