The English ‘good’ from which ‘god’ is derived is also
derived from ‘gadh’. The etymological
relationship points out that the qualitative noun ‘good’ is derived from a verb
– ‘to hold fast.’ The idea of ‘goodness’ is derived from a verb. Therefore, it
is not an abstract concept, but is derived from something active in
consciousness. The word ‘God’ is defined as the “being perfect in goodness” .
The worship or pursuit of this perfection of goodness is religion. For Hindus,
dharma is the pursuit of perfection of goodness. A thought or action holding
fast to dharma is characterised by its goodness. This pursuit is an ethical
function and not just a belief or faith. Doing something good for the sake of
goodness is an ideal unique to Hindus and is singularly denoted by the term
‘dharma’. It used to be
said that the difference between India and China was that India had an open
society and a closed mind, and China had a closed society and an open mind.
The West now needs a stable India, hence the banning of the
LTTE in UK, Canada, etc. in the recent past, after having allowed it a free
hand for two decades. It is very interesting to note that the duplicitous
western policies towards Sri Lanka have gradually changed to reflect the new
geopolitical interest in South Asia. They however, never gave up the possibility
of using the Tigers in the event geopolitics changed. To understand history, one needs to
understand the western mindset against an eastern mindset. The western mindset
revolves around planning; the eastern mindset reacts to the occasion. Suspicion
and conspiracy theories are very alien to the eastern mind. Foreigners are
trusted and offered hospitality. This trust has been exploited by the West,
more so when post-Macaulay middle classes have a very servile altitude towards
it. (Macaulay was the colonial secretary for education in India, who said the
purpose of education was to produce an Indian who was Brown in colour but
culturally an Englishman, who would be the intermediary between the rulers and
the rest of India). It is said that the
greatest achievement of British colonialism is the servile mindset of the
middle classes. To understand western plans, one needs to understand western
history. Western nations are very united as Europeans and have used the
carrot-and-stick and divide-and-rule policies very effectively. When one
country uses the carrot-and-stick, the other uses the divide-and-rule policy on
the same country. The final aim is the same. The modus operandi is simple: 1] Utilise the post-Macaulay middle classes
to completely dominate the economy and be subservient to the IMF and World
Bank, as in post-1977 Sri Lanka 2] Create internal conflict - By encouraging minorities to dissent
against majority rule - Infiltration of Media
- NGOs - Christianisation The
greatest problems of Sri Lanka emanated from the servile mindset of Yankee
Dickie, (J R Jayewardene). When he came into power, Sri Lanka was at an
advanced state of human development and social upliftment for a third world
country. This was achieved with a low GDP, practicing the eastern philosophies
of compassion and social responsibility, an example for any third world
country. True, Sri Lankans did not enjoy the luxuries of the West and lived
with a degree of frugality, with minimal foreign debt. Sri Lankans were blessed
with: 1] A system of free education, giving it 98% literacy, second only to
Japan 2] Free health care system giving very low infant and maternal
mortality 3] Social mobility 4] Progressive women’s rights (first woman
PM) 5] Low national debt of around $ 500 million 6] Small military JRJ’s open economy instituted with help of
the IMF had the following effects: 1]
Subsidy for Education system reduced: now spend Rs 1000 Billion on foreign
education, standards of Public Education sacrificed 2] Subsidy for Health care reduced: rich go
abroad for treatment costing millions of dollars 3] Increased malnutrition 4] Currency devaluation 5] Increased corruption and increased
violence in society 6] Over 20 billon dollars in debt 7] Large military and
excessive military budget.
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