Book Review: Michael Manley: The Making Of a Leader by Darrell E. Levi

Michael Manley:

The Making Of a Leader

by Darrell E. Levi

      Jamaica is a nation that got off to a rough start. As a post-colonial Caribbean country granted sovereignty from Great Britain in 1962, they have been plagued by political and economic turbulence ever since. In the 1970s, Jamaicans elected a Prime Minister who was seen as a savior by some and a menace by his opponents. Darrell E. Levi’s Michael Manley: The Making Of a Leader tells his story.

Michael Manley was born into a middle class family of importance to Jamaica’s development. His father founded and ran the left wing People’s National Party (PNP) in opposition to the right wing Jamaican Labor Party (JLP). His mother was a prominent artist and political activist. Manley’s cousin, the conservative and authoritarian Alexander Bustamante, was elected Jamaica’s first post-colonial prime minister in 1962.

During World War II, Michael Manley enlisted in the Canadian air force and then went to university in London. There he worked as a journalist before returning to Jamaica to work as a labor union leader in association with the PNP. He wasn’t just an ordinary union leader though; he rose to prominence because he went on the job and worked side by side with the laborers who were given the most back breaking work in Kingston. He didn’t just show up for photo ops with teams of ditch diggers; he picked up a shovel and helped them dig for as long as their work shifts lasted. He continued in his willingness to get his hands dirty with the most impoverished of workers long after he became a politician. His sincerity took him a long way in Jamaican politics.

Levi doesn’t just tell the story of Michael Manley’s life. He provides a fair amount of context to help people outside the country understand its political climate. He explains the 1960s under Bustamante as a time of uprisings, police brutality, and the West Kingston Wars. Bustamante stayed aloof to Jamaica’s problems as the country struggled to get on its feet. Levi also demonstrates how Jamaican politics differ from those in the developed nations to some degree. It is a system of bicameral parliamentary governance, but with high levels of graft the prime minister makes most decisions unilaterally. Politics are more tribal and territorial, something which has led to gang warfare over the years. Class and ethnicity are closely related; dark skinned, lower class Jamaicans mostly align with the PNP and the light skinned middle and upper classes align with the JLP. In political discourse, passionate speaking is valued more than nuanced debate. Political favors granted to neighborhoods or territories that vote in blocks are common. When one party gets into office, they repay the favor to voters who supported them with things like free food distribution or the upgrading of houses, something denied to neighborhoods that didn’t support the party in power. This sometimes leads to gangs forcing people in their territories to vote at gunpoint for their party of affiliation. Politics are mostly localized with the national government almost exclusively managing affairs in Kingston while paying little attention to the rest of the country. The Rastafarian movement has been most closely affiliated with the PNP and are big supporters of Michael Manley.

Despite Jamaica’s grim political practices, Michael Manley got elected Prime Minister in 1972 on a platform of social justice. Racial equality, worker’s rights, education, and the raising of living standards for the poor were the issues that won him a significant majority. He ruled by committee, setting up community organizations subordinate to the PNP to address all aspects of governing. Manley became massively popular throughout the 1970s despite a long list of political setbacks. His political philosophy was that of democratic socialism. Even though the emphasis was on “democratic”, his practice of soft socialism led him into conflict with the United States who were backing his conservative rival Edward Seaga through affiliations with the CIA. His personal style made him look messianic in the eyes of the lower classes and he earned the nickname Joshua, possibly an influence from the Hebrew-inspired Rastafarians.

Aside from placing social justice at the forefront of Jamaican politics, Manley also played the role of statesman. Levi writes about how Manley brought Jamaica into the post-colonial Non-Aligned Movement of nations that began in Indonesia after World War II. He spoke at the United Nations as an advocate for international cooperation and put Jamaica on the map as a viable participant in world affairs. Some of his alliances proved to be contentious though. Manley kept close ties with Cuba and had a lifelonh friendship with Fidel Castro who never pressured him to turn communist. Manley also maintained diplomatic and trade ties to the Soviet Union. As a result, the USA kept him at an arm’s length despite his desire to make Jamaica a neutral force in the Cold War.

