The moral decay of our society
(The Telegraph): David Cameron, Ed Miliband and the entire British political class came together yesterday to denounce the rioters. They were of course right to say that the actions of these looters, arsonists and muggers were abhorrent and criminal, and that the police should be given more support. But there was also something very phony and hypocritical about all the shock and outrage expressed in parliament. MPs spoke about the week’s dreadful events as if they were nothing to do with them.
I cannot accept that this is the case. Indeed, I believe that the criminality in our streets cannot be dissociated from the moral disintegration in the highest ranks of modern British society. The last two decades have seen a terrifying decline in standards among the British governing elite. It has become acceptable for our politicians to lie and to cheat. An almost universal culture of selfishness and greed has grown up.
Category: World View
lol… interesting insinuating comments being made about me. All to say, there is indeed a moral decay of our society and the world, and it starts with us. There needs to be an environment of freedom, bill of rights, leassez-fare capitalism, and a democratic government that looks out for its people. People can't morally progress if they are held down by taxes, laws that thwart innovation and economic growth. There needs to be food on people's tables, and fathers and mothers shouldn't be fighting to make ends meet to pay bill or send their children to the doctor. So in terms of morality, there needs to be responsible governments as well as we being responsible.
Unlike Whodatis and Libertarian, I know Tottenham very well. I have worked there for the eleven years since I left Cayman. I teach in a compehensive school of 1350, 11-18 students in Tottenham. 45% of our students are categorised as Afro Caribbean and of them approximately 80% are of Jamaican roots. Six years ago we had a boy from Cayman. Only 10% of our kids are what thirty years ago you would have called English.
Parents' evenings are interesting, All the Asian and Chinese parents turn up. A few of the Greek, Turkish and English parents are there but hardly any black parents. Occasionally I see a mother. I have NEVER, in eleven years, seen a Jamaican kid's father. I don't know but I suspect that they are not at home.
More than half of our kids will leave us at 16 and will not study A levels. Most of them will be unemployed that year and for the foreseeable future. They know at a very early age that they have no future. That number will include practically all the Jamaican boys. They have no future and they know it. Even at the age of 12 there is a sense of failure and aggressive bravado about them as they attempt to compensate and bring some value to their lives.
Most of them – not just the black kids and in that sense Starkey the historian was right, are unable to communicate with anyone outside their own circle. Sit them down is a formal situation like a mock interview and ask a question, The response (in Jamaica,/gangster patois) would be gobbledegook to a white, middle class, forty year old employer.
My answer would be to completely overhaul the curriculum. Not all kids are academic. At the age of thirteen give them a choice: history, geography, science and sociology or: plumbing, plastering, electrical work, tourism or bricklaying. Maths and English should continue for all. Get the local firms involved. The students would see the point in learning and there would be a real prospect of work at the end of it for at least some of them. The same thing is so obviously true for Cayman.
But no one will listen to me. I'm just a teacher.
By the way the Caymanian boy is doing well in the second year of the sixth form at another school in the west of the borough doing three A levels.
Until the mid sixties (when a Labour Government was elected) state schools were divided into grammar schools and secondary moderns. The dreaded 11 plus exams (taken at the age of 11 usually) decided whether you went to the academic Latin learning (grammar) or to the technical/trade (secondary modern) schools. Thereafter, switching was possible but difficult and infrequent.
The Labour Government of the day decided that it was politically incorrect to have such segregation. The (in) famous comprehensive school came about. The elitist and highly successful grammar schools were abolished (other than a few that had their own resources and opted out) and everyone attended the same (huge) school.
The result has been a disaster; students were levelled down not up. And parents, who could, voted with their feet and pocket books. Private education started its boom years that continue today. And as a percentage, fewer students from state schools now attend leading universities.
The evil that men do indeed……..
Tim Ridley
Correct, Tim. What is so terribly offensive is that going all the way back to those dark days of introducing the comprehensive schools up to the present, Labour Party leaders and shadow cabinet members have sent their own kids to private schools or the few remaining grammar schools. They denied, with this levelling down comprehensive (social engineering) system, working class kids the opportunity they got themselves to succeed by merit but they make sure their own kids get preferential treatment. When they are asked about it, they say that educating one's child is a parent's right blah blah.
