I was having a discussion the other day
with an 85yr old. His perception was that things are good. Shops are full of
stuff, the country is full of cars, Roads and highways are being built, and the
outward signs of prosperity are for all to see.
Therefore, JR’s Executive Presidency,
and the even more power taken into the Center by the current President are good
for this country. Namely that democracy does not work in Sri Lanka and only
dictatorship works. How he can say this was beyond my comprehension.
He is someone who has spent many years
travelling overseas and is fully aware of the outside world and progress. He
has lived through the miserable years of Mrs Bs government of 1970 to 1977,
when there was a flight of people emigrating, that imprisoned people who sent
5pounds sterling abroad!! So for him this regime that has so called provided
all these as well as a huge increase in the value of a property he bought in
the 1960’s is the answer!!
Does he realize that all this is just
part of normal development of an economy, especially one where during Mrs Bs
tenure needed an exit permit to go overseas? Where now 2million people remit
around US$8Billion to themselves, friends and family back home!! It is this
incredible free money that has brought this economy to this level of
development, despite the corruption, despite all the anti investment and growth
policies of this government. Just imagine where we would be if we had a proper
functioning democracy, where a particular cult or family personality is not
fostered above all else, and to the detriment of society.
To give any of this benefit to this
Government is plain wrong and at best paying lip service to an administration,
that has yet to solve ONE white van abduction, has nothing to say about 100,000
disappearances, and where the loved ones are still searching for answers. Is
this the country he feels is better than an alternative? Does one journalist
dare say anything in printed paper against this government? How many journalists
have been abducted and have not been seen or been killed? Can you honestly say
that justice is meted out fairly? How would you feel if one of the disappeared was one of your own? Will you ignore it as just an accident and he deserved it!!
I can understand this sentiment coming
from a simpleton with no education that just believes what he sees, without
knowing where the costs and benefits come from. When we have such educated and
eminent people making such comments, and one does not attribute it to senility,
then I wonder if their lives have been in a cave of ignorance, where there is
no humanity, except for enriching themselves.
2 comments:
I agree with the elderly gentleman on the progress that SL has made, and agree with you that "perceptions of development are from their perceived prejudices," as this applies to all including the author of this blog.
it's undeniable that on the macro level life is infinitely better in the country now than it was 5 years ago and this shows through the voices of the people during elections. On the micro level, how certain individuals have fared may vary.
I had much the same experience as you, an old lady was telling me how sugar prices had come down after the government took over Pelwatte sugar.
She did not understand that Rs.20 had been added in cess since the takeover, Rs.850m allocated via "supplementary estimates" to the sugar companies and that imported sugar was a great deal cheaper than the local sugar.
They will eventually wake up, when they find that they cannot live. A can on fish that costs Rs.100 has another Rs.100 in taxes, the same is true of many basic foodstuffs.
The example below is an extreme case, but the salient features as the same. We will eventually end up like them
http://reason.com/archives/2006/03/01/why-poor-countries-are-poor
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