The Empathic Civilization — An Address Before the British Royal Society for the Arts — By Jeremy Rifkin – March 15, 2010

The following address has been reproduced in its entirely as it is the single most important speech that has transformed my worldview and has served as the catalyst for this blog site and my writings. My fervent hope is that you would also be touched and your worldview transformed for the better as mine was.… Read More

Feature Address given at the Basseterre High School Speech Day and Prize Giving Ceremony 2004

Today is a day of reflection, a day of reflection on what we have accomplished, a day on which we ponder how we can build on our accomplishments as we face the future with confidence. Today, we celebrate the achievements of our students who have successfully completed another academic year, in the hope of equipping… Read More

How to Create Heaven Here on Earth (written just after September 2001)

As of late, I have been giving a lot of thought to what has been happening in the world, especially with regards to the events of September the 11th, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and many other conflicts, past and present that involve people of different religious backgrounds. What has come to the forefront of my mind… Read More

Ennobling the political establishment – Seeing the folly of our ways and helping to raise the Bar once and for all for one and all

About twenty years ago, about six months into my medical training, a discussion ensued in my class, which although I did not know it then, has in hindsight, helped me to understand the true nature of the political beast. At that time, we had two very distinguished professors who were constantly destructively criticizing the other,… Read More

Exorcising the demons from my religion – My spiritual odyssey from endarkenment to enlightenment

Over the past month, much has happened in my life and the life of my community that has caused me to pause and reflect on my health and also the health of my community. What has been fermenting and now is bubbling up to the surface is my discontent with the happenings around me as it pertains… Read More

Diagnosing the Root Cause of our Political Dis-Ease and Formulating a Treatment Plan

Two weeks ago, I was honoured to be asked to give the keynote address to an incoming class of medical students, and during my preparations I realized that there was so much I wanted to say which could not have been said in ten minutes.  Although the main points I wanted to get across were… Read More

Keynote Address given at the White Coat Ceremony at UMHS on May 12, 2012

It is a pleasure and an honour to be invited here today and to be asked to give the Keynote address. It was only 20 years ago that I started my medical training at the Mona Campus at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. And seeing you all here today, I can well imagine what is going through your mind, as believe it or not, I was once a medical student just like you. Although I was naive, insecure, and unsure of my skills and the challenges that lay ahead, I had many mentors along the way who reassured me that although the journey would be a difficult one, I would eventually succeed and that my dream of becoming a doctor, would one day become a reality. They were fond of telling me that, “medicine is easy”, (which I did not believe at the time, but now I do), and that “the only difference between them and I was time.”

What I hope to do in the next ten minutes or so is to share with you some of the insights gained, and words of wisdom given, that have shaped me, and that have allowed me to stand before you today.

Read More

From Sense to Sensibility – Our Human Nature and Our Human Potential Redefined

Who am I, from where did I come, what is my purpose here on earth, and what will happen to me when I die? These are the questions that have preoccupied man’s search for meaning since the dawn of civilisation. I will attempt to show that we can deepen our understanding of the mystery of… Read More