The Lexicographer's Rules

"The policeÑpossibly encouraged by political forces, but just as possibly on some misguided whimÑdecided to launch an attack on Tivoli Gardens, a well-known ghetto that harbours many armed criminals. The raid went wrong, mainly because the opposition was so much better armed and motivated than the police believed. The police panicked and, unable to arrest the perpetrators, started shooting indiscriminately at innocent inhabitants of the Tivoli Gardens area. 'The police trouble an anthill,' said Tivoli resident Popcorn, 'and everybody know what 'appen when ya disturb an anthill.'"

—Scotland on Sunday. Guy Kennaway writes that Jamaica's current gun battles are part of the nation's tradition of settling disputes. "It's hardly surprising that a nation which features an armed rebel on their banknotesÑPaul Bogle, who led an uprising against slaveryÑdoesn't see violence the same way as mature European democracies. The law was used for hundreds of years to enslave Jamaicans, so respect for it doesn't come easily, and a desire to get hold of the slave owners' most potent symbol of powerÑthe gunÑis perfectly understandable. The people have had the vote since 1943, but it's not what they use if they want change. They use the altogether more fundamental Jamaican political instrument: brute force. Most commonly it is manifest in the roadblock: communities will erect barricades across a road and burn tyres to demand a new teacher in their primary school, or the resurfacing of a country road."'

Name:

Email:

Location:

URL:

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?