Economy of the Ghetto

The economy of the Ghetto is a system of hustling and what is called a "roast". Getting paid for manual labour,making sufficient money so that they can meet their nutritional needs for one day and then they will hustle tommorrow again for food for that day. 

There is nothing to save. It's not even suffice for creating balance meals for a family. Children have to get school fee and the money pinched in order to save for bills,hire purchase or the hundred dollars a day partner. 

A lot of people don't understand how the partner helps out the poor man. He can pool his money with his neighbors and save then he collect a lumpsum. This lumpsum can go towards extending his house or paying for the tertiary education of his child. 

 There is no guarantees, just faith and hope that something will turn up the next day that will allow one to subsist. It is a game of survival. Life is not a luxury but many would rather be alive than dead because as long as they are alive then there is a hope. It does not matter what is going on in a Ghetto person's life, it is all about being here, as long as one has life, one has a chance of changing his circumstances. 

The lure of illicit activities in the Ghetto is real. It offers an opportunity to change the economical circumstances. The money is fast and it is often in large amounts. Poor people believe that money will make their lives a bliss. Therefore they believe that the pursuit of money is the ultimately goal. They will find out in time that money does not solve their problems. 

When a Ghetto person is poor, no one sees him. When he shows sign of making money, he incurs the attention of his community who will invariably expect him to share his spoils with them. If he refuses then he is seen as being traitorous to the identity of the Ghetto and seen as someone who "switched". 

Bad Men within the community will begin to use badness and threats to solicit money from the newly rich Ghetto person. The individual understanding the intricacies of the Ghetto and will comply if he wants to spare the lives of him and his family. 

If he decides to resist the demands of extortionist then he must leave his natal community. He understands that his life is in jeopardy. He can leave or form his own army to protect himself. Hence the connection between illicit money and crime. Where there's an illegal operation accruing profits, men offering bodyguard services and "strong arms" will no doubt gravitate to that person because a "food haffi eat".  Illicit money fuels crime. 

How illegal activities shape the Jamaican Society?

Some people think scamming is a bad thing. People in the Jamaican ghetto will tell you that scamming has done more good than harm to their lives.

They will say that they would rather our young men scam some unsuspecting stranger than stick up them with guns and take away the little that they have. 

The promotion, endorsement or even embracing of scamming has nothing to do with morality, but everything to do with survival. 

The endorsement, glorification and toleration of illicit activities on the Ghetto has nothing to do with morality. It has everything to do with survival. 

How can you question a man about his values when the notion is not a staple. He cannot eat values. But if he finds a way wherein he can feed his family then he will not be moved by scruples to overlook that prospect. 

Some people might argue that nothing that was begotten out of wrongdoing will ever prosper. Ghetto people, black people will countermand by insisting that superpower economies were built on the blood and sweat of black people yet we have not seen destiny returning life to its Karmic balance by punishing them for enslavement. 

They believe from experience that only good people get hurt,stepped on and abuse. Police don't abuse people with money. Look at politicians, they have been exploiting the coffers of poor people's money for years and yet no one had ever held them accountable. I hear Mutabaruka call it scamming. 

Politicians a scam poor people, police a scam people, bank tellers a scam people. Mutabaruka emphasize that all the educated people in Jamaica turn scammer. With no jobs, they use their creative energies to make money to subsist themselves. 

What really pisses poor people off is when the people who tell them not to do this or that would never offer a helping hand. A beggar is socially spurned, a gun man venerated and feared. 

The Big Idea Funding Network was created to give young people with brilliant ideas and opportunity to realize their dreams by having people pooling money together. I'd prefer if a thousand  Jamaicans invested a thousand dollars on a project worth a million dollars than one Jamaican fretting about his 20,000 dollars that he invested. 

I was recently selling a property, a big acreage and someone asked me why didn't I get some of my "moneyed friends" to buy the property as an investment. I told him two things that made him laugh and shook his head. 1. People don't invest money with people who look poorer than them because they believe you will Nyam them out. Two people prefer to invest in an institution than a person. 

I  am not an advocate of earning money through illicit means but I am not a novice to the idea that the worlds wealthiest earn money by spilling blood. Most rich people's wealth is dabbled somewhere in a past mired in exploitation or harm of another person. It is a cut throat world. 

Support my New Book

Some people think that when you sow bad seed, you reap bad seed. No what you will reap is a tree filled with fruits that have bad seeds. Whatsoever you sow, you shall reap tenfold.

White people sow slavery, destroyed the black man's mentality and are now reaping a society of black people who are unable to evolve from a path of self destruction and regression.

What are the issues really affecting our Jamaican Society so that we cannot seem to move forward?

We understand that a break down in family values is one of the fundamental contribution to the surge in crime and violence within our society as children are inculcated with anti-social values and then reinforced by families who provide safe havens for their criminal relatives. They refuse to inform on them and therefore keep them in the community as a threat and menace to the society.