While Jamaica remained a small, impoverished island nation, America could not so easily dismiss Manley. The aluminum industry depended on mining the raw material bauxite there, something they were doing at a very low cost because of Bustamante’s policies in the 1960s. Jamaica owed America money anyhow. Manley borrowed from the World Bank to kick start the Jamaican economy, but when they failed to meet the growth demands set by the IMF, they came close to defaulting on their loan. As Jamaica sank deeper into economic crisis, Manley raised taxes on bauxite exports so the American mining companies withdrew from the island. Even worse, the US placed tariffs on the products Jamaica imported from America, and this led to further economic hardship. Manley picked up some extra money for the nation by building tourist resorts and putting on music festivals, but this was never enough to stabilize the economy, let alone promote its growth.

The CIA were by then backing Manley’s rival Edward Seaga and a fierce propaganda battle ensued that harmed Manley’s stature in the eyes of the middle and upper classes. The CIA imported guns to Jamaica as a plan to destabilize the country with escalating violent crime rates and gang warfare to turn the population against Michael Manley. Assassination attempts against Manley happened three times, all of which he survived.

Manley remained popular though until he lost the election to Seaga in 1982. Seaga remained Prime Minister until the late 1980s. He failed to deliver on his promises to control the crime rate and bring economic prosperity to Jamaica, although he did succeed in building up Jamaica’s infrastructure. Michael Manley returned to power in the election of 1988, but by then the two rival Prime Ministers agreed to stop fighting and worked together to further Jamaica’s development. Manley resigned from the office of prime minster soon after getting re-elected because of health problems. That is something not covered in Levi’s book because this biography ends with Manley’s return to office as prime minster.

Levi’s political biography of Michael Manley is a slow read. That isn’t because it lacks excitement. It actually is an exciting book considering it is about the politics of a nation that is not often discussed in the wider world. It is only slow moving because it is so densely packed with information that it takes a good deal of time to absorb it all. It really is a book worth reading if you want to learn anything about West Indian politics or the economic struggles of the Third World. Otherwise, Darrell Levi is heavily biased in favor of Michael Manley and some people might find fault in that as he doesn’t go deeply into the problems Manley’s shortcomings as a politician. He doesn’t ignore those problems, but he just doesn’t say enough to make this a balanced biography. It would be interesting to learn more about Edward Seaga too since many Jamaicans consider him to be equally important, and controversial, as Michael Manley in the political history of Jamaica.

Michael Manley is presented here as a sincere prime minister with a heart of gold and as an intellectual with a taste for the finer things in life. His biggest crimes were naivete and lacking the pragmatic skills necessary for advancing Jamaica towards being a Caribbean nation of peace and prosperity. He wasn’t entirely to blame for that because Jamaica did not have a history of independent rule to fall back on or to learn from. He did the best he could with what he knew. He was more of a visionary than a politician, but he got others to believe in his vision and sometimes those visions are necessary to instigate action. Jamaica has been through more hard times since Michael Manley died, but his dream isn’t dead.

Recent years have seen an incremental drop in crime and a strengthening middle class due in part to Jamaican immigrants in the US and UK remitting money back home and buying property. Sites associated with Bob Marley are becoming places of pilgrimage and tourist dollars are trickling in. Jamaica has a long way to go still, but with enough economic momentum and the desire to pursue dreams, they just might make it some day. Go visit this interesting country and see for yourself.

 

Book Review: Bad Lands by Tony Wheeler

Bad Lands:

A Tourist On the Axis of Evil

by Tony Wheeler

      Some countries are like people. They find themselves living on the wrong side of the tracks. In the various cities I’ve lived in throughout my life, I’ve ventured into and out of all sides of those tracks. What I’ve found is that just because people live in the rougher sides of town, that doesn’t mean they are all rough people. In fact I’ve found the opposite: sometimes living in the bad neighborhoods brings out the best in people. I’ve certainly found that the biggest assholes I’ve ever met have been people living in the nicer neighborhoods or the suburbs. I’ve had a few nasty encounters in some rural areas of America too and in fact, almost all of the crime and violence I have encountered have been in the USA. The same can be said for countries. I’ve lived in and traveled in sixty different countries and most of them were in the Global South. I imagine Tony Wheeler, author of Bad Lands: A Tourist On the Axis of Evil would have a similar view.

