As a student in business school I once complained to a professor that he was giving us more assignments than we could possibly complete properly. He laughed and said this was true and by design. Business school after all was designed to prepare students for the real world where there was never enough time to do all the things that needed to be done. He was teaching us how to prioritize.

They say sport mirrors society. And few events have so sharply reflected Jamaican reality as the Peta-Gaye Dowdie / Merlene Ottey Olympics controversy.

The JAAA management’s immorality, arrogance and incompetence were sadly typical of our authorities. First they broke their own rules and deprived a National Champion of her legal right to represent her country. It was depressing to see an innocent young girl psychologically crushed by her supposed guardians intent on carrying out an obviously predetermined agenda.

“The future will tell us whether it would not have been better if neither I nor Rousseau had ever lived” remarked Napoleon at Rousseau’s grave. Nearly 200 years later history has still not made up its mind if Bonaparte was a blessing or curse to mankind. He was certainly a boon to authors and publishers, being the most written about human being of all time. One hundred thousand books have argued that he was a warmongering ogre responsible for a million unnecessary deaths. Another 100,000 have proclaimed him a law giving hero who liberated the modern world from feudalism.

“Man is no longer victor in the duel of the sexes… the enormous superiority of Woman’s natural position is telling with greater and greater force.”

The 21^st century may be proving George Bernard Shaw right. All over the world female students are outpacing males. In Britain this year girls outperformed boys in GCSE A-levels. In 1973 roughly the same number of American boys and girls took high school Advanced Placement exams - by 1998 boys had fallen well behind. American boys today are less likely than girls to complete high school, to attend college, and to stay out of jail. They read and write less well and do less homework. Except for sports, they participate less frequently in extracurricular activities. In areas like math and science where boys still hold an edge, the gap is fast narrowing. In areas where girls are in front, it is widening.

Some say that the root cause of Jamaica’s frighteningly high murder rate is a corrupt political system and/or an incompetent police force. Now there is no doubt that in the 1970s politicians actively fomented violence and armed their supporters and that organized inner city drug and extortion gangs still maintain a residual party allegiance. And it is true that in many areas a lot of our policing methods leave a lot to be desired.

I once read a short story about a man meeting a star school athlete 20 years on. The once glamorous champion is now a shabby bore talking endlessly of long ago matches and insistently showing off the newspaper scraps which are all that remain of his forgotten triumphs. When his friend tries to go on his way, the faded hero clutches his arm, desperately reluctant to see his glory day memories fade back into reality.

Politics consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable - John Kenneth Galbraith

Faced with a seemingly endless recession and a merciless crime wave, Jamaicans are crying out for change. Neither the JLP nor NDM appear more capable than the present government. But what if they joined forces?

In 1955 Jamaica recorded 20 murders and our homicide rate was about 1 per 100,000. This was slightly above Britain’s, about the same as Barbados’s and about a quarter of America’s. In 1999 Jamaica recorded 848 murders or a rate of about 33 per 100,000. This was over 15 times that of Britain, and about 5 times that of Barbados and the USA.

“He who is not a socialist at 20 has no heart. He who is still a socialist at 40 has no brain.” Like many witty oversimplifications Georges Clemenceau’s quip rings true. “All for one, one for all” and “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” are immensely attractive concepts to the tender hearted young. But bitter experience teaches alas that man in general is a weak and selfish creature who rarely puts others before himself and works hardest for his own interests.

“History” stated Thomas Carlyle “is but the biography of great men.” Leo Tolstoy disagreed completely. “In historical events great men — so called — are but the labels that serve to give a name to an event.”