Strangling Jamaica

This is my journal about the situation in Jamaica based off of the Life and Debt movie. I was excited to learn more about Jamaica. I went there on a cruise for my honeymoon. The movie was able to explain what I witnessed first hand. Fortunately I do not consider myself part of the regular “tourist,” because I noticed the poverty and was extremely saddened by it. I noticed what tourism did to the people and the community. I saw the slums. I saw the depravity. Yes, it was a low point of the vacation. I was terribly sad. The people fought for our money, and it tore the community apart. I saw the way people were interacting with each other--to people who should be unified in defiance. People were always competing, shouting, and cussing. The movie reminded me of the depravity of Jamaica, and explained what I had witnessed on my trip. I was upset with the US as I watch the film, and especially by the way we are contributing to their tragic living circumstances. I asked our driver if she had friends with any of those she worked with. She said no. They all told lies about each other. The lady convinced us that the men will take our money and leave us behind. So we decided to trust her. I cannot believe in the movie they brought “more skilled workers from China” to Jamaica in the "Free zones"! What a crime. They are all itching for work, and companies transport Chinese to their homeland!!! The companies would not pay the Jamaicans a dignified price. It doesn’t matter that the free zones were not really “part” of Jamaica! Those people need work. They are all stuck carving wood and making artwork. It is so sad that they are not given the opportunity to make a difference in their world. It is really sad how the farmers are all out of work! They don’t have any hope really. I want to do something to change this. I want to change the US treatment of Latin America and the Caribbean! Ironically, I think it is only the very rich who can avoid seeing the poverty. We did not have money for the cruise tours or to go to the secluded spot on the beach. We walked around a lot. I tried walking to the post office to send a postcard. We were running in the rain, and a man came up and covered us with an umbrella. He said “I do a favor for you, you do a favor for me and come look at my shop.” In the pouring rain we agreed. At the post office we had to wait in line. The stamps were ridiculously priced! Even in US dollars. We wished we had sent our mail back in the Cayman Islands—that’s the place to live. No tax! How can they expect the locals to pay such a price to send mail! It is so very sad.

In the movie I hated to learn about the IMF in such a bad light. I cannot believe the IMF would treat the poor in the way. It like the IMF is asking people with broken backs to carry water pales. This is modern day slavery. I thought I would appreciate the fact that they offer the poor a lifesaver as they were drowning in the sea. Instead, I learn that they offer a lifesaver and charge them for each pull to bring them back to safety. They expect them to work as they are drowning in the sea…they are just trying to survive. Who does the IMF think they are?? How is it dignified to offer to save someone’s life, but charge them for it… with a price that tosses them back to sea? They told us how their biggest tourist attraction was the Dunn’s River Falls that tourists pay $15 to climb up. Guess who owned that? Half or more was owned by a US company. I was so upset to hear that that money was not going to the people of Jamaica. Does not the US consider Jamaica part of its “Sphere of Influence”? Does not the US feel some compassion for their plight… or at least some guilt for its contribution! How could we fight for the WTO, and place hurdles in the way of their progression? I know the people (us) make up the US, but we are not informed! Those who are informed should be tried with oppression and crimes against humanity! I am disgusted by the way we have treated nations in the Caribbean and Latin America. Those nations have so much to offer. They have so much potential! How can we allow for this? We must not. Things need to change. We need to see all of this in a new light. In the light of Cosmopolitanism. We are all equal and full of the same potential, and have the right to live a dignified life. The US must not only treat its own citizens with such respect, but this respect must be supplanted in the way we interact with nations. At the domestic level we understand, but there is a disconnect at the international level. Perhaps it is because the US is shielded from the truth of what is happening to other nations and our role in shaping their future. I believe US citizens know the difference between right and wrong. I believe that US citizens have a heart, and would change the way we treat other nations if we were educated about the truth. Some people see the poverty in our own nation, and believe that we should take care of the poor in our own land first. I understand this argument. But our poorest are not nearly as poor as the poor in these deprived nations. In addition, our poorest has sooooo many more opportunities to get out. The number of organizations are endless in the US designed to help the poor get out. There must be something different underlying the cause of the poor in our own nation. But, the fact that we have people in poverty in the US is no excuse for our treatment and lack of care for those in places like Jamaica.

Learning about the farming subsidies is such a hard topic for me. I can hardly see the problem with cheaper food prices. I can hardly see the problem with sharing food surpluses instead of dumping it into the ocean or on land. How can that be better? How can throwing out food be better while there are people starving and cannot afford the prices that the farmers are asking. There must be some other way, instead of stopping farm subsidies altogether. Sharing technology so that the farmers can compete with the low prices is a possibility. We do not want the prices to go up. In some ways I believe that capitalism works in favor of the poor, and other ways it doesn't. But to have never shopped at WALMART is to have never known what it is to have tasted poverty. I live below the poverty line. I am in low income housing. I know that if I did n0t have cheap places to shop, I wouldn't be able to have basic essentials. I'm sure I would feel the same way if I lived in Jamaica. I would appreciate the cheap powdered milk. The movie only interview farmers and intellectuals. Why not ask one of the mothers who feeds her children powdered milk? Ask her if we should stop selling it to Jamaica and force her to buy the expensive fresh milk. She might have better milk, but she will have less milk. What else does fresh milk require? It requires refrigerators! Do you think the people in the slums can afford refrigerators or even electricity to plug in the refrigerators to keep the milk from spoiling? No. They need powdered milk because they can mix it in water, and it will not spoil. In the West we think up solutions and feed them to those who would be most likely to agree with us; without considering the ramifications... without taking a moment to really understand what the people want and need.