And yet the "intellectuals' in Britain still go on about about "Toryism' is so vile and exclusive and devisive, as they make sure their own families are secure from the very real problems of the working class they pretend to represent.
I agree absolutely. And these political hypocrites generally make sure they have private health care also; not for them the long wait times of the NHS.
If the Caymanian boy decides to return to Cayman to work he may not find a job despite his education level. Eastern Germany had a system that tested the aptitude of children at the age of 12 to decide what they were best suited to study. If a girl was found to excel at flower arranging then she was trained to be the best possible florist she could be. She could not locate Germany on a map or do long division but she could arrange flowers better than anyone. All schools fail miserably when it comes to teaching young adults the basic and essential life skills necessary to run a household, balance a family budget or manage personal finances. No doubt they have little use in their daily lives for geography, history and social science. Basic survival skills need to be addressed as part of a well-rounded curriculum. Grading students on a Bell Curve ensures that some are doomed to fail. School, as in life is of a competitive nature of plotting students against each other by virtue of the Bell Curve to see who is the best, who is average and who is the worst. Imagine an education system where no one is left behind and extra effort is given to bring up the rear and find ways to use the talents of the brilliant students to mentor and tutor those being left behind to help raise them up. Imagine students being shown how to help each other succeed instead of how to get ahead at the expense of others. Yes, life is all about winning and being the best and making the most money and having the most friends etcetera but school is where we should be teaching compassion and concern for our fellow man. The result of decades of competition in the classroom has led us to the selfish attitude we have in all aspects of our lives. When school is finished the fittest will survive and ironically, the top students who become the top money earners in the end will no doubt indirectly end up paying for those who were left behind through charitable donations and higher taxes to care for the poor, the hungry and incarcerated. What goes around comes around. In the end, nature levels the playing field.
I hope that Libertarian and Whodatis are gainfully employed because despite the fact they often – very – often spout horse manure, they are engaged and passionate and pretty damn articulate. I work in a company where we have several Caymanians who are there only because they are Caymanians; work ethic and customer relations deplorable but chatting on cell phones and texting to friends – awesome (every single one without exception has a Blackberry). If they were Jamaicans, Indians, Filipinos, they would be gone at the end of the work permit. But they're not, so we keep them on and accept them as a productivity drag on the company. Something we just factor in for doing business in Cayman.
Anon 2052 at times I share your veiws on Libertarian and Whodatis.
That being said I hope you are not painting all caymanians based on the several caymanians working with you. You seem to be focused strickly on Caymanians and ignore every thing else that is going on in thei country. I am a caymanian and I would be one of the first to say that we have caymanians that embarrass other caymanians in how they work and their qualifications. These individuals make it harder for other caymanians. So what is new, this happens with other nationalities as well.
Like every country in the world we have good and bad. In every country of the world the residents of that country recieve a degree of favourable treatment. What you do not put in your article is that their are expats also getting jobs with poor qualifications and placed in positions where they act lost. A good accountant does not make a good manager.
Moreover the modern trend seems to be that an expat will get into a high position and hire their own people regardless of qualifications. And yes that does include Caymanians, Americans, British and especially Filipinos.
Anon 07:00: I am Anon 20:52. I accept your criticism of my post. I should have said that there are also Caymanians in the company I work for who are very good workers. I was making a different point (about the grudging acceptance of poor Caymanian workers on the payroll) and was guilty of implying all Caymanians make poor employees – something that is not the case at all.
Anon 1034 it takes a big man to admit this. Unfortunately we have too many people sitting on either sideof the fence. They either say all Caymanians are poor lazy workers or they give the opinion that we are all hard working. My philosophy is that whatever we do in life represents our people. So when we are caymanians and wanting tio sit flat on our behinds we should realize that we are betraying our own people and making it more difficult for us.
20:52 (that is, 8:52 a.m.) is when you made this comment. So that means that you were suppose to be working at 8:30, but decided to play the hypocrit and attack Libertarian and Whodatis, who you know nothing about. lol. You really have something against them, do you?
