tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167149547535484177.post1032214672861499760..comments2024-01-20T14:08:08.057+05:30Comments on Serendipity: We have no friends! Only those who use us for their ends – so who will protect us? That is a question that smart diplomacy could have avoided.Ratmale,Minneriya,Sri Lankahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17252632858481217930noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167149547535484177.post-88293736369615355502014-03-19T16:57:08.303+05:302014-03-19T16:57:08.303+05:30it's true that SL tends to play its own hand i...it's true that SL tends to play its own hand in international affairs, maintaining an independent outlook. in this crimea case it will indeed be imprudent to vote with Russia if the event came about as it undermines SL's and many other country's unitary state argument.<br /><br />all of this doesn't matter that much in the mind of Joseph Perera, who is the average voter.<br /><br />he cares about cost of living -- food, gas, electricity, schooling, health care, etc-- as well as ease of life -- holidays, work hours, traffic, prospects of sickness, etc. you must speak to joe perera in those terms if you want to sway him and his family.<br /><br />arguments about human rights and good governance fall flat with him unless you clearly and concisely tie it in with one of those 2 factorsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com