Jamaica has a proud history of struggle against discrimination and dictatorship and that spirit has defied the tests of time to stand proud till today. Jamaica is a democratic nation with a government elected by the people of Jamaica to represent their interests and act as their representatives in national and international matters.However, the fact that the country is devoid of occupation by foreign powers does not exactly mean that the people of Jamaica are actually free and the political status might just be a mirage of freedom, perceived yet not real.
The struggle for true freedom has been fought on many fronts in Jamaica’s rich history and the fire to truly liberate Jamaica from the ever reaching hand of colonialists still burns within hearts of proud Jamaicans. The problems lies within the need to embrace modernity as a tool of bringing growth and offering opportunities to the mass as the effect of globalization takes hold of the Caribbean state.Jamaica history can be traced to more that the 3000 years the country suffered under colonization. The main reason that saw European powers take over the control of foreign land was to seek lands to exploit resources in order to create wealth for themselves and increase their influence and dominance.
The Spanish were the first to establish dominion over the nation and their sojourn saw the eradication of the local tribe. They in turn brought slaves from Africa to work in their plantations to produce sugar and cocoa though at a low percentage. It was under British rule thereafter that saw a significant increase in population since the British were ambitious and had brought white settlers to cultivate the land.British rule was characterized by several rebellions that led both to the end of slavery but also to independence of the country.
However, independence might simply be seen as a handover of leadership to Jamaican’s while real power continued to be exercised by foreigners who continue to exert influence via large multinationals and international institutions.A lot of things have changed in this society: some for the better while others for the worst. The one point that most Jamaican’s seem to agree on is their resentment for the foreign control of their resources and the negative effects free trade and globalization seems to bring to this nation. There are several Jamaican’s who feel that their country should be left in their hands and their resources should be exploited by Jamaican’s for the sake of all Jamaicans.The great number of multinationals in this country has led to a massive resource drain leading to a significant increase in poverty levels and a disillusionment of the mass as to the necessity of foreign investment into the country (Knkaid, 2000). This condition was brought about by the vigor of former Jamaican leader Bustamante who wanted to industrialize Jamaica by encouraging more foreign investment especially from Britain and America.
Traditionally Jamaica had been an agrarian country whereby huge plantations of sugar cane and cocoa had thrived and provided a comfortable income to the owners. However, the sector has seen great demise in recent years and the great plantations have been converted into luxury villas for foreign tourists due to the high cost of production of agricultural products.However, over 10% of the native people still grows canes for sugar production even though such practices are not profitable and this might be due to lack of any other viable agriculture products. Some major sugar factories still operate due to huge unemployment and the fact that labor is cheap and affordable in Jamaica enabling them to continue functioning.
The major contributor to Jamaica’s economy is the controversial mining of bauxite: an ore used in the extraction of aluminum. This contributes to over 15% of the country’s income making Jamaica one of the world’s leading bauxite producers.Due to the scarcity of the product, the country has seen an influx of multinational companies who have acquired the rights to mine and export the precious commodity. The multinationals have displaced more rural farmers and families than the number of people that they employ.In addition, they have purchased most of the farms used by rural folks for farming displacing them and consequently increasing poverty. These multinationals have not had a significant positive effect on the local economy since they are clearly reluctant to invest in other sectors (Borrelli, 2002).
Another area that has received external interference and indeed taken over is the marijuana growth and trade. Initially the product was grown by farmers to compliment their other small income but presence of multi nationals on this land led to the practice being outlawed.However, foreign drug lords have colluded with authorities to enable them to grow the product and smuggle it to America whereby the drug trade is vast. The marijuana business led to stiff competition in Jamaica leading to gang violence and increased rates of crime.There is no single sector in Jamaica that can merit applaud on the sense that it is a success story save only for the music and the great athletes that have continued to amaze the world.
The education sector is need of reforms and rural regions have experienced shortage of schools and educators. Even in this sector, able students are taken to foreign tertiary education leading to a decreased effort to raise the standards of local universities.The health sector also suffers from shortage of medical requirements and staff questioning the government’s ability to cater for the people of Jamaica. Ordinary Jamaicans have therefore grown to detest foreign presence in their country since their investments seems to bring more problems than good to the country whose unemployment rate has risen to almost 50%.As a result there has been an emergence of the Rastafarian movement which articulates this distaste of neocolonialism and might ultimately lead to drastic changes in Jamaica.ReferenceBorrelli, D.
(2002). Neocolonialism in Jamaica. Retrieved May 13, 2009 from http://debate.uvm.edu/dreadlibrary/borelli02.htm 2002.
Kinkaid, J. (2000). A small place. 1st ed. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
