Sunday Times 2
Rejection of reason and hard facts of experience caused the Lankan crisis?
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The continuous pursuit of failed strategies in politics and other disciplines in the hope of achieving a successful objective defies logical reasoning and ends in abject failure. This is the conclusion of a distinguished American historian.
Dictionaries of quotations abound with pronouncements of optimism such as ‘Failures are the pillars of success’, by those of great achievements speaking about the many failed attempts before being ultimately successful. However, they do not often speak much or stress that they changed their strategies from those attempts that failed to newer strategies to be successful.
Barbara Touchmen in her historical analysis of European civilisations, starting from King Solomon of Israel through Greece and Roman civilisations, the Holy Roman Empire, French and American revolutions to the Indo-China War, examines the reasons or the collapse of these empires and civilisations in her much-acclaimed book, The March of Folly. (This column has earlier written about her analysis of the fall of Troy and the Trojan Horse.)
These developments are of much relevance today to many nations around the world now in turmoil, including our de-paradise.
Throughout history, she says, governments have pursued policies contrary to their own interests — mankind performing poorly than almost any other human activity than in governing themselves. In her sweep of over 30 centuries of history, she delves into the many blunders and foibles of well-known rulers.
In our glance at her survey, what struck us most was the rejection of reason and ignoring hard facts of experience by leaders in the governance of their countries was the prime reason for the follies of their downfall.
In this country now in a severe crisis — economic and political — an allegation often made against its recent rulers has been the ‘Uddachakama’ which approximates the term ‘Wooden-headedness’ used by the author. She says that this wooden-headedness is a source of self-deception that plays a remarkably large role in government. It results in assessing a situation in terms of preconceived notions while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting according to wish while not allowing oneself to be deflected by facts. She quotes an unnamed historian’s statement about Philip II of Spain who is said to ‘have surpassed all wooden-headed sovereigns’: ‘No experience in the failure of his policy could shake his belief in its essential excellence’.
We have quoted the author at length for our readers to consider whether the financial and political crises of Lanka were caused by such wooden-headed stubbornness that rejected all expert advice to the contrary and the conviction of the supreme leader that he alone was right.
And is the country on the same track on other vital issues such as the treatment of the Aragalaya leaders who threw out a ruling failed government by marshalling public opinion through non-violent means?
The call right now is for ‘Low and Odour’ — Law and Order spelt out phonetically in ‘Singlish’ by our colleague in London. True, political stability is called for, and for that to happen law and order must prevail. And the purpose of enforcing law and order in a society is for justice to be dispensed. But the plight of this country right now is such that some may break the law to ease the pangs of hunger as in the case of three starving Weligama boys who had gatecrashed a wedding at a reception hall and were enjoying the food when enforcers of the law arrested them, news reports said. Had justice been done to these boys we wonder?
There is also the case of Mervyn Silva, the notorious former MP who has been produced in courts for an event that happened 15 years ago. Silva, an active Rajapaksa party supporter at that time, walked into the Rupavahini Studios with a sidekick and is alleged to have intimidated a TV executive whom he accused of not giving full publicity to a speech he had made. The public was unaware of this incident until this state TV channel had Silva and his cohort daubed in colourful paint and Silva remonstrating with vigour. After a lengthy TV show, Silva and the sidekick were seen walking out to the hoots and jeers of the TV station employees.
We are not commenting on the issue of Silva being produced in courts but merely describing what TV viewers saw 15 years ago. This was not the end of that TV saga where the chief performer apparently had political patronage from the highest in the land. Has justice been meted out to Silva or is he to face the consequences for breaking law and order 15 years ago? Maybe that ‘Justice delayed is Justice denied’. Now, what will legal pundits say of justice being delayed in Silva’s case?
Is there a nexus between the Silva saga and the Aragalaya demonstrator who too gatecrashed into the Rupavahini Studios and is alleged to have demanded that the anchorman not transmit fake news? Is this man being charged, with a demonstration of equality before the law?
The Aragalaya also known earlier as the GotaGoHome campaign had been commended at various stages by well-known personalities foreign and local, including President Ranil Wickremesinghe. But now there appears to be a severe and vicious campaign against some of its leading lights, who are being arrested for breaking law and order in the process of throwing out by peaceful means a government that brought the nation to a point of starvation and bankruptcy. They are being accused of terrorism.
This appears to be another instance of wooden-headedness or ‘Uddachakama’ that occurred throughout history.
We are all aware that some of the 20th Century’s acknowledged leaders who freed millions of people from colonial bondage or dictatorships too were jailed for violating law and order. Mahatma Gandhi, Mao Zedong, Jomo Kenyatta, Nelson Mandela, Sukarno, Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro ranks among some of those who were accused of breaking the law and some were jailed for long years being charged with terrorism.
Are we witnessing another instance in history of a leader and government rejecting rationality and hard facts of experience?
(The writer is a former editor of The Sunday Island, The Island and consultant editor of the Sunday Leader.)