Cuba tops the class in UN development report

If the true mark of a government's success is the development and happiness of the people, then the Cuban government is without a doubt outperforming most so called "developed countries". In a report published on October 5 by The United Nations Development Program's Human Development Cuba has out-performed almost every "developed country" in areas such as literacy, education levels, gender equality, and life expectancy.

" The report provides a summary indicator of people’s well-being using the Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI combines measures of life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita for 182 countries and territories."

Cuba's overall score was let down by the country's low GDP per capita, but that is to be expected the economic isolation, caused by the US trade embargo, that the country has had to maneuver.

The article goes on to highlight the many other areas that Cuba has performed well in. While I am not a supporter of communism, though I don't think it is inherently wrong, credit must be given where it is due. There are many negative things that have been said about Cuba and the policy of the Cuban government over the years, but these numbers speak for themselves. Read the article for additional details about other areas that Cuba performs well in.

See - http://www.greenleft.org.au/2009/816/41981

CIA Operations In Jamaica during the 1970s

The following video talks about the CIA operations that occurred during the 1970s aimed at destabalizing Michal Manley's government. The adage goes "if what you say or write doesn't piss someone off, then you aren't doing enough." If that is the case, then Manley's democratic socialist vision for Jamaica must have been VERY progressive. According to this agent, between 1976 and 1980 the CIA an operation in Jamaica larger than any African country.

Watch the video and decide for yourself.

"Children learn your history or you won't get no supper" -K'naan

JMMB acquires savings and loans - Expands presence in Dom Rep

Finally some good news from Jamaican companies! While I certainly believe in the the important of further integration between Caribbean countries, I'm tired of always hearing other countries taking over our own companies. It is for that reason that I welcome the news that JMMB is expanding its market share in the Dominican Republic.

"Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) has acquired a 80 per cent stake share in Corporacion de Credito America S.A. (CCA) a Dominican Republic-based savings and loans institution..."

Read more here

7 Most Fascinating Ruins

The website Oddee.com is is a " blog with over 3 million visits a month, it features the odd, strange and bizarre things of our world." It has published a list of the "7 Most Fascinating UnderWater Ruins" in the world with Port Royal ranked Number 2.

The most interesting thing about Port Royal's entry onto the list is the title given--The "World's Wickedest City". This is in reference the city's notorious history for having a high concentration of "pirates, prostitutes, and rum." While the article does go on to talk about the many wonders of Port Royal, and the ongoing research and preservation efforts taking place, I've noted that the Jamaican city is the only one of the 7 articles to receive such a negative name. It certainly would not have harmed the Port Royal's entry, or the interest in the article, to make reference to more positive characteristics about the city. The negative connotations associated with my small island is definitely not something that needs to be encouraged.

Otherwise, the article is an interesting read, and I am happy that Jamaica made it onto the list, especially at such a high ranking...now only if the various promises for Port Royal development projects to begin so that the area can properly excavated, marketed and preserved.

See the full article here - http://www.oddee.com/item_96695.aspx

Gil Noble interview Michael Manley

The following is the recording of former PM Michael Manley being interviewed by Gil Noble in 1977. Not only did I find these interviews inspirational, but it shows that Manley was a man who understood how the global political system worked. He tried to move JA in the right direction, and maybe was ahead of his time. I thought part 4 was particularly impressive.

The Urgency of Now...

Below is a letter to the editor that I plan to submit to the Gleaner and Observer:

Dear Editor,
Jamaica is facing serious times. I would write this, Something has to change. Unfortunately, the current leadership’s actions show that they don’t understand this urgent need.

Take a moment to imagine what will happen if Jamaica doesn’t receive the IMF loan. In such a case, Jamaica WILL default on its debt. We don't have any money and the economy has not grown in more than a decade. The ramifications of the negative global publicity alone, would probably be more than our fragile economy could handle.

This whole situation with the Director of the Bank of Jamaica is complete slackness—His salary was greater than the Chair of the US Federal Reserve! To put it in perspective, the US chair earns JA$17,217,000 annually, versus the JA$38,000,000 our Director is reported to receive. Not only is this another example of the serious problems with how the government—past and present—operates, but more importantly, it has shown that neither the government, nor the opposition, is willing to take responsibility for our numerous problems. Instead, they have wasted the country's time bickering and placing place blame in attempts to gain political points. They need to understand that the Jamaican people don't care whose fault it is! We just want the situation fixed—so fix it!

The crime situation only seems to be getting worse. Two police commissioners and two Ministers of Security in two years is NOT good enough. The problem of crime in Jamaica is bigger than the government, and will need the efforts of all of us—but the government must be held accountable.

I don't want to be all “gloom and doom”. There are enough other people doing that. Therefore, I am making the following suggesting based on PM Golding's many invites for greater participation and the need to “tighten our belts”: I suggest that the Prime Minister take invitations one step further by releasing to the public non-personal data related to government spending and contracts. This act would increase transparency and allow research institutes, academia, etc to participate in the governmental process. This community based participatory design, aka “crowdsource”, has been heavily adopted by the Obama government. It is certainly worth a look(see http://www.data.gov/).

