THESE days life is all about street vibes, as, on the street is where most people hustle, it’s the street that provides all the hustle and bustle and it’s become the means to a survival.
If you need drugs, or rum, or need to know people’s business, or who is who, or who did what to whom, all that is available at the street corner. The average St. Lucian, especially those who have migrated from the out districts or choose to reside within close proximity or the outskirts of the concrete jungle, all have to hustle, beg or steal on these streets because the cost of rentals for established properties are prohibitive, so now, every other person is a street vendor.
The people have shown their willingness to peddle their goods regardless of what kind, legal or not, but the state is dragging its feet in providing more adequate and cost-effective outlet for the people they claim to represent.
We think about the comfort of our visitors, we sell our choice lands to the highest bidder, we sell our birthright, we sell our souls — if we have to — but we neglect the comfort of our people, especially those we classify as ghetto people.
The only times these people become important is at elections, when every vote counts and one can make promises and not be obligated to fulfill any.
Everybody should count, even the common criminal or outcast; the disabled need care, the elderly as well — and especially the school dropouts, because the education system has failed many a young person and the alternative means of absorbing them within the system still has not been thorough.
In the midst of that muddle are the criminal ones who are now rebelling against the system, fighting brother and sister to gain recognition, acceptance, or to prove a point.
The state or government or leaders — call it what you want — have to wake-up and smell the coffee. Crime stems from discontentment and quite a large percentage of the roots people are suffering and discontented.
For the criminals to behave or reduce on their barbaric actions they need to be given choices, a reason to change, they need another lucrative means for their survival, they need to find new ways to absorb their energy. What they need is not just promises, but to see fundamental change that includes them, because no one likes to feel left out or marginalized.
It is only then that we may see a new breed of youth.
These days, quite a few youths are dying on the street corners, a lot more are aimlessly straying on the street sides, the city is buzzing with nothing progressive happening, we hear about growth, but cannot see it.
Unless the plan is to get rid of city dwellers and create Green Spaces only for visitors (tourists)…
There is cheap booze at every street corner, people jay-walking aimlessly, everybody looking for a cheap item – especially on Saturday mornings, when it’s bargain galore — and as that segment of society struggles on, the successful ones drive by in air-conditioned comfort.
Yes, Street Vibes is more than just a popular TV show. It’s a true reflection of the real vibes on our streets – and not only on street corners either.
Street Vibes.
Yeah!