In the past several years Grand Cayman has seen a number of shockingly
brutal crimes the likes of which I never saw in fifteen years of living
in Los Angeles. Sadly, the finger of blame usually points to bad
elements from Jamaica.
Well, Jamaica is impoverished and rife with violent crime. Life is
cheap. Urban congestion and poverty usually breed such things. And now,
some of it has spilled over to the Cayman Islands.
The emotional knee jerk reaction I’ve heard is: “Deport them all! Let
the good Jamaicans take care of the bad ones!” But is that really a
viable or realistic alternative?
Like the low income Latinos in Los Angeles I’ve found the majority of
Jamaicans I’ve met here to be great people. They have great senses of
humor and morality without the arrogance found in the more privileged
levels of society. I’d rather hang out with Jamaicans and Latinos than
a group of Yale or Harvard grads any day. Of course there is no way
I’ll deny that there are some nasty customers to be avoided in any
culture especially Latin America and Jamaica.
So what to do? There’s no simple answer unless one wants a bad one.
Deport all Jamaicans and import a new lower class ethnic group to do
the labor? Is this not punishing an entire nationality for the bad
seeds and societal flaws which created them in the first place? What
guarantee is there that the replacement bottom rung members of society
won’t eventually have their own criminal element?
Maybe this is the way of the future, rigidly controlled borders and
policies in the name of “security.” Will the US complete its fence
along the Mexican border? The Gaza Strip is already an open prison with
1.5 million suffering inmates. The Palestinian West Bank has its
Matrix of Control and its growing
separation barrier. Baghdad is gradually being converted into walled in security zones with
Sadr City being the current containment project.
How far will this police state mentality of ethnic isolation, cleansing
and control go? Will it extend to walling in South Central Los Angeles?
How about Washington DC? Are there populations of people there where
crime is bred and as such, they need to be enclosed and controlled?
Just about every city has their nasty areas. It seems absurd but absurd
has been the norm in Bush’s Brave New World. Do we really want to lock
in the people who live in the sub-prime communities and thus shut out
any opportunity to ever get out… all in the name of “security?” I can’t
think of a better formula for creating hatred, violence and the need
for
more security.
Well, I don’t have a solution. I’m not sure there is one. But I am sure
that State sponsored programs of control, which deny opportunities can
only make things much worse for everybody. Humanity will always have
its ugly side. The Powers That Be are no exception.
Maybe I’m a bit overly upset. After all, it was only six blue iguanas.
Writings 
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