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The Politics of Change
Book by Manley, Michael
- GenresPolitics
284 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1974
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 9, 2018
Written 18 months into his term as prime minister when the proverbial yet fertile manure had not yet encountered the whirling blades of realpolitik, the purity, optimism and integrity of Michael Manley's reasonable vision - a desire to transform a post-colonial society with the goal of ensuring greater equality - was ultimately sullied and derailed by forces from within and without: met with resistance and sabotaged by the establishment plantocracy and the United States, adversely impacted by by the 1973 oil crisis and, I believe, the fall of the price of alumina on the world market.
But all that was yet to come. As even free market opposition leader and U.S. ally Edward Seaga admitted, "The first few years of the Manley administration were not so bad."
Evocative of LBJ's Great Society which collapsed in large part to imperialist folly, it is highly probable that had the world not resisted Manley's Democratic Socialist plan and had the global energy market been less volatile, Jamaica would be in a much stronger position than it is today: drowning in debt, crime, predatory lending policies and an unfavorable balance of trade.
Unlike Manley I don't possess a degree in economics but I agree with his proposal in terms of addressing gross inequality through government policy (also called the Third Way) and found it a useful template for not only developing nations but developed ones such as the U.S!
Manley was highly articulate, intelligent, erudite and independent, not in the pocket of U.S. corporations and was forced to face off with assholes such as Kissinger and US Ambassador Vincent de Roulet, who was such a blatantly uncredentialed, unqualified and wealthy asshole (ring a bell?) that Manley had to have him recalled.
It is sad to contemplate Manley's confidence, optimism and the progress he was making at the time vs. what he would experience in just a year or two when he would officially announce Democratic Socialism and visit Castro in Cuba. The second half of the 1970s would prove extremely difficult for Manley and Jamaica, so this noble, even innocent work is akin to the calm before the storm.
But all that was yet to come. As even free market opposition leader and U.S. ally Edward Seaga admitted, "The first few years of the Manley administration were not so bad."
Evocative of LBJ's Great Society which collapsed in large part to imperialist folly, it is highly probable that had the world not resisted Manley's Democratic Socialist plan and had the global energy market been less volatile, Jamaica would be in a much stronger position than it is today: drowning in debt, crime, predatory lending policies and an unfavorable balance of trade.
Unlike Manley I don't possess a degree in economics but I agree with his proposal in terms of addressing gross inequality through government policy (also called the Third Way) and found it a useful template for not only developing nations but developed ones such as the U.S!
Manley was highly articulate, intelligent, erudite and independent, not in the pocket of U.S. corporations and was forced to face off with assholes such as Kissinger and US Ambassador Vincent de Roulet, who was such a blatantly uncredentialed, unqualified and wealthy asshole (ring a bell?) that Manley had to have him recalled.
It is sad to contemplate Manley's confidence, optimism and the progress he was making at the time vs. what he would experience in just a year or two when he would officially announce Democratic Socialism and visit Castro in Cuba. The second half of the 1970s would prove extremely difficult for Manley and Jamaica, so this noble, even innocent work is akin to the calm before the storm.
September 14, 2008
Read while traveling across the north coast of Jamaica, it was a bit dry for a holiday, but informative.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews