{"id":215957,"date":"2021-01-20T18:07:23","date_gmt":"2021-01-20T12:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=215957"},"modified":"2021-01-25T01:12:59","modified_gmt":"2021-01-24T19:42:59","slug":"similarities-of-political-culture-in-donald-trumps-america-postwar-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/similarities-of-political-culture-in-donald-trumps-america-postwar-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Similarities Of Political Culture In Donald Trump\u2019s America & Postwar Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Shyamon Jayasinghe<\/a> –<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Shyamon Jayasinghe<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cTrump is a theologian worshipping Trump<\/em>\u201d- Richard Dawkins<\/p>\n

Age of Amorality?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Both countries exemplify what is known as the Age of Untruth; I would say, it is The Age of Amorality because the untruth is generated by amorality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An amoral person is someone who has no concern about whether his behaviour is morally right or wrong. An infant or a mentally ill person can be regarded as amoral since he hasn\u2019t the capacity to understand what he is doing. These individuals are amoral. However, when our mature leaders act in ways where there is no concern for the right and wrong of such actions, amorality becomes a serious problem in society. It destructs society and eliminates the fibre of the \u2018Dhammadeepa.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Amoral\u2019 should not be confused with immoral, which refers to an agent doing or thinking something they know or believe to be wrong. Most of our political leaders and political elite are simply amoral and not immoral. Even learned people and Professors lie. In such insensitivity lies the aforesaid danger to society.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump is amoral.<\/p>\n

Not Causal<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The similarities in the two countries are, obviously, not causal; their occurrence is disconnected in space. However, the relevant political environment seems to be creeping all over the world. Like the Covid-19, Donald Trump appears to have caught the infection-unknowingly, yet true. When it is growing in the air, these kinds of collective behaviour devours. Little Sri Lanka beat the Americans in this ethos getting earlier into the queue.<\/p>\n

Storm of Capitol Hill<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The media was frenzied over Trump\u2019s men storming Capitol Hill where Congresss met to ratify Joe Biden\u2019s incoming presidency. Trump had been building up his troops of dimwitted men and women into a collective selfdelusion that he had been cheated at the elections. Americans in their thousands gulped the lie and developed a herd beleif in the untruth. They entered the building, crashed the furniture and used chemicals to overcome defenders of the law. Lunatics all!<\/p>\n

Richard Dawkins Tweet<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Richard Dawkins, the eminent scientist and famous atheist had the following in Twitter recently about Trump\u2019s selfdelusion:<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump is a theologian worshipping Trump,\u201d goes the tweet of 11th January.Theology, unlike science, starts from conclusion, e.g. we KNOW God exists. So there MUST be evidence even if we can\u2019t see it.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s a theologian worshipping Trump. \u201cI KNOW I won because I\u2019m Trump. So there MUST be evidence. There isn\u2019t any? There just MUST be: voter fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n

The American President\u2019s lie caught on until\u00a0 <\/span>millions of Republicans began to believe that there had been a voter fraud despite all evidence to the contrary.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

In Sri Lanka, too, we have seen over and over again the development of mass hysteria over nothing. The Kelaniya Nayake monk came out with a fictitious Nagaya narrative: how a big cobra emerged out of the Kelaniya River with a Pohottuwa sign. The monk conned and thousands believed. Dhammika syrup is the latest quirk. Thousands form queues to get that syrup of a charlatan Aurvedic exponent believing the syrup will prevent Covid-19 from entering their bodies. Even the Ayurvedic Department health officials assented to this, pushed by political forces. The Minister of Health sipped a sample before the public camera. Lankan media promoted the untruth and matters became worse. Hence, everyone shared a lie.<\/p>\n

At Capitol Hill, Americans used chemicals to overwhelm law enforcers. In Sri Lanka\u2019s parliament, we had an Opposition\u00a0<\/span>MP who threw chilli powder in parliament during the Yahapalanaya government. Why use chemicals when we have the natural thing in our homes? The Speaker\u2019s chair was denigrated and an MP sat on it.<\/p>\n

Now, a few hours before Trump leaves office he goes on pardoning hundreds of people-many accused of fraud, treachery to the state and so on. This is like the pardons that had been issued by our governments to convicted\u00a0 <\/span>murderers, double murderers, drug lords\u00a0 <\/span>sex offenders etc. Recently, one convicted murderer has been allowed to continue as MP.<\/p>\n

The sane idea of independent commissions for very high positions in the judiciary etc was executed by the Yahapalanaya government and we had relative peace for four years. Now, people are wondering because the government has declared its disinterest in such independent devices that could keep our nation civilised. Surely, the 20th- Amendment -President can make his choice about who is good to be our judges?<\/p>\n

Age of amorality<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The fact is that since the thirty -year war with the Tamil Tigers was finished a hopeless era of untruth, false claims, massive frauds, corruption by ministers and MPs. It has become hard for decent men and women to stand for parliament anymore. A lumpen society is growing in the island which is like new feudalism. Ordering people botched in their poverty and helplessness are tuned to support the corrupt\u00a0 <\/span>and even cooperate in getting them into power and legislate for them. At Ratnapura people elected a convicted murderer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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