The poor are not like us

Franklin JOHNSTON

Friday, February 03, 2012

Being rich sure beats being poor. They say the poor will always be with us, but then so will the rich. Truth is there are all kinds of poor people, including the grinding poverty in Africa, but the poor here are special. Our poor have standards and codes of conduct, so if your gift is not up to scratch they will say so and shame you in public. The middle class take what they get and cuss quietly, as aspiration limits expression. To make progress they can't always speak their minds, but the poor have no such inhibitions. A friend in MoBay was shaken when his money was refused and he was cussed by a beggar; "Dis big, big white man tek mi fi bwoy; weh man can do wid 50 dalla? A weh'im cum fram?" The Lord loves cheerful givers, but it seems for the recipient his cheerfulness is conditional.

On the weekend I saw the rich at play in gleaming "Norbrook tractors". The sturdy brands of 4x4s that would never see mud greeted Celine - acres of gleaming metal. Fit for purpose means they mount barriers and park at will. The good, the great and nameless unknowns had elegant rides. There is money here and some drivers seemed quite "agricultural"! I marvel that this opulence lives side by side with penury. Then I heard the new minister in Parliament rattling the tin for the rich to drop some dues to educate the poor. We have good high schools but need thousands of new school places. How will we do this?

Vanity schools

There are many schools bearing the names of men (yes, they are all men) who never did a damn thing for the school or endowed a school. The names feed twisted egos. These vanity schools were built with our taxes. Why didn't these greats not endow a school? They had the money. Many are rich, went to schools of pedigree and the son and grandson went there too. Why not endow a new school? The last high school fully endowed by a rich man was over a century ago. What? All brand name high schools were set up by rich white men of conscience for poor black and brown children. What? Yes, Siree! They started thus, but now they graduate the scion of rich black, brown and white men who get richer, grace the social pages and love their school to bits.

Our posh schools were founded for poor kids. The benefactors must be turning in their graves. They are now for rich kids, families, friends and their friends. We have dozens of local millionaires, yet not one says, "Four friends and I will endow a new school like our alma mater. Not a classroom, a proper high school! They raise monuments to business and can raise a new high school. The names Munro, Manning, Wolmer are of men who were not as rich as our moguls, yet they saw a future for the poor and left a lasting legacy in these high schools. Their bequests are now misused.

The rich are not like us but neither are the poor. My neighbour was hyperventilating on account of the regular half-wit beggar. She gave him mangoes and "he drop them same place at the gate as they were soft, an' walk off". She retrieved them as he mumbled that she "tek im fi bwoy". He wanted firm mangoes and she felt spurned - both were affronted. Our beggars size up benefactors! When I wear a tie I am beggars' bait, but in my flip-flops they think me a competitor. The middle class are on the ladder, want to climb and will go down a rung to get drive to go up three rungs. The poor see life differently. If I go down one, will I come up again? Risk aversion keeps them poor. Some 30 per cent of our people are not on the ladder. We assume they are like us but they are not. They may not even have bus fare, clothes or the will to grab a job as surplus - good clothes, good shoes, spare cash - is a middle-class option.

Most poor people do not want charity or "make work", but if you point one to a job, make sure he is able to respond. He is not middle class, between jobs like you with many shirts or shoes. In fact, if he gets a job it lands him with a new dilemma - to find work clothes. Poverty is not a conscious choice. To be born of poor parents and find no escape route is the lot of many. Poverty is not like middle class "out of pocket" or waiting for a cheque. It is uncertainty, humiliation, depression. Every day is Ben Johnson day. Every day it's harder to face the world. If each of us "adopted" a chronic jobless person it would help. Worst case if you know one such offer to help, a listening ear, fuzzy groans and you may save a lives.

Crash work

The middle class see short-term jobs as politics. They speak of "real jobs". Yet the long-term is a series of conjoined short terms and a short-term job is lunch money, soap, bus fare, toothpaste and it buys one more day of life. Many professionals have never had a "real job" and live on short-term contracts - a couple hours or a year. If we could get half-a-million people on short-term jobs we would be blessed. Our politicians have always been solicitous of the welfare of the poor. I can think of no politician who would rather his constituents were poor than prosperous. But neither PNP nor JLP has created the jobs or built prosperity, so we must surmise they do not know how to. More anon!

Rex Nettleford

He was a genius. As I reflect on Gerrehbenta, his masterwork of dark foreboding, it is a celebration of sex - sensuous, writhing. Rex bequeathed us this massive uncircumcised dressed-up phallus set in a field of pulchritude, nubile supplicants; wenches to be ploughed but not yet erotic in flesh and bone. A powerful tantalus. A joy! This latest performance was by a youthful, talented troupe. Rex, Rex lives! Stay conscious, my friend!

Dr Franklin Johnston is a strategy adviser and project manager. franklinjohnstontoo@gmail.com

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The poor are not like us