{"id":194502,"date":"2018-10-21T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-20T18:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=194502"},"modified":"2018-10-25T05:58:24","modified_gmt":"2018-10-25T00:28:24","slug":"unhappy-is-the-land-that-needs-a-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/unhappy-is-the-land-that-needs-a-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"“Unhappy Is The Land That Needs A Hero\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sarath de Alwis<\/a> \u2013<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Sarath De Alwis<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201c<\/i>Unhappy is the land that needs a hero\u201d is the heavy-hearted response of Galileo to his pupil Andrea when the latter furious with the Astronomers recantation tells him \u201cUnhappy is the land that breeds no hero\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bertolt Brecht wrote his epic play on the life of Galileo in the twilight years of the Weimar republic when its democratic chaos was nearing its end. Electoral, success of the Nazis had made Hitler the Chancellor of Germany. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He introduced this specific exchange on heroism and reason in the English version done in 1944. That was after the Americans devastated two Japanese cities with nuclear bombs to win a \u201cpeace\u201d. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They were troubling times when reason was replaced with cold eyed, cold hearted manipulative power grabs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We may now be approaching such uncertain times.\u00a0<\/span>In addition to his play, Bertolt Brecht wrote a marvelous tract on how to locate and defend truth. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He outlined five difficulties in combating lies and ignorance. The truth is opposed everywhere.\u00a0<\/span>The seeker of truth must have the courage to write the truth. He must have the keenness to recognize it because everywhere it is concealed. The truth seeker must have the skill to manipulate it as a weapon. He must have the judgment to select those in whose hands it will be effective, and the cunning to spread the truth. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This essay is inspired by such a desire to locate, defend and spread the truth. We live at a time when the obvious truth is trampled by power and lust for naked power.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the passage of the 18th<\/sup> Amendment<\/a> Mahinda Rajapaksa became the supreme overlord of the island that he rescued in the civil war. His Executive Presidency<\/a> was not subject to term limits. He could pick and unpick officials in all branches of government. He allowed much mischief in governance.<\/p>\n

Yet, he retained a semblance of accountability. He did not control the total state. The National Security Apparatus reported to someone else. That someone else owned the fear mechanism of the state. That was the fountain head of impunity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is unravelling in the house of \u2018Saud\u2019 now has a lesson for us. When the national security apparatus becomes the exclusive preserve of a power behind or proximate to the legitimate seat of power, it becomes a \u201chyper political \u201ctool to suppress dissent and a \u201cspooky political\u201d tool to intimidate those who dare to dissent.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During the past week, Presidential aspirant Gotabaya Rajapaksa<\/a> earned a series of spunky, peppery headlines provoked by Bandula Gunewardane our own apparition of Adam Smith.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The grand master of profoundly learned Economic gibberish, declared Gotabaya to be the most suitable brother for the job of President.<\/p>\n

Irrepressibly plain-spoken stalwart of the joint opposition Kumara Welgama disagreed<\/a>. The Presidential candidate must be someone with impeccable democratic credentials said he. His dissent unleashed a contentious cacophony among Gotabaya loyalists. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n