Soca artiste Maximus Dan (formally Magadan) is probably best known for his patrotic hit "Soca Warrior" that he sang in support of the T&T football team that went on to qualify for it's first FIFA World Cup in Germany, 2006. Maximus is also well known for his mantra, "Order, don't cross the border" - that he would often interject during his performances to promote his own advocacy for personal and social responsibility.
Unfortunately, the real challenge with today's society is not only in getting people to operate within the 'borders' of acceptable behaviour, but probably more importantly, to more clearly define what is acceptable. So where exactly is the border? What is acceptable and what is not... and who cares... does it really matter? And who determines where the borders are drawn?
Well, consider the dilemma that young people face when different institutions/agencies (schools, religion, politics, family, friends, etc) all present varying interpretations of the "borders". So where do you stand - pro-life or pro-choice; pre-marital sex or not; God or no God; smelter or no smelter...?
And then, just when you've made an informed decision, after you've analyzed as much info as you can - and you choose to stand behind a particular border.... somebody decides to move it! So, now the border is blurry - because even within established institutions, there seems to be a growing trend of 'flexible borders'. Things no longer seem to be clearly right or wrong - so many shades of grey... and we wonder why it's so difficult for our young people to respond to Maximus Dan's cry for order.
+ve vibes,
Mark
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