
The Binoculars of Jah - tintinnabula
https://granta.com/the-binoculars-of-jah/
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nikhizzle
Somewhat tangential. I went to Jamaica with my pregnant wife in 2012. At the
time of our arrival I did not realize that we were visiting a country with
omnipresent violent crime. During our visit, we had (very luckily) a small
taste of this crime, but consequently also were given a chance to understand
the situation.

We casually strolled through the crowds in Ocho Rios and enjoyed the beach and
the novel sites. For example, a dreadlocked older gentleman with a grocery bag
chock full of ganja openly selling such in the central town square.

We were staying in a very nice hotel, and one side of our room was on land,
the other was cantilevered over the ocean. On day five of our visit, this
vista turned out to be a liability. While we are at dinner, marauders arrived
in a boat, climbed into our room, and fleeced everything that was easily
accessible. We are careful travelers and so stored most valuables in the safe
(which also stunk like ganja). The total damage was around $150, but mentally
we were afraid.

As part of the investigation, an extraordinarily kind local policeman was sent
by to take our statement. He spent 15 minutes on the crime, and then another 2
hours chatting with us. He was erudite and well spoken, and gave us his take
in detail of why the country was the way it was. He conjectured that extreme
disparity between rich and poor, a history of colonial violence, and lack of
accessible quality education had set them up for failure.

I was born in India, and have spent about 1/4 of my life there (as a member of
the upper middle class). My grandparents view of the British Raj was very
benign and shared by their peers. I wonder what it is that led to one
perception in India and another in Jamaica, both poor countries, but one which
lives in fear of violence.

~~~
bertomartin
I'm pretty sure not everyone in Indian regards the Raj as favorably as your
parents. Some people in Jamaica do think the way your parents do, about the
British. This is more than colonialism though. This poverty has a lot to do
with cold war politics and meddling by world powers. It's surprising, such as
small island, why even bother? But this happened in the 70s and 80s. It's well
documented, you can read about it.

Education and opportunity would help to eradicate a lot of the crime in
Jamaica. First, the younger people needs to see successful Jamaicans in good
positions and understand that they got there through education. A lot of kids
aspire to be Reggae stars, because they're influenced by the success of Reggae
icons. Not many such influences are apparent with well educated Jamaicans.
They're not 'stars'.

I think India does well because they put a premium on education and kids that
do well are rewarded.

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caribbeanman
Though I somewhat enjoyed the article it reeks of the kind of nonsense about
Caribbean culture that those JCBs("just come back") like to perpetuate. They
seem to have the most incite about the Caribbean though their only real
contact with the culture is through parents and grandparents who left the
islands decades ago. They believe that their summer vacations count as real
experience and are the ones that people not from the islands get to hear
about.

"Obeah" for instance is not a Jamican thing. It's an Afro-Caribbean thing with
direct roots to Benin in Africa, the birthplace of what popular media calls
Vodoo. Arguably it's practiced more in the southern Caribbean and Guyana than
in Jamaica. Not to mention Haiti.

All this to say is that these know it all "foreigners" really paint a picture
of the Caribbean that is thoroughly inaccurate. But I suppose they are the
ones with access to running water and flushing toilets so maybe people like me
who actually live here are not healthy enough to express our own experiences
as eloquently as they can after coming on vacation.

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qplex
It is always amazing to me how much power supernatural nonsense has over some
people.

I consider myself very lucky to have grown up in a no-nonsense environment.

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keithpeter
Wow, memories. Peter Tosh made the most impression my memory of those times
(Birmingham resident, not part of the culture).

