The Editor, Sir:

I struggle to begin this letter. Fear and grief threaten to stifle my voice and halt this process. But with a heavy heart, I must consider a young boy and girl, a brother and his sister found dead in their grandmother's car trunk; a young girl raped and left dead and naked in one of Westmoreland's fields; three young girls robbed and rushed out of their home to watch it burn with all they own; a young boy chopped into pieces and put in a bag; a young girl abducted and murdered; a nine-month-old baby boy buggered to death ... .

Wouldn't all of this brutal tragedy speak for itself? What more should I have to say? YET, in a society that seems to be plagued by ignorance there is a lot to be said and even more to be done.

Crazy wickedness

The pressing sentiments seem to be that all of this is crazy wickedness and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. I agree, but dare I suggest that we all are the perpetrators of these ghastly crimes? Aren't we the ones who have nurtured a culture in which violence is some sort of resolution, respect is only dispensed to friends, and laws are nothing but simple suggestions?

Look around and listen out. The clues are everywhere - in the media, the popular culture, our own behaviour on the streets, or in traffic. A society in which disrespect, violence and lawlessness thrive is exactly the type of society that not only becomes cold and heartless, but also wreaks havoc on its most valuable and innocent persons.

We would be even more villainous to pretend that that this problem suddenly sprang into being, like it came out of nowhere. The crime rate did not shoot up over night. Jamaican criminologists would advise us that its fatal nature took over in the 1970s - the same time our popular and political culture was seeing some ugly and significant changes as well.

Who will connect the dots? Who will realise that the hearts and minds of people need to be nourished just as much as their stomachs and pockets? Will we continue to pretend that the rude music we accept, the injustice we excuse daily, the negative attitudes we promote, have nothing to do with the quality of life we ALL live?

Troubling indicator for development

Lisa Hanna in Thursday's newspaper commented that this spate of killings is a troubling indicator for the nation's development and I am inclined to agree. Social and cultural maturity is as much an asset to development as finances and infrastructure and unless our nation begins to invest in social capital, we will be of all nations, one of the most pathetic.

Just 15 years ago, I was about eight years old and I never knew this wicked environment that took Ananda's life. Our society is deteriorating rapidly. Where will we be in the next 15 years? Do we have anything to hope for?

I am afraid that until we bring the full force of our hearts and minds to wrestle with the issue, until we realise that problems of these proportions don't just take draconian laws and drastic measures but loving hearts and committed minds, until our leaders connect the dots and turn this nation by example to the God-honouring principles so entrenched in our anthem and pledge, we can't hope for anything - nothing at all.

I am, etc.,

ANNA-LISA WALCOTT

annalisaxi@yahoo.com

Kingston 6

Via Go-Jamaica