Branding on The Tongue

TALKING INTO DESTRUCTION

Haiti has been the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere for centuries. This is because no one speaks creole but Haitians. .

Nations where the population speaks a ‘known’ language, be it French, Spainish, English or Chinese, are more attractive to investors.   Hence why go to Haiti where one needs to hire interpreters to speak to a work force, where one can go to Santo Domingo where Spanish is spoken, or Barbados, where English is the language.

Haitians and their various governments have never recognised the simple fact; in this world you have to learn to speak to the major powers, they don’t need to speak to you.

Jamaica is the only nation in the world which emulates Haiti.  It is the only nation where English has been abandoned for a slopspeak called ‘Patwa‘. 

Although uneducated people spoke slopspeak, they knew it was slopspeak and tried very hard when speaking to those of higher status, to use English. This changed in the late 70s when there was a sinister plot to disqualify the poor from the better positions.

It was really quite simple.

In 1973, the then Prime Minister, Michael Manley, made education free. Children of the poor could attend high school, and entrance to University was based on grades.

This meant the daughter of a maid could qualify for law school, her grades higher than that of the employer’s son.

One needs to recognise that with 44 places only, and grades the only qualification, the pampered darlings of Uptown would suffer the indiginity of seeing some downtown child entering the Faculty of Law, while s/he sat on the sideline.

By 1978 the fact that the majority of students in law, in medicine were from the lower classes, needed to be addressed, and the easiest method was the elevation of patwa to a language, (langwij).

The Canadians were the first fooled.  As to enter a Canadian university one needed to be bi-lingual, getting them to accept patwa meant the Jamaican did not need to take French or Spanish to qualify.

Patwa, as any linguist knows, is a ‘pidgen’ as it can not ’stand alone’.

Patwa is no more than a mix mash of a few Akan words and expressions, mispronounced English, and of such ‘quality’ that those who live in Kingston do not understand those who speak the version used in Montego Bay.

This ‘tower of babel’ is no more accidental than the original ‘Babel’.  It is done to prevent the poor from reaching the highest level of acheivement.

The ramification of this policy were clearly portrayed when forty thousand jobs ‘promised’ to Jamaica by a call centre, had to be moved to other nations where English is spoken. 

Remarkable as it seems, Jamaicans do not recognise the impact unlearning English has caused.  Despite the failing economy, despite the fact other Caribbean territories where English is enshrined have surpassed Jamaica, the use of Patwa continues to be promoted.

It is no longer is just to insure that the upper class,( where not even the maid speaks patwa), gains places at the University and the better jobs, it is to reduce the population to an easily led peasantry.

Without the words to control one’s environment, one is reduced to a grunting beast.  Without the ability to formulate questions, the best slogan, the best promise wins an election.

Saying; “Free schooling”, should prompt the public to ask; ‘where are the schools?’ to ask, “are the text books subsidised?’, but the public does not have the words, the concepts, can not perceive the illogic of the statement.

In 1984, George Orwell perceived the importance of language.  By removing words from the dictionary, thought was limited; for one can not think of something one can not describe. 

An English speaker can verbalise a complex problem, a patwa speaker can only describe a single item before becoming incoherent.  Further, patwa is a language spokem from the back of the throat, loud and insultively.

The Jamaican does not say, “Mi Nah No”  (say this as written and you might grasp the speaker is trying to say; “I don’t know”) but runs the fragments together and expells them with the vehemence one would ‘Damn it!’. The hearer is afflicted with “MINANO”.

Hence it is not only the words, but how they are said, which makes Jamaicans incoherent.

As in Haiti where  middle level workers  need to be imported,  so too with Jamaica.

One can not have someone answer the phone with a growled; “Wha?” or telling an English speaking caller; “Minaunnastanu”, the caller unable to decipher what s/he is being told.  Hence the person who answers
the phone needs to be imported.

Those who must meet the public are often brought in from other jurisdictions.

Currently, Jamaica can supply a small portion of English speakers to a business, but those who can read/write/speak English often attend University and go into the professions, so one is left with a handful, whether older people or those who for personal reasons were unable to apply to university.

Due to the new high fees put on work permits, it is cheaper and wiser to locate that business somewhere other than Jamaica.

The reason no government intercedes and returns to the use of English is that Jamaica is run by a kakistrocracy, and dare the people be capable of thought, the politicians would be out of work.