CNS: You're confused. 20:52 is 8:52 pm – just before 9 in the evening.
Not knowing 8:52 am from 8:52 pm must make it hard to hold down a job, no?
And here you are posting on CNS mid-morning on a Tuesday… at home sick today are you? Day off of work?
Anon (Retired)
Businesses don't like hire Caymanians that can work their way up the ladder.
A sense of history is an essential part of a good journalist's toolkit. I wonder where Mr Osborne's is. He clearly has forgotten (perhaps he is too young) the following riots (for example):
1. Bristol 1980;
2. Brixton 1981,1985 and 1995;
3. Toxteth 1981;
4. Tottenham 1985.
The social and other problems that cause such riots (and look also at the USA….Watts 1965 et seq) are deep rooted and steeped in history. But those problems did not arise in the last two decades, they started well before that.
Mr Osborne should read some history.
Tim Ridley
Today Ed Milliband criticised this policy per day approach by the British Prime Minister Cameron as solutions to their crisis reminds me of our Premier's solution to Cayman's economic woes.
I say where is the plan for the Cayman Islands?
"It's good to be the king."
— Mel Brooks
Not to make apologies for the looters, but where were all these politicians when the U.K., as part of The Coalition of the Stupid… when the U.S. was bombing the living bejeesus out of innocent people in Baghdad? Or even to bring it up once more, when the Chagos Islanders were being dislocated in the midst of deceit and corruption? By their own government? Where was their moral outrage?? It's too bad this group of gutless wonders are now shocked by their own citizens but you reap what you sow.
Spot on Libertarian.
The reasons behind the UK's "Summer Storm" are very multi-faceted. However, the media and the politicians are doing a great job of once again feeding the "sheeple" exactly what they want them to eat.
Gangs (PM hiring of USA "supercop"). Multiculturalism. Blacks. Muslims.
According to one respected, esteemed and "highly educated" British historian one of the biggest factors of the recent chaos is because – "the Whites have become Blacks".
Lol! I can only shake my head in amazement at the levels of arrogance and cultural ignorance that spew out of some individuals at times. (Regardless of one's level of education and expertise – until one removes one's head from one's a$$, one is and shall continue to be – an A$$!)
I trust that what transpired over the last week all over the UK helps readers to understand what individuals such as myself have been saying from the time this forum was created.
Some mocked me, called me "anti-British", even a racist at times … but look at the streets (and state) of the UK today. From the most diverse areas such as Tottenham, London to the most quintessentially British such as Toxteth, Liverpool – we saw men, women, teens and children of ALL ethnic backgrounds running amock causing havoc in their own communities.
Burning, looting, smashing, grabbing, attacking police and one another – not to mention commiting murders! At the end of it all approximately 250 police officers were hospitalised – many with serious injuries.
What many older folks fail to understand is that unlike them, the youngergeneration have a clear understanding of how this world really works. They were not subject to decades of mainstream western media propoganda. They see the world for what it is. They have witnessed with a fresh eye the hypocrisy of the words and actions of their "leaders". They see that "authority" is not to be respected as it is now unworthy of respect.
** It is my opinion that with the exclusion of Tottenham, London – what took place over the UK had very little to do with the shooting of Mark Duggan. (By the way, that particular pocket of violence was sparked by the overhanded aggression of a police officer when he used his baton on a 17 year old (Black) girl – during the proceedings of a silent and peaceful protest of that shooting.
Conclusion. The UK has failed its people.
Government. Economy. Education. Hope. Morals. Ethics. Community spirit. Future. Integration. Family structure.
An "F" Grade on all of the above.
That is our supposed "mother country". Thank you, but no thank you.
(Never in my life have I witnessed such a disconnect between "government" and its people.)
See links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmW2BFfQXh0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsS8kTQkjfE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2g4M5el0_A&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7zGANyucS0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnK09TVvfxQ&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14458424
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14470533
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14456065
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxgxYMf2hb0&feature=feedu
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14513517
* I hope people are finally beginning to wake up and refrain from attacking the messenger(s).
"They have witnessed with a fresh eye the hypocrisy of the words and actions of their 'leaders'. They see that 'authority' is not to be respected as it is now unworthy of respect."
People do not go around looting stores solely because they have respect for authority.
Chagos
An interesting and well constructed post, although a topical theme is yet again used divisively, as a vehicle for anti British sentiment.
In my humble opinion, your concerns should be placed where your priorities lay. If they are with these Islands, and you are a true son of the soil, then your focus should be on them. The changes in determination, ownership and social / economic are on the horizon and can be here in a heartbeat, just as we have seen elsewhere in the world.
I see you have already sensed this by your overall tone and dismay with the 'Mother Country', you know what time it is and you want to put some distance and seperation out there. If you don't, you wont get included in the 'big cake carve up party' that follows and that is important as there won't be much left if you are towards the back. To do this, you have to lead but there ain't any room right now at the front as everyone else is getting what they need and quickly too.
I would be putting more thought into this and making this a priority rather than what is happening in a country that you do not live in, you do not care for and by your own analysis, will not care for you and fail you. This is the country that may have more important thingson the agenda than to bridge fading ties with Overseas territories. This should be your priority along with stabilising any assets or realising property into other markets.
This also includes your interest in the Chagos, which, sadly, is resurrected and wheeled out as and when axes need grinding once more.
It is a sad and heartbraking situation especially when the start of the whole process is examined. In 1965, the area, including Mauritius were already making noises about Independence and self determination. The choice was given by the then Colonial secretary, Anthony Greenwood. Independance could be given in exchange for the territorial claim to Chagos to be renounced.
After a brief stand off AND 3 Million dollars paid to local politicians, the territorial claim was renounced! The ball started rolling when the local power mongers started taking 'what was due to them', took the money and ran. Regardless of the facts getting in the way, it was in 1965, a different Political arena and still thousands of miles away from where your priorities should be.
This is the first time I have replied to any of your posts, in fact, it is one of the few times that I have not skipped your posts to quickly reach the humourous replies attached.
I do not expect a reply, a witty retort or a plethera of You Tube videos of how the UK should be flogged with a bull's penis, Tamarind switch or similar on the world stage. Nor would I be interested in any.
What would interest me is if the same motivation, time and effort was put into solving the problems where we live, rather than countries where we don't.
Are you as eloquent in your description of what ails the Caymanian society?
There are some serious problems within the Caymanian society that sincerely concern me and I would appreciate you turning that insight toward the Caymanian society of secrecy.
When a person who calls themselves a friend and good person chooses to keep secrets that might aid the police in recovering the missing woman.
A society that claim to be Christian will have boat people from Cuba arrive upon their shores in a deplorable condition and offer no food or water to those people. A country that claims a great seafaring heritage breaks the most fundamental law of aiding those in need upon the sea.
There are some serious problems of denial within the society here. In England after the recent riots friends and family were turning in the rioters to the law. Would that happen in Cayman?
We can sit here and point our fingers all day. But responsible change must begin with us whether you are from the UK or from the Cayman Islands.
Moral disintegration is directly tied to economic disintegration and imbalance. Money does not vanish, it shifts around. Sometimes the shifting gets out of whack where the wealthy get wealthier, the poor get poorer and the middle class struggles to stay afloat. Moral decay at the top comes from wealth trickling up. Examples would be Tiger Woods and various CEOs of major corporations and Senators and Congressment who get caught up in immoral behavior. Just as power leads to corruption, wealth can lead to immorality. At the lowe ranks of society, lack of money leads to crime and immorality too. Examples are London, Egypt, Libya to name more recent instances. Bad economic and tax policies are the culprit. All the Preachers and good men are powerless to make a dent in fixing the problem. The only solution is to remove the people from office who are unable or unwilling to see the forest for the trees and replace them with people of opposite views in hopes of reversing these wrong policies. This will allow the normal measures of remedy to be more effective.
The current state of affairs is the result of years of mislead socialism leadership and bleeding heart liberialism, human rights and civil liberty are relinquished the moment a law is broken.
The thugs that have been perpetrating these crimes against communities should have NO rights, they all know / knew it is / was wrong to be doing what they are / were doing. NO one should have ANY sympathy for them.
