Franklin JOHNSTON Friday, May 29, 2015
THE geopolitical issue facing Jamaica is the chimera named Caricom/Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME). Our leaders don't speak about it as the masses are not for it, but play the game with 'Mini-mees' down south. Andrew Holness dropped a word on the right side of history, then silence. Speak up, blood! Union with distant, poor, small islands does not work for us. The deception of Caricom is to 'love up' and call the West Indies and its entities "Caribbean", but it's programmed by "Bucky Massa" as they don't know why they don't like our neighbours -- ex-colonies of France and Spain.
CSME brings us no joy. A conjoined economy with far-off states, competing products, size which can't power our economy, and are even approved by us. The key to a single economy is contiguous states. The English had ships but could not rule the Eastern Caribbean and Jamaica as one; each had its own governance. The European Union is the model for CSME and Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). The latter works as the islands are close; CSME does not. Still the men in the south are bullish on CSME as their OECS needs a large captive market -- and we are it. What's in it for us?
Every CSME fan is usually a small islander; check articles even from the UK. Our cricket is West Indies, as is UWI, so the dissimulation to call us "Caribbean" is patent. CSME fears no exit by St Vincent, Grenada, etc; only us. Yet, the right thing would be for them to say "Jamaica, get close to your neighbours, as we have done in OECS" -- No! They own our market.
Caricom is a well-intentioned, anti-imperialist, political construct of high-minded men, traversed by clueless acolytes into this century. No MP under 50 can defend CSME as they lack the emotional link of old fogeys; they have no proof of concept and no independent data; what they know is the proximity criterion is not met. more
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