“Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny” are words from a popular Bob Marley song often quoted to justify how we want to or have chosen to live our lives. The meaning of those words is also often deliberately or inadvertently misconstrued. Some may very well believe it speaks of doing what you want, where you want, how you want, when you want. That surely is a departure from the truth.
In much the same way, some are of the view that democracy suggests that we are free to fulfill our every fancy when or where we see fit. Another departure from reality.
Every society is governed and guided by a certain set of rules/laws/guidelines that shape the social environment, hence the word “society”.
This misunderstanding may very well be the root cause for the social issues that are plaguing our small island and by extension, the region at the moment. Regional heads have all agreed that the individual territories face the very same challenges which call for a unified approach. We have even seen the advent of gang affiliations stretching through numerous territories throughout the Caribbean chain creating a worrying phenomenon. That is another issue all together.
It may seem to be a soft approach, but maybe we need to start teaching the concepts of democracy and freedom as it relates to our existence in society and how it aligns with the right to decide our own destiny. This is obviously not an immediate fix and will only resonate over time. It appears impossible to properly function in an environment without understanding how it is meant to operate.
Then there are the impediments.
One thing that has proven to be true and addressed in the Good Book, is the fact that children learn what they see. It stands to reason that our greatest fix may not be to sanction the youth but rather vehemently reject the behaviour of the adults among them.
We also have to contend with imported behaviours from North America and Europe under the guise of growing a modern society.
Then there are the not so small issues of poverty and greed and selfishness, all massive in their own right.
We say all this to say that in our quest to decide our own destiny, it must be remembered that the democracy we live in has rules that shape the society in which we live. My destiny is dependent on your respecting your obligations. To put it another way, rights and duties are equal and opposite, to borrow from Newton’s third law of motion. It is this fundamental that must drive our sense of mores for our St. Lucian society.
This may all sound easy, or text-book type, or superficial, and maybe it is but consider that nothing else has worked in our bid to advance our ailing society.