Change, system or the people?

Whether a nation with this record can find the balance after a summersault of an attempted system change, only history will tell

From 1948, it has been an endless series of missteps, reflecting a national temperament which urges the path of backwardness and poor productivity. The emphasis was not on becoming a stronger or a wealthier nation, but on a hazy idea that all our ills are due to the nastiness of the system, there is this wealth somewhere in the country which should be distributed equally! A system must be created that feeds all the braggarts and the laggards (our Parliamentarians have already done this by voting in all kinds of benefits for themselves!)

A spectre is haunting Sri Lanka – the spectre of the NPP/JVP.

All powers of old Sri Lanka have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: A President without a popular mandate, a Government lacking credibility, political parties with tired faces, and businessmen with dark histories.

Two things result from this fact:

1. NPP/JVP is already acknowledged by these powers to be itself a power.

2. It is high time that the NPP/JVP openly publish their views, their aims, their tendencies, their policies and meet the nursery tale of the spectre of NPP/JVP with a clear manifesto of itself.

The history of post-independence Sri Lanka is the struggle between absurdities; supposed big families: land owners and tavern keepers created by the colonial government; uncle Toms and vacuous nationalists, crooked businessmen and commission agents, village bumpkins and city slickers, confounded theorists and self-styled geniuses; the sum result being a nation left poor and insolvent, a garish show providing 70 years of comic relief, a rattletrap of a country even for Asia.

Having taken the liberty of copying the dramatic style of the “Communist Manifesto”, the incendiary political pamphlet of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (written in 1848), I am reminded of the foreignness of 19th Century Europe from what existed then in Sri Lanka; materially, culturally and intellectually a world apart. If it was foreign in the 19th Century, it seems this island in the Indian Ocean is even more alien from European thinking, institutions and standards now. 

Their attempt at a universality notwithstanding, Marx and Engels were undeniably products of the European radical tradition, outstanding scholarship and of course a vivacity of culture. The trajectory of European history did not follow the path Marx anticipated, however, these countries have created societies that provide a good life for their citizens. Not only strong economies, today they are democratic countries with strong public institutions and the rule of law prevailing. Many of these countries are besieged by immigrants attracted by their high living standards and the freedoms they offer. Very many of these desperate refugees come from countries claiming to be socialist (Sri Lanka is both democratic and socialist!) 

By a quirk of history, several countries in Asia claim the communist title, including North Korea, the family fiefdom of 40-year-old Kim Jong Un. Before Kim Jong, his father, and before that his grandfather ruled that country of 26 million people with an iron grip. Now, Western companies are rushing to Vietnam to establish factories. They are attracted by the low wages and the weak labour laws of that communist country! Capitalists in all but name and home to many billionaires, China too is putatively communist. All cats will catch mice, but a few are feasting very well in deed!

Marx was occupied almost entirely on the tumults of Europe as he perceived them, political issues, economic classes, the logic of history and above all, the liberation of man himself. It was argued that racial issues were subject to the more fundamental economic (production) arrangement and that the entire world could be divided on class basis, and, he urged “Working men of the world unite!”

History’s lessons have been ambivalent

History’s lessons have been ambivalent, the workers of the world continued to be divided on national lines; Russia fought China, China fought Vietnam and Vietnam invaded Cambodia. All these are so called communist countries, claiming inspiration from Karl Marx. And, in every communist country a new class with economic as well as social privileges came to be. Fundamentally, history has shown that man is a selfish animal (like all genes!), as well as deeply tribal. Every man is a possible competitor and other tribes are potential enemies. For the tribe to flourish, those who are more economically active must be rewarded: the better hunter then, the better software engineer now.

The Europe of Marx has evolved to be a continent with a huge economy and of immense wealth, and, therefore an irresistible target for the desperate of the world. Not only materially; for education, health services, judicial standards and even parliamentary precedents we turn to Europe. This continent which produced men like Marx, Engels and Adam Smith also produced the necessary human material to craft the highly developed societies that they have become.

It bears no repetition that today’s world is extremely complex, humans now consume billions of things which were not even thought of a few centuries ago. In thought, knowledge and capabilities we are a world apart, say even from the 19th Century.

In the ancient days when Sri Lanka is said to have had a flourishing agrarian economy, our needs were obviously few. Perhaps these were the days of human adolescence, when a King, a religion and the staple rice would suffice to meet our every need. We do not know the life expectancy of the average person or his quality of life then; whatever histories we have of those days are principally about the Kings and their doings.

