I spent a lot of my graduate career studying the United States and the concept of the American dream and exceptionalism. So it struck me when I moved here to Jamaica that security and survival superseded everything. Even amongst the upper echelons. This leaves no room to dream, no room to plan, if you are trying to get by day-to-day. To put food on the table and fill bellies.

This premise is confirmed in a survey released yesterday and written about in the Jamaica Gleaner. It is sad and eye-opening. I hold true to my theory- that crime and violence here impact EVERYTHING, and the country cannot move forward until individual citizens feel a sense of basic security. This in turn will knit together more of a sense of community, which is lacking in a lot of ways.