Much has been said about future generations and the hope placed in their potential to fix the country's many problems. As a member of the “future generation,” I have aspirations to one day act as a leader in contributing to the development of our nation. But today I am very worried. I am worried because I feel like Jamaica is slipping away. I am worried because time is not on our side and my beautiful country could be “all out,” before my generation even gets a chance to bat.

IS Philosophy Proposal

The Lost Peoples and The Fourth World: An Examination of Third World Solidarity

South-South cooperation can be understood as an alliance of a group of states drawn from the African Diaspora, South America and South Asia. It is an idea that has been articulated by developing world intellects, poets, politicians and academia since the early days of resistance. At its core, cooperation has been a survival method by smaller tribes, peoples, liberation movements and nation states against the forces they deemed a threat.

It has been championed by figures such as Che Guevera, Michael Manley, Marcus Garvey and Franz Fanon. African nations and the African diaspora in particular have been very active as well as vocal in their support of each other. For example, it was common for liberation movements in different countries to assist each other with training and funding. Indeed, even Cuba under Fidel Castro and Jamaica under Manley, sent troops and funding to aid the liberation struggle in Angola. Persons throughout history have interpreted this tendency of the people of the global South towards cooperation as evidence of solidarity or an essential characteristic that these groups share.

Since the independence movements of the '60s and '70s, South-South cooperation has been theorized as a means of furthering development and the creation of a new world order. The Caribbean has been particularly influential towards this ends in various regions around the world. Two such examples are Manley's involvement in the Non-Alignment Movement and the Democratic Socialist Movement and Fanon's influence on the Algerian independence struggle. Due to its unique population of primarily displaced peoples and also its geographic proximity to Latin America, influential figures from the region have been able to easily transfer their experiences to affect changes elsewhere.

The Chicano thinker and performer artist Guillermo Gomez--Pena theorizes in his book ``The New World Border'' about a region he describes as the Fourth World. In this place he elaborates that ``there is very little place for static identities, fixed nationalities, `pure' languages, or sacred cultural traditions. The members of the World live between and across various cultures, communities and countries. And our identities are constantly being reshaped by this kaleidoscopic experience.\cite{guillermo}'' Maldonado--Torres applies this theory to the experience of the Caribbean people. This he explains is a result of the regions history and location.

Despite the many advocates of third world cooperation, history is littered with failed attempts at integration, as well as exploitation of one third world country by another. These include the failed Federation attempt in the Caribbean, xenophobia riots in South Africa, and terrorist funding in Latin America. Many third world countries are guilty of acting out of self-interest at the expense of their brothers in the developing world. This historical reality implies the relationship between third world countries is more complex than is often romanticized by the rhetoric.

The ambivalent history of south-south relations invites a re-examination of the principles of cooperation. In this paper I will consider the rhetoric and articulated views of some of history's prominent cooperation advocates, focusing primarily on the pan--african and pan--caribbean context. Therefore, the central philosophical question I will address in this paper is: what is third world solidarity? To address this question I will examine the following concerns:

What is cooperation?
How has it manifested itself historically?
What it ought to be?
Is cooperation a consequence of expedience?
How do you measure success?
What is pan--africanism?
What role does the common colonial experience play in uniting the third world?


To answer these concerns, I will analyze the work of influential Caribbean figures such as Michael Manley, Che Guevera and Franz Fanon. Furthermore, I will include the perspective of prominent pan--african figures sure as Julius Nyerere and Kwame Nkrumah. After I have examined their various views on and motivations for third world cooperation, I will extend Gomez-Pena's theory of the Fourth World based on the insights extrapolated. Finally, I will construct what I believe to be a more accurate depiction of what south-south cooperation is. Lastly I will build on Mandonado--Torres' interpretation of the Caribbean as a unique facilitator of dialogue\cite{torresFourth} to showcase why the region is a particularly strong facilitator of third world cooperation.


References
[Alcoff(2003)] Linda Martin Alcoff. Caliban as philosopher. Nepantla: Views from South, 4 (1):147–163, 2003.
[Gomez-Pena(1996)] Guillermo Gomez-Pena. The New World Border. City Lights, 1996.
[Guevera(2002)] Che Guevera. Global Justice: Liberation and Socialism. Ocean Press, 2002.
[Maldonado-Torres(2003)] Nelson Maldonado-Torres. Walking to the fourth world of the caribbean. Nepantla: Views from South, 4(3):561–565, 2003.
[Manley(1996)] Michael Manley. Caribbean cooperation–the imperative for survival. In
Norman Manley Memorial Lecture Series 1984–1995, pages 56–66. Habsib Publishing, 1996.
[Manley(1990)] Michael Manley. Politics of Change. Howard University Press, 1990.
[Mccarthy(2007)] Lloyd Mccarthy. “In-Dependence” From Bondage. Africa World PressInc., 2007.
[Nkrumah(1970)] Kwame Nkrumah. Consciencism. Monthly Review Press, 1970.
[Nyerere(1979)] Julius Nyerere. Ujamaa: Essays on Socialism. Oxford University Press,1979.
[Ramphal(1996)] Sir Shridath S Ramphal. No island is an island. In Norman Manley Memorial Lecture Series 1984–1995, pages 43–55. Habsib Publishing, 1996.
[Rodney(1981)] Walter Rodney. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Howard University Press, 1981.
[Rodney(1984)] Walter Rodney. Groundings with my brothers. Howard University Press, 1984.