While other economies expand at six and eight per cent a year, we rejoice at reaching two per cent. Jamaica has not grown at anything close to the world average since 1989 and maybe even before that. We are falling farther and farther behind in the global economic race.

The less stable the political system, the more serious the issues. In war-torn Somalia and Iraq, it's about trying not to get blown up. In recent army takeover Bangladesh and Thailand, it's about whether free elections will be held any time soon. In strongman-ruled Venezuela and Russia, it's about toeing the government line or being shut down, jailed or shot.

"In politics, nothing is often a good thing to do and always a good thing to say." - Will Durant

A year ago, Portia Simpson Miller was chosen as president of the People's National Party and Prime Minister-designate to the kind of popular acclaim not seensince Michael 'Joshua' Manley's 1972 election victory. Since then crime has fallen, tourist arrivals have set a record, and the economy has grown at its fastest rate in years.

"There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favours from nation to nation. It is an illusion, which experience must cure ..." - George Washington

Who shows no pity deserves none. Not even the saints shed tears at Saddam Hussein's hanging. He began as an assassin, gained power through blood, and ruled without mercy. Perhaps 100,000 died in his 1987-1989 Anfal anti-Kurdish campaign. In 1988 he used chemical weapons to kill at least 5,000 civilians in Halabja.

In A Conflict of Visions, Thomas Sowell posits two fundamental political outlooks, the constrained and unconstrained visions. The first is best expressed in Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, which accepts man's moral limitations and egocentricity as inherent facts of life. Rather than wastefully attempting to change human nature, it tries to make the best of the possibilities existing within that context.

Cricketing first-class bullies excel at the regional level but flop on the international stage. You can't predict in advance who will step up. graeme Hick scored a record 50-plus first class centuries before his 25th birthday, yet was an infamous bust in tests.

Similarly, many politicians shine on the campaign trail but don't make good administrators. Portia Simpson Miller has been our most popular elected representative for years. But her performance as Prime Minister has been uneven. The unanswered Trafigura questions and bewildering 'Ask the PNP!' retort have many wondering if K.D. Knight and Maxine Henry-Wilson were right. 'Portia Not Ready?' Leighton Levy asked in The STAR of October 27, and the polls show he's not alone.

Politics can be fascinating, if it concerns your own country. But there’s nothing so tedious as other people’s politics. Affairs of state dominate the intellectual discourse in most countries. But a nation’s campaign obsessions are usually meaningless to outsiders.

It's human nature to seek truth, or at least plausibility. So when we hear about fairy godmother multi-nationals flying from abroad unasked to donate US $585,000 with no strings attached, the natural response is 'bull shoots'. Trafigura won't be history until Jamaicans hear a convincing explanation from the Prime Minister. Nowadays not even eight year olds believe in fairy tales. And governments that take voters for fools get laughed at on election day.'

West Indies cricket once conjured up memories of halcyon glory. Nowadays, it usually means shameful humiliation. But, what one win can do. The Windies' victory over Australia on Wednesday put a smile on everyone's face and once again sportscasters waxed deliriously about the 'glorious uncertainty of cricket'.

Criticise the People's National Party (PNP) and you are a Labourite. Call the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to book and you are a socialist. Yet partisan politics is a fact of life in most countries.

Places like Scandinavia seem rather dispassionate about parties. But watch any U.S. political show and it's obvious that Americans, for instance, are scarcely less tribal than Jamaicans. Though at least they have buried the 'Support my side or I'll kill you' mindset that occasionally flares up here.