Tony Wheeler writes for Lonely Planet, that omnipresent series of guidebooks you used to see in the hands of almost every backpacker and hostel dweller you ever encountered on the road twenty or thirty years ago. In this book he delves into the genre of travel narrative very much in the spirit of what Lobely Planet was all about. Now anybody who prefers to stay at home with their eyes glued to their TV sets or the internet might have the impression that life outside America is both bizarre and dangerous. The truth is that such a viewpoint is about eighty percent wrong. Wheeler visits some of these forbidden zones to find out what they are like.

Something has to be said about what Wheeler means by “badlands” and how he chose his travel destinations. When George W. Bush, the second worst president in American history, made his first State of the Union Address, he identified the countries of Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as being an axis of evil, state sponsors of terrorism that sought to destroy America. Actually Iran was the only one of the three countries that was legitimately a state sponsor of terrorism, but that is neither here no there for the purposes of this book. Those three countries are included in Wheeler’s itinerary. The others he includes are nations that have low regards for human rights; they include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Cuba, Libya, and Saudi Arabia. He also includes Albania because they were a severe violator of civil liberties under the lunatic regime of Enver Hoxha not too long ago in historical terms at least. I myself have traveled in Albania, as well as Myanmar and Saudi Arabia. Note that Wheeler’s selection of destinations are not the most dangerous countries in the world, just the ones that are on the West’s shitlist with the exception of Saudi Arabia, the USA’s darling on the Arabian Peninsula.

So what did Tony Wheeler find on his journey through the badlands? Lots and lots of friendly, helpful, hospitable, and often happy people who were proud to show off their countries. There were lots of visits to tourist sights too. He visits ancient minarets in Afghanistan, castles in Albania, Buddhist temples in Myanmar, classic architecture in Cuba, museums in Iraq, beautiful mosques in Iran, Roman ruins in Libya, bizarre communist monuments in North Korea, and the ancient ruins of Madain Saleh in Saudi Arabia. He relies heavily on local transportation which can be a test of one’s patience when traveling in the third world. This takes him across deserts, through mountains, along seacoasts, and up rivers in shoddy vehicles with stops along the way in small villages. The only real danger he encounters, aside from horrible driving, is a riot in Kabul which he actually is not close to when it happens, although it is bad enough that he hides out in the British embassy while it goes on. Not alll of it is good though; Cuba is decrepit and he says the government treats people there like patients in a mental institution. Saudi Arabia is just a little bit dull. Otherwise you can say that his travels are like ordinary backpacking adventures that just happen to be in countries that America considers to be enemies. The descriptions of what he sees and does are good and for anybody who likes exploring life off the beaten path, this book can resonate well, bringing back memories and making you want to hit the road once again in search of unique experiences.

Being almost twenty years old, it is interesting to see what has changed since it was written. Afghanistan is now entirely governed by the Taliban. Albania has a booming economy and a growing tourist industry; Tirana may even be the next Barcelona. Myanmar has sunk into disaster after Aung San Suu Kyi proved to be a better leader while under house arrest and the Rohingya genocide continues without any interest from the outside world. Or is that genocides aren’t really genocides when they are done by post-colonial people who aren’t white? Cuba has opened up to the rest of the world, but their economy still continues to crumble. The war in Iraq is over and tourists are coming back even though it still is not a safe country. Iran is still Iran. North Korea is still North Korea. Libya has fallen into chaos after the Arab Spring, the assassination of Gaddafi, and the resulting civil war. Saudi Arabia has gone through massive social and legal changes, finally making progress while the rest of the world turns towards authoritarianism. Some countries got better, some got worse. If Tony Wheeler were going to do this again, he probably would need to include Venezuela, Russia, Belarus, Haiti, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, and China. Now that Donald Trump has been tragically elected president a second time, it may not be long before the USA becomes a badland itself.

After finishing Bad Lands, I was reminded of Plato’s famous “Allegory Of the Cave.” Today’s troglodytes are the masses of Americans and Westerners whose perceptions are trapped and distorted in their caves made of movies, TV, news, social media, and cell phone junk. Tony Wheeler is like the guy who leaves the cave and comes back to tell them what the real world is about, but they scoff and call him crazy, going back to their lives of ignorance dominated by sports and political propaganda fed to them by the ruling classes. It’s their loss. Tony Wheeler is right. The world outside the media cave is an amazing place, much more interesting than anything you will ever see on a screen. The world is there for you and everybody else. It’s endlessly fascinating. If the things you watch on your screens are more interesting than what you do in real life, then you are doing life wrong. Go out and live. 

