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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Gated homes, gated minds</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Heart to heart</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Betty Ann Blaine
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
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<P class=StoryText align=justify>Dear Reader,
I'm told that the most popular trend in the country these days is for a person to purchase a home in one of the many gated communities that are being constructed. Real estate agents confirm that townhouses in gated communities continue to escalate in price way beyond their true value.<P class=StoryText align=justify>A gated two-bedroom townhouse, for example, can easily cost more than a four-bedroom home even within the same geographic location. Why? Because the issue of security is the most important thing on the minds of middle-class Jamaicans these days.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=330 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>There has got to be a way for the society to band together and figure out how we are going to rescue our young people, particularly our boys and men, from the pit of doom and destruction. </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>But are gated communities mere illusions of security, and is it wise to substitute security for social action? Does the middle class understand that the longer we put off dealing with the issues of poverty and dispossession, the closer and closer we move to a state of complete social instability?<P class=StoryText align=justify>I can't imagine that those Jamaicans who live above Half-Way-Tree do not recognise that it is in their interest especially, as people with large investments and other types of 'asset ties' to the country, to seek ways in which to address the deepening problem of poverty and community development. Instead of spending the millions of dollars we do every year on security systems of every form, shape and size, wouldn't it be better to invest in our human capital, and begin to move Jamaica onto a track toward growth and development?<P class=StoryText align=justify>Already, we are way behind the rest of the world, developmentally. We are most definitely behind other countries our size in the region. If we are to catch up at all, we are going to have to fix the problem right now.<P class=StoryText align=justify>What is sad is that the inner cities of our country are crying out for help, and our citizens in these communities genuinely want to have their lives transformed. The excuse some of our gated friends use that "poor people don't want to work", is not true at all. More than anything else, our people want work, and they beg you to help them to find it. I get calls every day from young people desperate for jobs.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Only last week one young man approached me asking for help. He explained that he wanted to stay out of trouble, and that he was being forced to choose which side of the gully gang war he wanted to be on. "I don't want to get involved in any gangs", he said quietly. "All I want is a job. Can you help me to get a job in a car wash?" he asked. "Why a car wash?" I questioned. "Because I have a overall already," he replied, "and all I want to do is to work."<P class=StoryText align=justify>It breaks my heart to see the young men in the communities waste away the most valuable period of their lives doing absolutely nothing that is productive.<P class=StoryText align=justify>There has got to be a way for the society to band together and figure out how we are going to rescue our young people, particularly our boys and men, from the pit of doom and destruction.What is amazing is how the tiniest intervention can turn around the lives of these young men.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The moment they realise that you are honest
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Heart to heart</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Betty Ann Blaine
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>Dear Reader,
I'm told that the most popular trend in the country these days is for a person to purchase a home in one of the many gated communities that are being constructed. Real estate agents confirm that townhouses in gated communities continue to escalate in price way beyond their true value.<P class=StoryText align=justify>A gated two-bedroom townhouse, for example, can easily cost more than a four-bedroom home even within the same geographic location. Why? Because the issue of security is the most important thing on the minds of middle-class Jamaicans these days.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=330 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>There has got to be a way for the society to band together and figure out how we are going to rescue our young people, particularly our boys and men, from the pit of doom and destruction. </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>But are gated communities mere illusions of security, and is it wise to substitute security for social action? Does the middle class understand that the longer we put off dealing with the issues of poverty and dispossession, the closer and closer we move to a state of complete social instability?<P class=StoryText align=justify>I can't imagine that those Jamaicans who live above Half-Way-Tree do not recognise that it is in their interest especially, as people with large investments and other types of 'asset ties' to the country, to seek ways in which to address the deepening problem of poverty and community development. Instead of spending the millions of dollars we do every year on security systems of every form, shape and size, wouldn't it be better to invest in our human capital, and begin to move Jamaica onto a track toward growth and development?<P class=StoryText align=justify>Already, we are way behind the rest of the world, developmentally. We are most definitely behind other countries our size in the region. If we are to catch up at all, we are going to have to fix the problem right now.<P class=StoryText align=justify>What is sad is that the inner cities of our country are crying out for help, and our citizens in these communities genuinely want to have their lives transformed. The excuse some of our gated friends use that "poor people don't want to work", is not true at all. More than anything else, our people want work, and they beg you to help them to find it. I get calls every day from young people desperate for jobs.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Only last week one young man approached me asking for help. He explained that he wanted to stay out of trouble, and that he was being forced to choose which side of the gully gang war he wanted to be on. "I don't want to get involved in any gangs", he said quietly. "All I want is a job. Can you help me to get a job in a car wash?" he asked. "Why a car wash?" I questioned. "Because I have a overall already," he replied, "and all I want to do is to work."<P class=StoryText align=justify>It breaks my heart to see the young men in the communities waste away the most valuable period of their lives doing absolutely nothing that is productive.<P class=StoryText align=justify>There has got to be a way for the society to band together and figure out how we are going to rescue our young people, particularly our boys and men, from the pit of doom and destruction.What is amazing is how the tiniest intervention can turn around the lives of these young men.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The moment they realise that you are honest
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