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| Friday, 25 June 2004 |
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Of power, fast cars and social decay by Afreeha Jawad
To see things beyond the narrow confines of emotion and reach out to collective good certainly calls for maturity. Irrational decisions are easily arrived at when personal feelings come in between, which invariably germinate conflict and crisis. So, the space between emotion - based decisions and collective good which always is the arena of conflict should be arrested at the germinating point of irrational decision - making. These were among the inferences this writer came to having listened to an hour's delivery by Colombo University's Senior Sociologist Professor S. T. Hettige. Viewing the main factors around the current socio/political crisis gripping Sri Lanka as firstly the crisis in our thinking and action, secondly the way we are organized in a society to achieve societal goal followed by the position we occupy in the present global context, Professor Hettige struck a high degree intellectual chord. His concern for modernity's rational thought into justice, fairplay and egalitarianism was evident when he said: "We have to accept that in our day to day activities whether as an individual or responsible person in an institution, we have to behave in rational terms taking the larger picture into account when we take decisions and not be guided by emotions and psychological dispositions however tempted to do so." To understand Professor Hettige calls for elegance of the mind - more so to implement needs high degree refinement of thought because the constant emphasis on public good and societal objectives in decision making was his clarion call. Over the years we have seen, how devoid of such objectives and with heavy leaning towards personal gain, has sent this country into the deep abyss of conflict, societal disarray and chaos. Ironically, the 'wrongfulness' if one may say so, of working towards personal, family and party agenda has become the order of the day - these wrongs now even becoming accepted norms.
Professor Hettige's utterances are relevant to all organizational groups starting from the micro sphere of family, school, temple and reaching out to the wider social collective in the form of workplace, political party, State and private institution inclusive of all other human assembly. Discrimination in all these assemblies, however small they may be, bereft of targeting the common good has led to much crisis. The preference of sons over daughters in the family, the leanings towards the rich students in school and in temple, the affluent Dayakas - not to forget the discriminatory goings on in church, mosque and kovil as well, has their spill-over effects in the larger human collective - be it political party or any workplace organization. Said Professor Hettige: "So, the point is if you give into personal needs as against organizational needs, you undermine the organization itself because the organization is there not for personal desires but for collective objectives. That is the whole idea of modern organizations. Say you want to appoint your friends and relations, then what happens is those with ability, and credentials are left out which in turn breeds conflict. In our society we see and realize that those in positions do not have the much wanted element of professionalism which is very relevant for proper organizational functioning. We have undermined this principle everywhere over a long period and it has now become the norm. Having thus gone against the fundamentals of modern society how has such negativity prolonged? "Partly the fault lies in our failure of having allowed such people to continue with unfair decisions." What Professor Hettige was trying to explain was the absence of moral opposition that facilitates and prolongs unethical behaviour and decisions. When people do not stand up and question, these decisions are established and tolerated. You can flout all norms yet continue that way with no one speaking a word. So this is what has happened for fifty years and day by day institutions are deteriorating, worsening the socio/political crisis. His next reference point - the way we are organized into achieving social goals - led him into asking whether we are organized to achieve collective goals of peace, harmony, well being and prosperity. "I see all organizations as utterly dysfunctional in terms of their capacity to produce the expected outcome. Let's take a range of institutions - a political party, university, school, judiciary, police, parliament and the rest - we are not in a position to achieve what is expected of these organizations. Take a political party for instance - you set it up to attain certain ideals. But then, the party starts deteriorating in the hands of its membership and becomes subservient to petty interests of the position holders. So the goal is not met - the fundamental function they should perform vanishes. Today these political parties have become private property of certain vested interests and no longer perform the functions expected. Many such examples could be got. Certain institutions that should deliver justice deliver injustice and that's how they become dysfunctional. Schools educate the young. But these schools are dysfunctional in such a way they no longer promote education in a broader sense but perpetuate societal inequity. So you see, we are not organized as to attaining collective societal goals of equality, harmony, justice, well being and prosperity. The third factor towards socio/political crisis is our country's linkages with the external world in socio/political/economic and cultural terms. How we are connected with the outside world deepens the crisis inside. We are indebted to the hilt. We are becoming more and more embroiled in the debt trap not approaching the situation in a rational way. We don't try to reduce our dependence on foreign aid, imported oil, export of labour, food etc., and so there is heavy dependence in the economic field. "Socially, we don't think in terms of society. We have no social solidarity within our society. The rich feel they can have their own way. In sickness, it's one bee line to America. For transport, they import the BMW & Mercedes regardless of money. "We don't even blink when we think of importing a Benz. Talking tongue in cheek Professor Hettige said that Sri Lankan leaders are so ingenious, have so much foreign exchange, what with all that type of high-tech productivity, and all our political leaders and business people always prefer such limousines!!.. Why not we try to emulate Mahathir Mohammed of Malaysia? he asked. Regretting the lack of social solidarity he observed how the people are into global consumption being connected with the rest of the world. Politically we are subservient to neo-liberalism and we can't imagine how we could do anything to change it. We lack imaginative capacity to see and carve out a niche without being totally subservient to the dominant political ideology as Mahathir of Malaysia did. The media is subverted by vested interests. The media that should create the space for wider discussion do not do so. Young girls and boys simply talk shop on TV. Then we have the academia - obsessed with one or two issues and don't see anything else as wrong. They don't see the larger picture. These young ones repeat and parrot the rest of their lives not seeing the wider gamut - the range and complexities of the problems. He warned the academia about being dumped by politicians whom they go after. Civil society has also to be well informed and stand by fundamental principles and values critical for society. So, space must be created that will allow us to articulate problems in society and find solutions within a wider framework without being subjected to myopic politicians' whims and fancies. Right policies should be identified in socio/econ/political spheres. "Whether the politician will allow it is the biggest question?" he said on a note of sarcasm. Perceiving Professor Hettige's analysis this writer concluded that tinkering alone would not suffice to rectify societal corrosion. The whole societal body is sick and suffers breakdown. What is needed is an overhaul of the entire system - easier said than done with power strongholds controlling the system towards their advantage. Whatever comes in the form of power elitism warrants nullification for it breeds differentiation followed by conflict and chaos. A gender - free education has to come in to avoid fostering masculinity. Subjects reserved only for girls, such as sewing and cooking, need opening for males as well. Cricket and cadetting, instead of being male monopoly, warrants girls' participation. Also the global socialization process for children should be gender-free. Today, we find girls being recipients of dolls, pots and pans while boys are given motor cars and guns. All activity in homes and schools that foundations the weakening of women and projecting them as delicate, soft and helpless while fostering male masculinity culminating in powerful male build-up, needs to be arrested. If in war times women come out of traditional roles and carry out numerous tasks, surely peace times indicate the fostering of role differentiation and social stratification. Insufficient it is to only talk of democracy. Pluralism, equalitarianism and rule of law need to be blended for democracy's effective functioning. |
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