Let's begin with definitions first.
Patriotism is love of country; devotion to the welfare of one's country; the virtues and actions of a patriot; the passion which inspires one to serve one's country.
Political freedom is the absence of interference with the sovereignty of an individual by the use of coercion or aggression. Freedom is commonly known as a state of being free from government oppression.
"L'Etat, c'est moi." (I am the state.) – Louis XIV, King of France
First things first, country ≠ the government or the ruler. Loyalty to your country does not mean you should be loyal to your leader. In [an ideal] democracy, the government really has no say in what an individual can do with his life (as long as it's within the laws of the land) and cannot force him to do something that he refuses to do. This is a fundamental human right guaranteed by our constitution and this is why there are Fundamental Rights Petitions in the supreme court. That being said, Sri Lanka is not an ideal democracy. Not really because the paperwork isn't there (we might complain loudly against this 'bahubootha wywastawa' of ours, but really it's positively heavenly compared to, for example, what the Chinese have) but because there are thuggish ministers who are 'above' the law and can mess your life up pretty bad. Ministers with firm handshakes and funny laughs, actually.
So imagine you're Mr. David Senanayaka. You're the son of a famous General Abhaya Senanayaka, who gave his life serving the country. You're quite a hot commodity in the advertising world. You've got a nice wife who's expecting your first child, a mother-in-law who knits stuff for you and friends who talk of our glorious 'Hela Sinhala Buddhist nation' while sipping 800 Rupee lattes in posh Colombo coffee shops. Oh and you hate the government. Not 'hate' as in bitching at the dinner table 'hate', but hate as in "To hell with them, I will not work for them even if it gets me, my wife and unborn child killed." hate.
The reasons for this hatred is not really explained, but thanks to snippets of dialogue I theorise it's because:
a) He believes the government (of the time?) bled his father dry and left his carcass for his mother and him.
b) The severance payment wasn't enough to support them.
c) He believes the government is not doing a good job with post war reconstruction. ("The north got completely demolished by the war. Then why is so much money being spent on the south?")
d) He's wary of the 18th amendment.
So when your bitchy boss sets you up with a government propaganda contract which promises rewards limited only by the star at the centre of our solar system, you pick a fight with your boss, get drunk, badmouth the president of the country in front of his loyal coffeehouse electorate, and get whacked by the minister's thugs. The interventionists offered two plausible alternate endings:
a) Tell the minister to go shove it and leave country fast. Ironic since David is a 'patriot'.
b) Swallow your pride, shut the eff up and work for the government. You're in advertising for heaven's sake, you DON'T HAVE IDEALS! (What sort of messed up moral compass lets people make ads for 'fairness creams'?)
Okay, so final thoughts: You might think you love your country, but that doesn't make you a better person. (Example: me) You might think you're right and the government is wrong, that doesn't make you a patriot and them oppressors. It just means you have political and ideological differences. For all you know, the laughing foetus-murdering minister might 'love the country' as much as you do. There's no definite way of saying that you love your country more than someone else.
But in conclusion, in this country, loyalty to the head of state is more important than loyalty to the state itself. (Example: Compare Sarath Fonseka's present situation to that of Karuna Amman.) In this country, we shut up and keep our heads low, for love of everything we hold dear, and wait for the next election and hope the government doesn't rig its outcome. If you don't like the system David, you might as well a) cut the patriotic crap and leave b) enter politics and attempt to shake things up. Sorry for being blunt, but that's how 'we' roll.
I hear you asking, what's the point of this long and wandering post? My point is that the title of the play should've been "Political Freedom" and not "Patriot". Yes, I'm pointless like that.
Excellent post.
ReplyDeleteJust wish you had been a little more honest in your criticism. :P
Interesting point about the minister caring about the country in his own screwed up way.
I think the same can be said about most people in the Rajapaksa administration. I honestly believe that people like MR and some (not all) of the ministers in his cabinet genuinely care about the country, though some of their more serious flaws might make you question that.
