So if you are an articulate Jamaican and on social media, especially Twitter, as far as government minister Bobby Pickersgill is concerned, you are irrelevant.

Minister Pickersgill reportedly made comments to that effect following the Jamaica Labour Party's walkout of Parliament on Tuesday, arising from the ongoing Outameni fiasco dominating the media over the past few weeks.

Mr Pickersgill's comments don't really shock me because I have always felt that politicians in this country prefer us all to remain in the dark and inarticulate. What was surprising was that he actually said it in public. "No ordinary Jamaican not speaking about it ... Twitter? Twitter is ordinary Jamaican? Ordinary Jamaicans know anything about Twitter?"

He added that Jamaicans on Twitter are an 'articulate minority'.

So I guess I am not an ordinary Jamaican nor are the many articulate 'friends' I have on Facebook or Twitter. We are in the minority so our opinions don't matter. Sometimes, I think politicians forget that they are where they are because of the articulate and inarticulate. Their job is to serve all of us not just some of us, but there is a reason why they want to serve only the so-called 'ordinary' Jamaicans.

discouraging many

It has been a long-running strategy of some political parties in Jamaica - divide and rule. They have made it unpopular to be educated and articulate, discouraging many from aiming for higher standards and denying themselves the opportunity to achieve more than they are led to believe they are capable of. As a consequence, those 'ordinary Jamaicans' have grown to despise who I now refer to as the 'extraordinary Jamaicans' those who are articulate.

The politicians are happy with the current state of affairs because the less a man knows, the less likely he is able to articulate what he wants and the more easily he can be persuaded that what they are doing is in their best interest. The evidence is there for all to see because in addition to the articulate minority, as Mr Pickersgill refers to us, there are also a vast number of the inarticulate on social media too and their posts reflect the thinking of the politicians they are beholden to.

articulate minority

What is amazing is that the minister's comments are a slap in the face of the masses and they don't even realise it. What the minister is saying is that 'ordinary Jamaicans' are inarticulate. What an indictment on those responsible for informing and educating the nation!

What needs to happen now is the articulate minority that Mr Pickersgill doesn't think is relevant, those same people who are on Twitter expressing their displeasure at what has been going on with this NHT situation that has so many people disgusted, need to go out in their numbers at the next general election and demonstrate how irrelevant we are.

Governments are put in place to serve the people but the arrogance being displayed on this NHT issue has rankled even people within the governing party's ranks. I know of several people, normally party die-hards, who are sick to the stomach of what has been happening. Their only struggle now is whether not to vote or to place a vote for an Opposition that has been significantly lacking in inspiration and articulation.

Should they manage to get their act together within the next two years and present the articulate minority with a viable voting option, maybe we can render Minister Pickersgill irrelevant by sending him out to pasture.