What are the central factors contributing to the depravity of the Jamaican Society?

1. Absentee paternal culture is prevalent in Jamaica where fathers are not actively involved in the lives of their children and therefore mothers cannot adequately send children to school because of no financial support. Children also need affirmation and our culture encourages abuse of children instead of loving and nurturing the next generation.

2. Mothers with no financial support and a baby to care for often end up with another man who gets her pregnant and abandons her. Before you know it. She has several children to feed without any financial support from their fathers. She ends up raising adults who were not properly schooled, men with psycho emotional problems and women with low self esteems. The process will indubitably recur with these adults. It is a proven fact that children from these family structures often become just like their parents. Gunmen and serial single mothers are often from similar familys structures.

3. We need more factories in Jamaica, Agro processors, Factories for creating clothing, Arts and Crafts industrial complexes and Angel Investor opportunities for our smart talented YOUNG people. A lack of viable employment opportunities is another critical element in helping Jamaica to move towards sustainable development. We are spending too much time trying to repair that which is broke and not sufficent interest in finding recourses and opportunities for transitional development and nation building.

4. Our legal system is fraught with issues regarding injustices and professionalism. Civilians are angry at the police force because they know too well and contribute sufficiently to the corruption that they talk about amony members of the Jamaica Defense Force. They often attempt to bribe police officers who due to the harsh economical times and the incapacity of their salaries to sustain their lifestyles succumb to venality. It may seem that our police officers are bearing the brunt of our economical down turn just as civilians. Remember that the members of the police force are taken from our own society

5. When a nation is a sinking ship then it leaves opportunities for its brightest and professionals to become white collar criminals. Their salaries cannot supplement the cost of living in Jamaica therefore they become embezzlers.


6. Absentee Politicians are a huge issue in Jamaica. When an area has a political representative that is absent predominantly for several consecutive terms then the area becomes an anarchy. Where you do not have leadership it leaves space for qsuedo leaders to be born and for “dons” to dominate. People will no doubt take up the mantle and begin to provide for the community sometimes at the expense of other members of our society.

7. The Anti-Informant culture is a big deterrent to crime and violence. How can citizens be encourage to speak on knowledge of crimes when the police cannot offer them protection.How can any member of a community give the police information and then the officers leave them in the same area with the hooldums. Not only that many police officers have friends among the bad man and therefore people are afraid to inform on them. It is like you are damned if you do and damn if you don't...

8. Our Education system is crippled with problems. We have long market education as a means for social mobility and wealth creation. We never addressed the pyshco-emotional needs of our children. We need an educational programme that not only teach our children to get rich but to be better citizens. We need ethical education so that we can have a better society.

9. Religious Leaders are afraid. They provide the medium between the civilian and the realm. They have forgotten their purpose and religious commitment to maintaining the morals and values in our society. The laws that we have are formed from the core principles of christianity hence our religious eaders do have a part to play in the restoration of our country.

10. Diaspora abandoned Jamaica. The Jamaicans who live abroad run away and never come back. They do not care about the nation. I am often surprised to discover how much many Jamaicans believe that they can only see what they are working for in another country and not their own. They allow every one to come and capture a piece of Jamaica while the wealthy people in our diaspora do not see Jamaica as an auspicious investment opportunity.

When you live in A SOCIETY where the vulnerable and the innocent like our elders and children become victims of violence. It signals not just a decline in regards for human life but an overall decomposition in the validation and sanctity of our humanity. We are a culture of people that enjoy preying on the weak. We respect the strong “arms” but seek to eliminate those who only wish for the collective good of our society and not just that of any one individual or group.

The Good Samaritan

I notice something about poor people and it is that when you decide to offer them a helping hand they take it as an opportunity "live pon you". 

It is as if an act of kindness is interpreted as a demonstration of weakness. People believe you open yourself to exploitation. 

I often extend a helping hand to people with children and people who are in need because I often feel sorry for the Children. 

But I know I run a very serious risk by helping people to feed these children especially boys who might end my life later. 

My grand mother tells me that if you ever feel sorry for mawga dogs, they will turn round and bite you. Someone might add, how can one be sympathetic with or be sorry for the very same people who short of reason will get rid of you in the blink of an eye. 

I've realise that it is easy for people who are not from the ghetto to condemn me. Its true. I must be in support of the lawlessness, decadence and criminality that flourishes in the Ghetto. I can never be an intellect or one of them and have any empathy for people who chose a illicit, mundane and reckless behavior as their modus operandi. 

Why do I fight for people who by all means do not want to be apart of my warfare.  I should probably let them fight their own battles. I am fighting a losing war. I am putting my fragile existence in jeopardy for a people who by all accounts do not care about me. 