It is impossible to imagine a modern man accepting an autocratic King or a judicial system run by the aristocrats. No less, our manifold needs today; a career (not a caste designated function), a competitive education, good health services, mobile phones, independent news, a varied diet, freedom of travel and above all, the right to choose our rulers are non-negotiable. 

As the world became smaller and more complex, more inadequate we appear to be when facing it. From 1948, it has been an endless series of missteps, reflecting a national temperament which urges the path of backwardness and poor productivity. The emphasis was not on becoming a stronger or a wealthier nation, but on a hazy idea that all our ills are due to the nastiness of the system, there is this wealth somewhere in the country which should be distributed equally! A system must be created that feeds all the braggarts and the laggards (our Parliamentarians have already done this by voting in all kinds of benefits for themselves!) 

Mumbo-jumbo passed on for intellectual input

A nation where mumbo-jumbo has passed on for intellectual input for centuries, now cannot see the ludicrousness of soap box orators claiming the status of prophets, nor come to grips with the absurdity that at every election a new prophet comes forth.

When the COVID pandemic hit us, our Health Minister poured so called holy water to the rivers!

When there is a motor accident, the bystanders wreck vengeance on the vehicle! 

There is a clear deficiency in the make-up, including a deep going hatred of symbols of wealth, and in this poor country, a car is a symbol of wealth.

Things move slowly, stagnation is the norm in the country. Everybody talks, but very few act. Elections come and go, years pass, Sri Lanka yet remains poor, bypassed by nearly every other country in Asia.

In this collective failure, no segment is irreproachable; the executive, legislature, judiciary, business community, all have failed to deliver. They all come from the same society, gene pool, with more or less the same attitudes and outlook. True, our political establishment is being castigated throughout the land. It is well deserved, we have a terrible political culture which equates cunning and corruption to cleverness and capability! Character flaws are interpreted as political virtues!

Every statistic will show the utter failure, as well as the venality of the political establishment that we have created. 

However, are the politicians only an easy scapegoat? 

Is there an elephant in the room, which everyone ignores?

In nearly every encounter, the citizen (recipient) is left dissatisfied by the person manning the desk as it were. Every institution in the country is wanting.

Laws which are brought in with a lot of fanfare, end up being amended so many times that the original version is made a nullity by the many amendments that follow. According to our Constitution which is fundamentally based on the principle of a mandate from the people, a defeated candidate can come to Parliament as a nominated member and even end up as the President of the country! The world should tremble with trepidation when Sri Lankans take to legislating!

No appointment works as scheduled, everything is delayed or postponed, there is no credibility in the system.

The public sector, capable of attracting only the insecure and the inadequate, revels in bullying and harassing the helpless public. 

Although the profit motive tends to make the private sector more efficient, below the surface what is inherent in the character shows; unscrupulous and greedy. Importing an item (often to be sold to the Government, like we saw recently with the medicine from India), putting up a building or manipulating our small market is presented as herculean tasks to a blindly admiring public. Things which are routine in advanced societies, become heroic deeds in this befuddled country.

We are only mediocre

In productivity, we are only mediocre, whether it be rice, tea, coconut, our per acre production is below the world average. In tourism, much smaller countries have done far better. Even in industrial production we compare poorly with other Asian countries.

Ultimately, it is the people, the holiest of cows! Even if a leader with desirable qualities were to be found, he will soon be reduced by the incessant demands for handouts, attendance at weddings/funerals, the old boy system, favours for buddies, jobs for supporters and the ritualistic compliance with their prevailing standards.

Nonetheless, if you listen to the common narrative during elections, the refrain is, “the army is ready, where is the General?” 

In other words, the nation is ready to achieve great heights, even Developed country status, if only the small matter of the correct leader is addressed. 

Change the system, is the cry! The very slogan takes away all responsibility from the individual, all’s good with him, it is only the fault of the system!

Whether a nation with this record can find the balance after a summersault of an attempted system change, only history will tell. As to what system, and how it would be changed remains unanswered. After all, the systems we have now are what we are capable of, what our collective mind-set has driven us to. 

Of all the challengers before a nation, the most difficult must be to come to a correct appraisal of itself.

We go back to the closing words of the Communist Manifesto to present it in our own words.

“Let the world tremble at the coming of the new powerful nation in Asia. All the people of the nation unite! They have nothing to lose but their illusions about themselves!”