 

Book Review

The Soccer War

by Ryszard Kapuscinski

     If you are interested in remote and dangerous parts of the world, than The Soccer War would be a good book for you. Its author, Ryszard Kapuscinski, was a Polish journalist and war correspondent who got out to see the world before the communist system collapsed. In this collection of essays and dispatches, he writes about the times in Africa, Latin America, and the Mediterranean when he deliberately put himself into danger zones, sometimes almost getting killed, for the sake of reporting back to his home country, inform the communist world on what life can be like on the other side of the Iron Curtain.

The book starts on a fairly optimistic tone with one memorable essay about Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah, the first Black African president to come to power in the post-colonial era. The author effectively captures the vibrant and energetic rally in which Nkrumah makes a speech. Kapuscinski then points out why post-colonial leaders were receiving so much attention in the 1960s; his take is that because of colonialism and slavery, the West effectively wiped out the history of African leadership. Post-colonialism was a time when the African people needed new heroes to reawaken their nations and lead them into the future. They had no heroes in their historical memory so they looked to the young and bold heroes of their present for inspiration.

In other essays, the author continues examining the theme of post-colonial leadership with chapters on Patrice Lumumba of Congo and Ahmed Ben Bella of Algeria. In the former essay, he fears for his life as Congolese mobs search for white people to lynch after the assassination of Lumumba. In the latter essay he writes about a coup that overthrows the revolutionary administration of Ben Bella. Both subjects are handled with sympathy and understanding for the people of those respective countries. In the essay on Algeria, he explains why post-colonial politics in the Third World are so troublesome. A young ideological visionary takes power and fails to lift his country up to greatness, an endeavor that takes time and stability. But progress happens too slowly, the populations grow frustrated, and agitation begins. The new politicians’ powers get sapped and drained as he struggles to maintain order and power while others challenge his authority in the form of coups and riots. Heavy-handed governing is the result which looks like repression to the citizens, so people rebel and a downward spiral of brutality begins. Any student of post-colonial history needs to read this essay because the author so clearly and succinctly evaluates and diagnoses the problem of political stability in the Third World.

Then, in this book’s titular story, “The Soccer War”, Kapuscinski tells about his time spent in Central America when the rowdiness of two soccer games between Honduras and El Salvador sparked a war between the two nations. With a kind of courage that seems almost bafflingly suicidal, the author demands to be taken to the front line of the war in the hills along the border. At the edge of the combat he flees into the jungle and finds a medical camp. He witnesses a strange sight when the Honduran soldier watch the death of a soldier, and mourn his passing without even knowing if he is on their side or the enemy’s. In the midst of all this chaos, Kapuscinski finds nothing but the sad reality of humanity. After making it back to safety, the author addresses the cause of the war as being a result of overpopulation and wealth-inequality in El Salvador, something that could be managed with effective governing. This means the war was entirely unnecessary.

Other chapters are less about politics and more about dangerous situations Kapuscinski had gotten himself into. He almost gets executed by Belgian soldiers in Burundi, burnt to death in Nigeria, and forced to escape from Ethiopia. But like the other essays, he always addresses these situations with pathos in an attempt to understand why these things are happening. His neutrality is uncanny and he never comes across as judgmental, even in the worst of times.

Kapuscinski’s writing is bold and endlessly gripping. If you are bothered by his machismo, just remember that he made all these journeys for the sake of learning what it means to be human. His nearly fatal attraction to danger can seem naive and even stupid at times, but his writing never gets arrogant; it is almost always about the other people and not about him so much. His writing style is reminiscent of Graham Greene with a little touch of Joseph Conrad thrown in, although it must be remembered that this book was translated from Polish so the translator should get some credit here.

The Soccer War reads a lot like an anthology of short travel narratives, but instead of hearing about some tourist’s extended vacation in Europe, some outsider’s alcohol or ganja fueled meanderings, or some backpacker’s treks through the wilderness, it is all about being at the wrong place at the wrong time and being their deliberately. It is more the author’s personal statement than a reliable work of journalism or history, but the insights he gives make this an excellent introduction to the study of post-colonialism and Third World studies. Or it might just be interesting to the general reader as well. In the end, it might make you feel as though life is lived more deeply, more richly, and more meaningfully at the peripheries of the world’s populations or the margins of human experience where you may not be safe but where you will experience the strongest manifestation of your will to live.