Many of them live in housing that is provided by tax payers many of them are eating well from other social handout programs, but that is just not enough for many of them, they want what hard working people have, so they terrorize and steal it.
They deserve No social liberties.
Alot of people are not under the same circumstances. Some people can't do any business because of these same social programs and handouts that continues to highly tax the people who are responsible and hardworking. Some of those in the riot, were just merely protestors against a government that is against the market, causing people to lose their jobs. Many were upset at how the Police were being used to stop them from protesting which is their democratic right. The media gets these few reports of looting and rioting, and makes everybody look like they are in the same boat – that is not fair! It just shows you how the uk system controls people's lives, and makes many of the protestors look like rioters when they are not.
Bull s**t Lib, you telling me they were innocent bydstanders? that is the problem with England they been protected by too many human rights law for too long, and they do not realise they are destroying their own country, with these laws.
jail them all, bring peace, order and moral back to Great Briton, now is time to support your Government to clean up your streets !
You got that right Lib, the stupid system that exist now, is controling innocent people's lives, and the yobs have a big play ground.
Anon 12; 39
You so much make sense, these yobs are protected by the human rights laws, they know that the human rights lawyers will use the same people's tax money to free them, and return them to the streets.
England has been f@@@dby by Brussell, she had better cut the Union loose and run for her live.
It's one world order, one currency and one rule. You better pray that the euro does collaps, and start closing your doors to Eastern block, refugees. By the year 2030 you will be the minority in your own country. It's a way for Europe to bring you all to your knees.
Relevance and equivalence:
If this viewpoint is intended to be relevant to the Cayman islands, then it is not. There are no MPs fiddling expenses, no "feral rats" looting and burning and no one evading or avoiding Cayman income and corporation taxes. Let's keep things in perspective.
Why is it that so many commentators on the Cayman scene insist on pumping up a tiny dot in the ocean and projecting it on to the world stage? Cayman has enough problems specific to its size, economy and culture without needing to debate this irrelevant luxury.
If I as a Brit currently in Brit Land can be allowed to comment with any relevance, it will be to say that the viewpoint article from the Daily Telegraph exhibits a lack of moral equivalence: surely to equate the sheer physical terror and destruction of home and property many residents have endured for the past few days to MP's expenses and bankers' bonuses is to treat these experiences as political debating points unworthy of any meaningful Cayman comment.?
Jack Sloper
Mr. Sloper you are wrong sir! Cayman has the same problems that the UK have.
Leaders exhibiting double standards.
Leaders saying one thing but acting a different way.
Leaders making laws to deal with delinquent youth while the same leaders use every opportunity, albeith unethical and immoral to enrich themselves. While our leaders prosper from opportunities our youth fail and the laws that our leaders enact are used to deal with our criminality. Our leaders have a such a vested interest in failing societies.
Our leaders have taken a view that it is fine to prosper from immoral and unethical acts. It is only a sin and shame if you get caught. Cayman maybe small but political and business leaders the world over are displaying the same unwholsome attitude and their behaviours are the same.
I hope sir one day you and I can go spear fishing and lobster hunting again, like we did once in the 1975.
I won't say behaviors and attitudes are the same. Corrupt acts, immorality, and abuse of power manifest themselves differently. There is no sameness.
No MLAs fiddeling expenses, and no one out robbing in Cayman? Are you serious Mr. Sloper? You obviously have not been reading the CNS reports for last 2-years!
Question from Jack Sloper – " Why is it that so many commentators on the Cayman scene insist on pumping up a tiny dot in the ocean and projecting it on to the world stage? "
Answer – Because it has (certainly in the last forty years at least) been prominently on the world stage, that is why we are a threat to the places such as London, with our financial services industry. And if it was not a worthwhile experience would you have come and stayed here as long as you did?
Granted however you did contribute Mr. Sloper magnificently as judged by the number of your former students in prominent positions today, unlike some others. I say Cayman was good to you was it not?
He also probably forgot and one has to assume he knew from his Cayman experience, about the significant role Caymanian seafarers played on the world stage especially during the 20th century.
We produced world renowned seafarers who served with distinction in the allied Navies and Merchant Marines especially in the United States. Because of their contribution they enabled shipping magnates such as Daniel Ludwig to amass an empire due to the direct recruitment of our seamen on yes a tiny dot.