I will not comment on Sarath Fonseka's predicament, though. Yes, it's not fair that he's in jail. It's probably even true that he's being punished for daring to run for president. But he's not exactly a saint, is he?
How much more honest do you want him to be in his criticism Himal? If I were a cast member reading this, I'd go OUCH right now :D
ReplyDeleteGreat post chavs, but it's always easier to do postmortems than to diagnose and cure diseases.
We all should have done something to improve the play when we had the chance to.
Oh well, that said, it was a good effort and we can all learn. Good point on the title though, Political Freedom might have prepared the crowd for the play we saw, rather than Patriotism :)
Himal - I don't wanna get banned from future productions, so... ;)
ReplyDeleteYeah, agreed. I do believe some of them really believe that what they're doing is beneficial to the country. Whether they have their own agendas or what's best for the country at the top of their check-list is a matter of debate.
I don't think he's a saint, but again he illustrates the loyal to country/leader divide yes? Here's a man who would've bitten the bullet for his country (personally if the LTTE had tried to assassinate me I would've jumped ship and gone to live with my daughters in the US) but got into a situation with the establishment and now he's paying for those 'sins'.
Tulie - My criticism was not of the cast, I think they did a great job with the inherent limitations of the script and the story. If any of you guys are going 'ouch', I'M SORRY! It wasn't meant as an attack on you.
I agree that it would've been better to have done something constructive, but it was so rigid, I mean the minister wouldn't let David quit, and David was too much of a brat to go along with the programme and pretend everything was fine.
It was indeed. Something that we need to do, increase awareness and encourage dialogue on these important matters. :)
Thanks for your comments, guys!
Hey Chavs, the post isn't pointless at all! Feedback is essential :)
ReplyDeleteAs for the play, the point of it was to get people thinking about Patriotism and figuring out what it actually means.
We did quite a bit of research while writing the script trying to find an exact definition for 'patriotism' but found several instead.
We also wanted the audience to decide whether fostering patriotic beliefs is poisonous or inconsequential (depending on what your definition might be).
Having read your post I think we've achieved that to some extent (correct me if I'm wrong). Your 'final thoughts' were exactly what we wanted people mulling at the end of the play.
Middle ground is always good, and people have to understand why other people do things and how things work before hating them or the system, ministers and so on.
Even perceiving the minister as a patriot in a twisted way is also important.
The play did have a few shortcomings and we will work on those and hopefully improve, so that the next production will be better.
So again, thank you muchly for the feedback it was quite valuable! :)
No worries man, only stage strutting feminists risk getting banned!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review. Some very interesting points. Hope you will make it for the next one as well.
Cheers
I missed it :| Although I have caught up with everything that happened :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. May people think they are patriots and do what they are not supposed to do. Maybe you should stop and look at the big picture. Interesting thoughts.
For all what he went through for the country, he should have more than a prison bed :|
Cheers!
Megs, Purple Boxers - Glad the feedback was usual. Kudos to you guys for actually 'doing' this. We might all write these posts day and night, but it is real action, like reaching out to the public through events like 'Patriot', that really get the ball rolling. So well done, and the best of luck for your next production. I'll definitely be there. :D
ReplyDeleteMeshak - True, at the very least a fair and open trial in a civilian court.
Thanks for the comments, you guys! :)
'Okay, so final thoughts: You might think you love your country, but that doesn't make you a better person.'
ReplyDeleteEh? its all what people say. they don't mean what they say. and they don't say what they mean.
lovely post.
GG - Right on, right on! :D
ReplyDeleteTo quote Powercut Circus:
"Don’t read. Don’t think. Don’t argue.
Don’t ever speak your mind.
Don’t dig too deep. You never know what you may find.
Don’t play your music too loud.
Do not use polythene
Don’t do what you say. Do not say what you mean."
Sums it up pretty neatly. :)