I do not back lawlessness but I am very supportive of the human condition. I believe every human being is rehabilitative. We have a choice. We must choose the type of life that we want to live but circumstances renders some of us option less. We just have to work with what we get. 

Some people are lucky not to be related to any "scum of the earth" so they think it gives them right to label and judge people. I often believe that it they would come off their high horse and live the life of one of these persons for a day, they might gain more perspective into how "easy" they think it is to survive on "worthless" neegga level. 

How can someone who has never lived in these social circumstances be in an advantageous position to decide what they think people who are within that capacity should think. 

The Reality of the World we LIVE in

I often wonder why Africa was considered one the wealthiest places on earth and the people who lived their were the poorest people on the planet. Texaco and Shell made billions of dollars yearly yet the people who lived in vicinity of these oil reserves are some of the poorest people on mother earth.

I conceded that it has a lot to do with the powers that may be. The people who live in the area could not effect the political process involved with changing the statusquo of the area because they were not at the helm, they did not have the reins.


Someone I grew up with recently suggested that people who scammed should go and plant fields as a form of employment. I realise that she was probably right. Agriculture has always been reserved for the not so very bright and those without a future. It maybe the reason why parents deterred their children from becoming farmers because of its association with poverty and slavery. Now i live to hear a liberal Arts major telling me that my people should all go back to farming.

It is easier said than done. When these young men plant products, who will buy it from them. It could work, we need to eat more of our own products as imports and the sliding US dollar is killing our economy. But would the powers that maybe: be interested in buying from the young farmers.

Would our government be interested in investing 50 million dollars in creating processing plants for the excess fruits from fruit trees instead of renovating the homes of wealthy politicians?

Would our manufacturers and importers be interested in having a legislative ban on imports and force our people to utilised local produce?

I wonder how many of our intellectuals and Wealthy people would give us farmers a part of their incomes as an investment in such a proposed worthwhile venture.

Who stands more to loose if a project like this ever takes effect?


My friends who know better think I fight for people who do not care about me as a person.
They may have a valid point. My community and poor people does not respect me or even value my opinion because the lifestyle that I encourage is not one that they think will give them the instant gratification that they need.

Many people think that I should just leave Ghetto people to their own wits and ends. Move uptown and treat them with condescension. It is a healthy suggestion but there are many young people, stalwarts in their academical area who are afraid to come back and live in their natal communities. To give back to the community that nurtured them because they are afraid of jeopardising their lives. I want to make Jamaica a place where our university students have no issue coming back to their parental communities and working to uplift instead of migrating elsewhere.



My father was not the best parent emotionally or psychologically. My mother had her issues but as an adult when I hear them talking I realise that something happened during their formative years that made them into the adults they were. I am force to see them as the children they were and not the adults they are today. I know that''s how mothers of young men who commit crimes see their children. They do not see them as a murderer, they see them as the babies they once held.



Some people will not understand our plight. It is not for them to be able to sympathise with those that they consider beneath them. We do not justify criminality. We embrace and emphasise humanity. The human being who makes mistakes, who tries as best as possible to survive his conditions. I clamour for those who cannot speak for themselves, who know what they want but are unable to voice it.

I know that this task is not an easy one. Most Revolutionist are dead. I also know that the people I often defend do not value their lives the way I do. They do not even care. Someone once said to me that if I believe that any one of these young people would have been so intensely passionate about my demise as I am about theirs?

Would they even care if I die tomorrow? They probably don't because I see talentless people waste thousands of dollars while budding entrepreneurs with great ideas have to struggle to bring their goals to fruition. Many Inventors died penniless and people who did not care about the advancement of our living conditions get recognised for creating genocides.

I will continue to say it. We do not need more professionals. We need teachers, healers, lover, philanthropist and Humanitarians. We need people to teach our societies to care more and love more. Despite what you think you have, it is only your human interactions that count. The time you spent with your friends and family is what will evidently count when you die.

I would have exchanged all the money in the world a loved one has if I could get back his life because in my opinion, it was not worth it. I would rather have my family here than have his possessions to look at. They mean nothing without him around.

why do Jamaican People enjoy being graders of others!

I was recently called rather haphazardly to do a rendition in speech at an event in my community. Before I exited the stage, several individuals in the audience began to criticise, dissect and evaluate what I said on the podium.


People who for the most part seemed more interested in belittling me than concentrating on the real issues at hand at the forum all because they knew that I was a little girl from their community who use to run up and down in thighs carrying water on the ball field.

Thats the thing about black people, if you do not put them in their place, they will at every opportunity remind you of the lowly status you once had. It is better and easier for them to remember where you are coming from because that is what they are comfortable with. Believe me that if you do not leave their domain and branch out, you can easily be choked by the detestation,inferiority complexes and issues they have within themselves that they constantly reflect upon you.

