(Image source: The Jamaica Gleaner)   At the young age of 24 yrs old I am officially turned off by what takes place in the political arena in Jamaica. I fall in the minority group of Jamaican young people who actually keep up to date on world affairs and the daily ins and outs of my country through the eyes of the media as well as my very own observations. The night the election was called I sat at home and watched from my TV screen how dedicated supporters stood for hours to see their leader take the stage and announce the date. I didn't even attempt to stay up and watch the entire broadcast because I had work in the morning and the date affected me in no way or form. The date was called and immediately after the entire nation seemed to turn upside down. Shootings were claimed to be politically linked and people became even fearful to wear their favourite outfit because of the colour scheme. As a young person the behaviour of our leaders is enough to instantly turn

    This morning I woke up a gleaner article stating that certain roads are being fixed due to the approaching visit of the president of the United States. Of course, like many of my fellow Jamaicans I believe it's really a privilege that the president will be making his presence be felt on our beautiful island. My problem however, is the utter lack of respect that this government apparently has for the regular Jamaican citizens. I watch the news basically every night and almost every night there are citizens protesting about the conditions of roads in their community. My concern really is quite simple is it that we are not worthy of our roads being fixed,are we just peasants and need to reach a certain level in society or perhaps migrate and elevate our status before our concerns will be addressed in such a quick manner? Am I to believe that this is the same government who claims to not have the funds necessary to fix the roads that we as citizens have been complaining about?

Am I the only one who has come to realize that the only time the government really cares about public opinion is when it comes to election time. The government can't regain power without the help of the public. We as citizen have the power to decide whether or not they are given the chance to further rip our country apart. Why is then that we as citizens fail to see that the power is indeed in our hands. As Jamaicans we are the most vocal people but when it comes to getting up and speaking up for our rights we scared into silence.    When a young government minister can get up and encourage the young minds of the nation to leave the country because of lack of opportunity it certainly speaks volumes. They could care less or not about the fact that employment is so difficult to find. They simply want to send us off so we can be a problem to there nations. To the minister, did you know that the most valuable resource of a nation is its people? Apparently this has slipped your mind o