Our seamen were respected and compared to the Norwegians, who have always been acknowledged as the world's greatest seafarers.
Here are some suggestions , have a look at the book " The forgotten men of the Navy " by Rudolph McLaughlin, and also Google Daniel Ludwig.
Friend, moral decay is global – in human DNA. You can never pin it down to one place.
An interesting difference in the aftermath of the riots in England is how much public support is coming forward to identify and convict the looters.
That public support does not exist in Cayman.
And the very same "disconnect" and lack of Ethics and Morals are also rampant throughout much of our Cayman Islands!
Even as some tout our "Christian Heritage" from the highest levels, and many who should be effecting Ethical and Moral actions "turn a blind eye" as long as "i get mine".
However as we look back at the past 2 decades it's clear that Cayman is NOT immune from "reaping what we sow". More soon come!
Things will not get any better in the world so long people cannot collectively make decisions for themselves, but have to rely on corrupt politicians to decided their political affairs. The new world order, is an order of wealthy and powerful people (behind the scenes), especially; in the G nations who are using their dollars and wealth to persuade and "order" weak politicians, members of parliament, senators, and lawmakers to pass laws on their behalf in order to centralize and weld more wealth and power into their hands. They are ensuring certain politicians get into office, behind assassinations, rigged elections, extortions, pay-offs, people selling over their own birthrights, environmental disasters, famines in places like Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. They are selected few, behind countries, persuading them to borrow loans in order to pay lenders they have connections with. The money trail always leads to the banker and business man on top of thepyramid. There motto is – if you can run the worlds economy, you can run and rule the world, and have that power to do so. People, whites, blacks, asians, mix, latinoes, islanders, are frustrated with the new world order. They are ready to rebel at anything they see that is an injustice. One of those coalition governments sided with an elite private entity, is looking like our very own Cayman Islands government. The Governor is mysteriously silent, and both parties, it seems, allow developers to come here and undermined the local communities. Get this: Over one thousand plus people for South Sound spoke out against Emerald Sound Development, and not one politician has heard them and spoke out on their behalf… yet amazingly over one thousand people oppose the project. This is just the beginning folks. This is how the world is becoming. Only a few are in control and using the politicians as puppets to keep silent or look the other way. People's direct democracy and their rights do not matter anymore in the face of a wealthy developer or elite person in the UK that looks down on us and call us mere natives. There is no one who is willing to at least have our current constitution abolished or change to ensure proper checks and balances, and to have provisions therein to remove the legislative powers of the MLA's and give most of it (if not all) to the people of these islands. And certain people are frustrated. Many good Somalians that have intercepted oil tankers off their coast that are killing their fish, are branded as pirates and terrorist. The country is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the people and children have been made to depend on the United Nations for food as I speak. The media has branded them so, because guess who is paying them to do that when the whole world believes everything the media says? Those behind the scenes with the money and power! There will be a time when if you should protest against the world order, you will be branded as a menace to society, a criminal, or worse, a terrorist. The new world order has its consequences, and we are seeing riots happening all over the world, Egypt, Syria, United States, and yes… the United Kingdom, rifted with corruption in its government. Reality Check: Cayman is sold over to the well-off few!
Libertarian you do realize that you are talking about 1000 people out of a population of 50,000. I mean I know that we can cut the number down significantly by saying some are kids but that is not a high precentage.
I do believe a project of this caliber and raising this much attention should have a maganism in place where the people can have a greater input.
PS I am against the project because I feel it endangers lives during a hurricane impact.
Cayman needs to be under a "direct democracy," and not under a "conditional" representative democracy. P.S. do you always have to highlight and underline my handle name in blue? Regards
First off the mess we are in now is not because of fifteen politicians. The back bench has absolutely no say because the country put the UDP in with a vast majority. There is one leader and the rest follow. Thats what most are saying.
I will grant you that money talks in this country like most XXXX.
Let us not get side track by the party poli-tricks of "divide and conquor." We are in this "mess" because they have permitted us to be therein! Still there are no amendments to this limited constitution that is not in our best interest.