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Sunday, 3 April 2011

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Can we talk?

Enter the dragon

Enter the Dragon of Activism: The image of a fearsome creature like the dragon, to most Sri Lankans would conjure up the smell an taste of Chinese food, if not - might be Bruce Lee. But, for the rest of the world, dragons are legendary creatures featured in myths of many cultures. Although dragons occur in many legends around the world, different cultures have varying vapours about monsters that have been grouped together under the dragon label. Some dragons are said to breathe fire or to be poisonous. Dragons are often held to have major spiritual significance in various religions and cultures around the world.

In many Asian cultures dragons were, and in some cultures still are, revered as representative of the primal forces of nature, religion and the universe. They are associated with wisdom - often said to be wiser than humans - and longevity. They are commonly said to possess some form of magic or other supernatural power. In some cultures, they are also said to be capable of human speech. In fact, in some traditions dragons are said to have taught humans to talk. And just because of it, my readers should not run away with the idea that 'Can We Talk' is presented by a Dragon; though many of the attributes mentioned above is and will be visible in the column.

In the book 'An Instinct for Dragons', anthropologist David E. Jones suggests a hypothesis that humans just like monkeys (that Darwinian link again) have inherited instinctive reactions to snakes, large cats and birds of prey. Dragons have features that are combinations of these three. Our instinctive fear for these three would explain why dragons with similar features occur in stories from independent cultures on all continents. Throughout the Middle Ages, the devout assumed that dragons existed; the Bible said so. The 300-eyed steam-spewing Jordan-swallowing Leviathan in the Book of Job is a dragon, and so, according to early translations and many medieval paintings, is the creature that tempted Eve. After all, it would be hard for a mere snake to offer an apple while whispering sweet temptations.

Fabled cousin

However, the Dragon that is the subject of our dialogue today is not the dragon of folklore. Our dragon, unlike its fabled cousin, is a very much live entity in all continents. This dragon sends shivers down the spine of so-called elites in many countries of our planet earth. This dragon is called 'Activism'; and, for all intent and purpose, the age of activism has dawned upon mankind. Many may wonder as to what activism is. Activism consists of intentional action, by people, to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Thus, once again, man has begun to march - to parade against: the corrupt, the dishonest, the fraudulent, the rotten, the shady, the unethical, the unprincipled, the unscrupulous, and the venal. Breach of trust is no more condoned in the age of activism.

According to John Feffer who writes for 'Foreign Policy in Focus': "In the Age of Activism, protesters aren't venting rage just at authoritarian governments, like those of Egypt and Tunisia. They've gone into the streets against democratic governments in Croatia and Greece and Wisconsin.

They protested the Islamic republic of Iran. They are organizing, if only indirectly, against China's communist government. The modern state has proven woefully ill-suited for dealing with the challenges of the international economy, the worsening environment, or the aspirations of rising classes. The state is letting us down. And we're beginning to sense that a mere rotation of elites, through election or selection, isn't good enough. And so, the current wave of activism challenges the state as a vehicle for the enrichment of elites at the expense of the common good" at the local, national, and global levels. The Age of Activism isn't, of course, all about progressives. There have been tea party activists, radical Islamists, European racists, and ugly populists of all hues. They also use the Internet, dislike economic austerity, and rage against corrupt elites. We can imagine more democratic forms of governance at the global level. Activists are championing sustainability at the local level through community economics. But the real struggle in the Age of Activism is over that middle term, the state. In our era, a laissez-faire state cannot provide justice for the disenfranchised or tackle the major threats of climate change and nuclear proliferation. And our welfare states struggle to deal with the scarcity imposed by ecological and economic limits.

We must conjure a different kind of state, which intervenes just enough to subordinate the military and the corporation on behalf of the common good. It must adhere to the principle of subsidiarity by which it performs only those tasks that can't be done effectively at a more local level. And it must be thoroughly transparent to reduce corruption to minimal levels. This is what activists are fighting for in Egypt, in Croatia, in the peace movement, and the anti-globalisation movement.

Political entity

We must fight hard in our Age of Activism to construct this new political entity: the activist State. This is, literally, a do-or-die situation. If we fail, we will slip, inexorably, into an Age of Apocalypse".

John Feffer, of course, is writing for the admirable and commendable mankind of the world. We Sri Lankans do not fall into that category of people. Sri Lanka, after all, is not the land of the Dragon. Ours is the land of the Yakos; and, as I said in an earlier piece, we are the progenitors of Ravana, the Asura or Demonic king of Lanka. Hence, we admire beauty in nature and art; we approve what is excellent, applaud heroic deeds, esteem the good, and love our friends. We honour and respect noble character wherever found; we revere and venerate it in the aged. We extol or adore goodness, majesty and power. Yet we are base, brutish, carnal, coarse, ignorant, insensible, sensual, stupid, unintellectual, unspiritual, and vile - the latter three qualities coming not from Ravana who was noble, spiritual and an intellectual; but perhaps, through an earlier ingestion into our genes. We possess the same trait of back stabbing as Marcus Junius Brutus - the Roman republican leader - one of Caesar's assassin. We crave for wealth, even if it be tainted. We cower before the wealthy, even if they be a known looter, a plunderer and/or a downright robber.

Sri Lanka is a wealthy land as designed by nature. Yet, the travesty of justice in the universe has ensured that it be adorned by a people called Yakos. If one looks up the word Yako in the Webster Comprehensive Dictionary, it will refer you to look up Jaco (pronounced as ya'koo) - a five square miles island off Portuguese Timor.

To the left of the word Jaco, you will find the word Jacko - meaning - an Ape. An ape is a large tailless Old World primate, as a gorilla or chimpanzee and when loosely used, means any monkey. Ape also means: to imitate, mimic. Thus ape man is any of various primates resembling man, as Pithecanthropus. Now, I suppose, as legend would have it and as stated in the Ramayana of Valmiki; when Sri Rama invaded Lanka of yore with his hoard of monkeys and defeated the demon king Ravana who had abducted his wife Seetha and imprisoned her in the Asokavana, presently said to be in Seetha Eliya near Nuwara Eliya - Ravana's noble qualities preventing him from taking her by force; many of the band of monkeys accompanying Sri Rama must have stayed behind -entrapped and enamoured by the enchantress called the island of Lanka. Rama also must have gifted the first part of his name 'Sri' to Lanka in memory of his invasion and victory. Sri Lanka, through the ages, has also been the accommodating ground for all unwanted characters and outcasts from the Indian subcontinent. Thus, my readers will now understand that it is no surprise that Sri Lankans are adorned with the qualities espoused. Perhaps, we must await the abduction of another Seetha once again from a land of courageous, enlightened and virtuous people, for us to have another ingestion of better genes in order to modify our attributes, features, mannerisms and qualities.

Until then, keep thinking, keep laughing. Life is mostly about these two activities. See you this day next week.

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