Alan, sorry to offend you, and thanks for the advice. But that's not whatmy post was about. I already have enough advice. I'm studying for some upcoming exams right now, so I can't write much, but my post was about Harry Belafonte, the commercialisation of calypso, and calypso tradition. I only wrote it in response to your post as a guest on page 2 of this thread, made on 21 April, where you wrote, "Borrow or steal from who you can, it doesn't matter." I'm saying that it does matter. Are you saying that as long as you want to do something good, "it doesn't matter" if you commercialise and water down an already commercialised and watered-down tradition and allow people to represent you as something that you are not?

Because if you're not, it certainly seems like you are saying that "it doesn't matter" what tent calypsonians in Trinidad or musicians in other countries think of what outsiders who don't know enough about their traditions are doing to those traditions by performing them when they don't realise the traditions' complexity. You seem to think it's OK to exploit performers like this by "just doing what you want" with no thought to how those performers will think of you disrespecting their cultures. Can you explain if this is what you meant in that post?