Garth Rattray | On heroes and zeros

Most people look for heroes on television, in the newspapers, in sports, in politics, on battlefields, and in environments where recognition is easily found. We celebrate popularity, power, and leaders whose actions and achievements are readily visible.

But there are other groups of bona fide heroes who exist and work in the background. These ‘background heroes’ are the many ordinary Jamaicans who quietly hold families, communities, government entities, institutions and, ultimately, the country together.

Unfortunately, where there are heroes, there are also zeros: people who, through incompetence, dishonesty, corruption, unaccountability, criminality and selfishness, represent the antithesis of our unsung heroes. Through their actions, criminals are usually easily identifiable. However, many other zeros are more difficult to identify because they maintain an air of propriety, are well put together, and are ensconced in important, sometimes managerial, positions. Behind the façade of respectability, they use their office to undermine the very country they are supposed to serve.

The unsung, unrecognised, background heroes are often the ordinary Jamaicans who get up early, go to work and do an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. They are the mothers and fathers who struggle every day to provide food, meet school expenses, and maintain a decent home for their families.

Although these people are integral to the everyday functioning of our little country, they may never receive any recognition, a national award or a national honour. They may never have a street named after them or be interviewed on television. Yet, their contribution is enormous. Every day they demonstrate the very qualities that Jamaica desperately needs: diligence, honesty and integrity.

Many of these heroes conduct themselves in such a way that they become examples to those around them. Without any fanfare or hyperbole, they gain respect and emulation. Without doing anything out of the ordinary, by their standards, they end up influencing their neighbours and, most importantly, the youngsters, our future leaders, in a positive way.

HEROES IN PUBLIC SERVICE

There are many heroes in public service. Although most people who enter government service do so because they seek stable employment with the possibility of upward mobility, many also understand that public service carries a special responsibility. A civil servant who processes documents efficiently and honestly, refuses a bribe, treats citizens with respect, protects public property and insists that the rules are followed is doing far more than completing a routine assignment. That person is protecting the public interest and building confidence in the government system.

The honest civil servant may sometimes appear insignificant and is often taken for granted. He or she may sit behind a desk that few people notice. But, imagine what would happen if, instead of a few public servants, thousands of them decided that honesty no longer mattered and allowed enlightened self-interest to prevail. Government would become merely a corrupt collection of offices rather than an institution serving the people. Public trust would disappear. And, when trust disappears, the foundation of a country rots from deep within and begins to weaken.

MORE DANGEROUS ZEROS

Some zeros are easy to identify. They are the bad actors, the criminals and outlaws who steal, rob, murder, extort, traffic in drugs or prey upon innocent people. Their actions cause obvious harm. They spread fear and disaffection. Sadly, the more dangerous zeros can sometimes be difficult to recognise because they occupy positions from which they can wound our nation mortally.

These zeros may appear respectable. They may have impressive titles, high positions, good clothes and pleasant manners. They often attend church, belong to organisations, and speak passionately about Jamaica. Yet, their actions insidiously and consistently undermine any real progress that we make.

They may betray the public trust and manipulate a public process for personal gain, favour friends or relatives, accept bribes, misuse government resources, deliberately delay a service or provide information to people who should not have it. These are the kinds of people who turn a blind eye to breaches of building codes and violations of covenants. These are the people who turn a deaf ear to the protestations and lamentations of decent citizens who must sit by and watch communities transformed into environmental nightmares of concrete jungles .

These are the zeros who know the tricks of the trade when it comes to getting government contracts awarded. Although such things should follow a straightforward and simple path, sometimes a shell within a shell within a shell, and circuitousness, is the order of the day.

Such behaviour is not a victimless offence. When a public official takes what does not belong to him, the victim is not merely the government. The victim is the Jamaican taxpayer. When a public employee deliberately undermines an institution, the victim is the citizen who depends upon that institution. When corruption causes a road not to be properly built, a public project to be overpriced or a deserving person to be denied an opportunity, the damage spreads far beyond the individual transaction.

Although zeros can sometimes hide among the heroes, remember that heroes build but zeros undermine. Heroes give more than they take. Zeros take more than they give. Heroes understand that Jamaica belongs to all of us. Zeros see Jamaica as something to be exploited.

Jamaica’s future is not only determined by the people at the top; it is also determined by the character of the people throughout society. There is a need for more people who quietly and selflessly build and fewer who quietly and selfishly destroy.

Garth Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice and author of ‘The Long and Short of Thick and Thin’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com.