Saturday's STAR story about the police putting a major dent in the extortion racket operating in Montego Bay's Old Shoe market is yet another case of parasites living off other persons' work.
This time it is literally the case, as the extortionists had not only been demanding that the vendors pay them money, but also took their produce at will.
Bolo captured
Police say that last Wednesday's capture of Anthony 'Bolo' Christie, who has been linked to over 20 murders in St. James, has gone a far way towards addressing the situation. However, we must note that it is yet another case of parasites living off those closest to them and those who have, if not the least, then certainly not much.
For while selling in the market is a time-honoured route to self-reliance, it certainly will not make the average vendor rich. And, to compound the situation, there are criminals who habitually take from the little money that they have and the produce that they stock.
'Crab-in-a-barrel'-syndrome
It is yet another instance of a class of people perpetuating their own poverty by the parasites living off the productive, a graphic manifestation of the 'crab-in-a- barrel' syndrome.
While this arrest will, hopefully, decrease the extortion for some time, no doubt others will come. And the situation is replicated all over Jamaica, in and out of the marketplace. Until we address the mentality, not much is going to change.
And changing a mindset is much harder than making arrests.
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