Ghetto people have very lofty ideals for others but none for themselves. They have no ambition and are always interested in stimulating the aspirations of others or trying to undermine your endeavours. You can count on your hands how many people from "where am from" ever genuinely wished you success.

Some do initially wish you the best because they think that you will never achieve suffice to surpass them and become back-stabbers when you supersede their expectations. They are appalled that someone who they deemed inferior to them have reached a level that in by extension of their abilities is somewhat formidable if not unattainable.

They are even more aggravated by the mysterious nature of your occupation which only serves to aggrandize their loathing of you. Jamaican people are quick to form opinions of you without knowing anything about you. I have been the blunt of these labels by people who are not my friends; People who I have never had any form of conversations with, think that they are an authority on my character. Their evaluation is solely based on whatever bias scenario: real or imagined they have going on in their head.


IN life I have learnt to work with what I have. I try my best to win with the cards that my genes dealt to me or those that the hand of fate passes my way. I have become a happier person since I have learned to accept me for who I am warts and all...I have never felt more peace, serenity and enjoyed success.


Some people have a misconception about intellectuality...

"A lot of our intellects have not been educated on a spiritual level. A person who is enlighten spiritually behaves differently, reacts to others in a way that is reminiscent of someone of a higher consciousness. The ability to pass an examination does not mean you are intelligent nor is the capacity to identify (SYMBOLS)words on a page. It simply means you are scholastic, you are academically ahead but until you are educe on spiritual level then everything you achieve will be as corporeal as the body your soul dwells in"

Why GHetto children become criminals in Jamaica?

Being a product of the Ghetto, I understand what can happen to your mind when you live in the slum. The socio-psychological elements of the lower socio-economical class of Jamaica will turn any cherub into a monster. The gun has become the emblem of power and living within the confines of fear is a mind murdering component.

But many bad boys will tell you that this is not how they envisioned their future. They once imagined that they would become who their parents wanted them to be when they became adults. Life throws curve balls at a youngster, those who are not psychologically equipped to deal with this life will turned to gangs.Most people in the ghetto do not trust police officers and they hate politicians because they blame the police for harassing them and the politicians for misleading them.They see the government and the police officers as oppressors.





Ghetto People are largely exploited by people with money. Men with money bribe ghetto boys into becoming soldiers of their militia by supplying them with money, clothes and guns. Men with money also have several young women in the ghetto who carry children for them that they never recognise or take care of. Some politicians use the myopic knowledge and wistful dreams of the Ghetto people to put themselves into power.

Ghetto people feel marginalised, abandoned, hopeless, angry. Their children internalise these elements and therefore grow up to live a life similar to their ancestors. Most Ghetto children there is no escape from the life they live or the labels attached to them because of where they were born.

Girls who try to hold their heads up are allegedly raped or impregnated to keep them in their place. Our Children are not safe. Our boys are being drawn into alternative lifestyle practises for the sake of money. In the Ghetto, money is the order of the day.

Money equals life, food and validation therefore a man will do anything to get money. Children are inadvertently taught that people who seems as if they have something in abundance should either be charmed into giving it to them and if they refused then they should be coerce either by badness or death to share what they have. Parents do not purposely tell their children to become criminals but they encourage certain behaviour of borrowing, begging and indiscipline that shapes the mind of the violent adult.

The gun culture is as strong as ever now. Most kids want to become either a shotta or a scammer. Only shottas and Scammers making money in Jamaican Ghetto. How can we convince them to turn from a life of crime when people who live civil lives are victimised and suffering. One gangster said "I do not believe in suffering, I only believe in life and death".

Imagine growing up seeing your dad not having anything to eat or drink, siblings bawling for hunger and cooking outside on the wood fire even when it rains. This will turn any well meaning youngster into a killer, after all a popular Jamaican adage claims that man have to die in order for some other men to live. You begin to want to emulate the don because he has nice cars and a house. He has his choice of women. Who would not want his life. So you are lured into survival. It is not about keeping your dignity or values, it is about your life.

But then we create monsters even within ourselves. When we kill a little boy's father then your family and community becomes his enemy for life. He will no doubt choose a life of a gangster. And otherwise normal child grows up with feelings of vendetta, carrying vengeance for the death of his father. He will never reconcile why someone who should have secured his well being choose to take away his parent from him and leave him angry,sad and bitter. People you know will make your life a living hell, people you grow up with will fight you over scarce benefits and murder your family for money.

Sitting whole day with nothing to occupy ones mind will turn it into an abyss. So its better to create some drama in ones life even if it is mayhem.
Gunshots play havoc on a child's concentration, how can he learn in school when he has to worry about his meal and whether he will live to become an adult. How can you encourage him to go to school when he can stay at home and scam? Make money to feed his family and buy guns to protect his property? The means define the ends!!Most young ghetto men will tell you than their lives is just means to an ends. They do not have a future so they live in the now and pray that this moment last forever.