I am currently reading Francis Fukayama’s The Origins of Political Order, From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution. It is a vast, sweeping look at human societies and how they come to be organized politically. Fukayama begins with prehistoric societies and ends with modernity. He is a political scientist and historian most well known for declaring the end of human history in The End of History and the Last Man. Oops. To a certain extent, Fukayama was discredited and shamed for this declaration, but he still seems to be producing lots of content. (In essence, Fukayama stated that human history would reach its ultimate social evolutionary culmination with the worldwide spread of liberal democracy and free market capitalism. He made this prediction near the end of the Cold War, when communism was battling the rest of the world for ideological supremacy.)

Fukayama looks kind of silly now, but of course there is always merit in making bold predictions, even if one is wrong. Especially if one is wrong, there is value in using those erroneous ideas to challenge oneself and one’s own belief system. For example, I will watch Fox News, not because I value its content or ideological bent, but because most of what I hear is aggravating and does not sit well with me. So I use this as platform from which to launch a challenge to my own biases and beliefs. I ask myself, why do I think that is wrong? Why do I not subscribe to that ideology? I find it strengthens my own beliefs and opinions and allows me to think in new ways.

But back to Fukayama. There is a quote that has stuck out to me as I am reading the book. He is now discussing the inherent racism of the evolutionary biology theory, and he touches on the “development” industry. Here’s the quote:

“Our continuing use of terms like “developing” or “development” (as in “developing countries” or the “US Agency for International Development”) is testimony to the widespread view that existing rich countries are the product of a prior evolution of socioeconomic forms, and that poor countries would participate in the process of they could.”

Fukayama is addressing the challenges of doing development work and the automatic unlevel playing field it creates for the “developers” and the beneficiaries. I’ve discussed this topic before and how my point of view has changed, going from someone who learned about development first from seeing my father’s example as CIDA employee, then from textbooks and academic articles in school, to now being on the ground. My opinions continue to shift as I experience “real world” development and I suspect this will continue. As will my struggle with the inherent inequalities in the world. But for now, this quote, and Fukayama’s book, are giving me more food for thought.

Almost three years later, Jamaica’s Public Defender Earl Witter has released an interim report on the horrific incident in which 81 people were killed after a confrontation between security forces and convicted drug dealer and don Dudus Christopher Coke.

People have been calling for this report for months now and finally have a change to digest it. I have yet to read it, but intend to. At the very minimum, this interim report will begin to provide  answers, but probably more questions. In addition to providing information, Witter also recommended compensation of up to $100 million (JA) for more than 680 claims of mistreatment.

This is an important milestone in Jamaica’s history in terms of human rights and justice. Hopefully, it will lead to change.

Butch Stewart, owner and publisher of the Jamaica Observer (as well as the Sandals resorts and a couple of major businesses in Jamaica), is currently the subject of a court case. It is alleged that Mr. Stewart improperly received payments from a surplus of pension funds. Officials from his company are currently being cross-examined. Both the Jamaica Gleaner and Observer are covering the case, which is unremarkable.

What is remarkable is that the Observer yesterday took out a full page spread to attack the Gleaner’s coverage. Here is the full Gleaner story. I have never seen anything like this. Sometimes newspapers will write editorials vaguely referring to other media’s coverage, but it is rare when they take so much space to attack the competition. Is this an anomaly or symptomatic of Jamaica’s media landscape? I don’t know. I do know that as a keen student of both journalism and politics, I am dumbfounded by this.

Today we went horseback riding at Rhodes Hall Plantation. It is located just out of Negril and caters to the tourist crowd with horseback riding, scuba diving and nature hikes. We learned about local vegetation and saw a couple of baby crocodiles. Evans, our guide, filled us in on everything and led us on a 90 minute trek.

My horse was named Mandela (as in Nelson), my sister’s was Flash and my mother’s was Boxer. They were bay quarterhorses and luckily, very docile, as we had to cross the busy roads.

It is remarkable just how much this resort town caters to tourists. Everything revolves around this industry here. Every five minutes, someone is offering us a taxi ride, fruit, ganja, aloe vera, crafts or a good time. They even have adult crossing guards for people crossing from resorts to the beach side.

Excellent post on Jamaica’s future, politicians and their relationship to the church.

Way too much excitement. Sister and mother are here for a week!

Today we headed up to the Blue Mountains for a 10k hike from Gordon Town to Holywell Trail. This is an annual event hosted by the Forestry Department and is intended to raise awareness about protecting the environment. According to the description, we walked along the Hope River and saw fruit trees (yes) and birds (no). It is a gorgeous hike that leads you up to the top of a mountain, from which you can see the entire city before you, from Mona in the east to Portmore in the west.

Along the way, there were rest stops with fresh fruit and water, and a “pop-dung” bus to transport people back to safety if they felt they couldn’t go on. None of us, fortunately, got to this point. We made it to the top, which it at 4,500 feet above sea level. It was definitely cooler up there and we enjoyed a traditional box lunch of fish or chicken and performances from local reggae artists.

Then, the ride home. We ended up on a party bus that had to stop to stock up on rum. Everyone enjoyed some Appleton rum on the way home, congratulating themselves on such an achievement. I must add, I did not fall once, which is a major achievement for me.

From the web site, here’s a bit about where we were:

The Holywell Recreational Park is located in the Blue Mountain Forest Reserve, which is the country’s largest watershed. The eastern face of the Mountains receives more than 300 inches of rain each year, providing water for almost one half of Jamaica’s population. Stretching across 28 miles, the Blue Mountains has more than 800 species of endemic plants, the world’s second largest butterfly, Papilo homerus, 200 species of resident and migrant birds and is one of the largest migratory bird habitats in the Caribbean. There are also more than 500 species of flowering plants of which almost one half are native to Jamaica.

The Blue Mountain Forest Reserve is co-managed by the Forestry Department and the Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust (JCDT). The Holywell Recreational Park is managed by the JCDT. Holywell boast various recreational offerings. There is a Visitor Centre, which provides exhibits and information for guests about Holywell and the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park/ Forest Reserve.

This morning, I collected a purse I had previously purchased from the Possibility program.

I have written about this wonderful program before, but basically it involves taking youth who have a connection to the streets and educating them in several disciplines. These include math and language skills, life skills and testing. They are given a meal, a $250.00 stipend, and hopefully they glean the capacity to operate as a functional member of society.

As part of their training, the boys also do leather work. I saw this purse a couple of weeks ago and loved it instantly. It is gorgeous and cost about $40.00. Have a good Friday!