Self Righteous Pricks!

How often I've classified the Biblical Scribes and Pharisees as legalistically right yet spiritually wrong.  It's amazing however how quickly many of us point a finger without noticing the three turned back at us.

Having been brought up in a Christian home in which I was made to go to church every week and participate in church activities, I never really got into anything bad.  Later when I chose to accept Jesus Christ as my Saviour and the Lord of my life, I made the decision to continue to do  the things that were customary for church people.  The point is for a long time I supposed that because I wasn't a bad person, (fortunately I never vocalised this misconception) less of Jesus' blood was needed to wash me from my sin.  Talk about a misguided approach!  Not one of us outside of the power of Jesus Christ has the ability to be good.  "For all have sinned..." the good book says and all need God's divine intervention for healing to take place.  It is not my upbringing or actions that have made me good as far as God is concerned; for one's mother, father, sibling, spouse or other relative has no bearing on one's spiritual state, and Jesus Christ is the only contact we can use to get into Heaven. 

Realising that from a spiritual stand point I am no better than the man/woman who came to Jesus after he had raped, robbed or murdered has been quite sobering.  The self-aggrandising nature of most of us makes this an extremely bitter pill to swallow but I have opted to use it to challenge me to rep Christ to the fullest since I haven't earned my place in the kingdom - it was given to me just like everybody else. 

I'm grateful for the scars my upbringing has helped to shield me from; but it is a reality that if I truly want to please God it's what I do with Jesus that counts.

House Slave vs. Field Slave

Having to spend long hours at the hair dresser can occasionally yield dividends (besides a fantastic hairdo).  In my case, I stumbled upon a 2009 Essence Magazine article that examined the difference between the treatment meted out to fair skinned and dark skinned blacks.  On the one hand one writer suggested that life isn't better for them because they have to constantly 'prove' their blackness to the darker skinned black community; while a second writer quoted statistics highlighting the better opportunities for jobs, dates and general social treatment that seem to favour lighter skinned blacks over their ebony toned counterparts. 

I mused over this for quite a while for besides an occasional vacation in places where because of my racial orientation I may have been considered a part of a 'minority', I have spent my entire life in the Caribbean  and have never truly experienced the kind of bias either writer spoke about.  Admittedly, persons within the Jamaican culture into which I was born and bred do sometimes display an aspect of partiality to fairer skinned blacks.  Jamaicans however suffer more so from a desire to be 'classist' i.e favouritism is more likely to be shown to those who form the wealthier sections of society (incidentally many do in fact appear lighter skinned but the dark skinned persons who are also a part of this group enjoy the same preferential treatment).  Nevertheless I would be lying if I did not recognise that there is an obvious feeling of insecurity among some of the dark skinned - indicated through the rapidly increasing phenomenon of skin bleaching.

 All in all however I have come to the conclusion that such partiality does stem from an unawareness of self that seems to have its root in the history of slavery.  Less than 200 years since its abolition in the British Colonies, and with US Civil Rights activists still living and breathing among us, it does not strike me as entirely strange that a race that spent more years being victimised than liberated would seek to validate itself by trying to identify with those whom they had considered superior.  When blacks begin to discriminate against each other however the situation worsens; for how then can we eradicate the misconceptions?  Albeit a house divided against itself cannot stand.

POLITRICKS

The Jamaican budget presentation is not over so most of us are still quietly hoping that in her speech next Tuesday (June 5, 2012) the Prime Minister will rescind all the tax increases that the Finance Minister talked about... but then if wishes were horses...

Undoubtedly taxation is necessary, where else would governments  get the money they need to run the country?  (Especially ours since we produce and export very little and more money is spent to bailout the entities in charge of the little we do produce instead of the profit being gained to spend elsewhere).  My problem is that the current government has failed to even pretend that they are indeed putting the people first.  They talk about the sacrifices that we all need to make yet they turn around and spend frivolously on non-essentials.  This government has much to do in order to gain an iota of my confidence and support; but because I love my country, I am still holding hope that divine intervention will allow us to evade the economic tsunami that seems to be boding.

Being a restaurant chef requires a different skill from that of the person cooking for a small family in the same way managing the economic welfare of a country will require different expertise from running a small family because of the sheer numbers involved.  Regardless of this difference however there are principles that are unchanging: never spend more than you have, never borrow more than you have the ability to repay, when in a financial jam stick to the needs until you can afford the wants, and the list goes on.  Of course I have no degree in Economics or Accounts and it is always easier to know what ought to be done when someone else has to do it; but I do believe it is a fact that politicians the world over face some difficulty in truthfulness and ours are no exception.  This then brings me to two conclusions: either there is more money than they claim there is and so we are being heavily taxed so they have more to steal; or there is no money and we are being heavily taxed because they continue to mismanage even what they do gain from taxing us.  It makes no sense to buy a Range Rover if you cannot afford to service and repair it properly when if you bought a deportee (Toyota Corolla) you would be able to keep it in mint condition.  The problem with too many people in this country (and politicians in particular) is we love to floss (show off) and we are more concerned about trying to make people believe (well the international community since those of us who actually live here know what the deal is) that we can eat, drive, buy anything or travel to any place they can when the reality is nutten nuh guh suh (it is untrue).  Naturally there are wealthy people in this country and economic turmoil for them means eating ox tail six instead of seven days per week, but the majority of the people in this country have grave difficulty in affording basic essentials (maybe I should refrain from saying that out loud since this blog is on the Internet and people outside of this country might learn how bad things are for some people).

I was at a crossroads between  amused and annoyed when, as part of his grandmother's Jubilee celebration, Prince Henry (Harry) of Wales visited Jamaica and I learnt just how much was spent to prepare for the Prince's arrival and visit.  The Tourist Board will tell how immeasurable the advertising of Jamaica was just from the Prince's presence here and that is truly wonderful.  Nevertheless I am concerned that far too much was spent from the national coffers and we are too often concerned about making a big impression at the expense of facing reality.    I am also pretty big on birthdays and even as an adult I start counting down a month before my birthday therefore I am excited about the fact that Jamaica turns 50 this August.  Truthfully however, if I were turning 50 in my current state, I would have to trim my celebrations several notches.  Milestone or not, it makes zero sense to increase your debt just because it is expected that certain things be done.  Sure you only turn 50 once but celebrate the achievements, acknowledge the accomplishments of the many on a really small scale, nuh baddah guh spen' money yuh nuh have jus' so people can seh party tun up (Don't spend what you do not have so others can applaud your celebrations).  When I turned 30 I wanted a gala affair but could not afford it so a few friends and I went to dinner, had some laughs and called it a night.  Disappointed?  Sure... you only turn 30 once, but at least I have enough time and better resources to plan for the 40th!  I am hoping the government will consider the current state, ignore the noise makers and make the right decision.

  

I am quite sceptical of politicians in general and I certainly do not trust this current government; but I am looking forward to the next year primarily because I am curious about the effectiveness of the new taxation being levied upon us.  If ever I hope to be wrong, it is now.