Military Madness

Sunday Morning Sermon - Aug 18 2013

Throughout history, the military has been concerned with much more than national defense. In Imperial Rome, for instance, by the era of the mid Empire it had become customary for the military to influence the selection of the new Emperor. In modern times, virtually all Latin American and African nations have seen military interventions, often culminating in military coups and the emergence of military dictatorships. There are also instances of military involvement in domestic politics, even in apparently consolidated democracies. In 1958, the democratically-elected French government was forced to back down in a confrontation with a unified military command. Today, as we are all witnessing on the ground, the Egyptian military has ousted a democratically elected President and the result has been absolute chaos, destruction, and death on the streets. Sri Lanka, in recent days put down a protest in Welweriya​,

​ 

using the military,​

​ 

where the

​ village people were only demanding drinking water.

The basic analytic​al framework is simple. Two groups, the elite rich and the ​ordinary ​citizens, are in conflict under democratic and nondemocratic regimes. Under democracy, redistributive policies benefit the citizens at the expense of the rich. Under oligarchy the rich keep their wealth but have to create (and pay) a repressive military to maintain them in power. A repressive military is a double-edged sword, however; once created, it has the option of attempting to establish a military dictatorship, seizing power from democratic or oligarchic governments. This is the political moral hazard problem at the core of the situation.

​This supports 

​the ​

military’s relationship with oligarchies, specifically the conditions under which the military will act as a perfect agent of the elite in oligarchies, and the conditions under which the military will turn against the elite and attempt to set up its own dictatorship.

It also clarifies thinking on the military’s role in transitions to democracy. The key element concerns the credibility of future pay-offs. Since oligarchies need a repressive military in ways that democracies do not, the oligarch’s commitment to future pay-offs is credible while those of a democratic government may not be. Consequently, our framework suggests that military coups are more likely to take place against democracies than against oligarchies because of the inability of democratic regimes to commit to not reforming the military in the future. 

Nevertheless, military coups against oligarchies are also possible when the political moral hazard problem is sufficiently severe. The point turns on the assumption that there is a probability that coups against oligarchies will fail.

​

This 

​thinking​

 also suggests that military coups may be more likely when the external role of the military is more limited. When a strong military is needed for national defense, democratic regimes can also commit to keeping a relatively large military, thus reducing the incentive for military takeover at the early stages of democracy.​

​The ​

historical relations between nondemocratic regimes and the military are important for the consolidation of democracy once th

​e​

 regime emerges. If a powerful military has been created by the elite to prevent democratization, then this military will be present at the early stages of the nascent democracy. However, since democracy does not have as much of a need for coercion as the nondemocratic regime, the military anticipates future reforms by the democratic government to reduce its size and power. This anticipation induces the military to take action against nascent democratic regimes, unless credible commitments for the continued role of the military in politics or other significant concessions can be made.

Other factors include the extent of income inequality and abundance of natural resources. Greater inequality increases the conflict between the elite and the citizens and encourages oligarchic regimes to maintain power by using stronger militaries. This increases both the risk of military intervention during the oligarchic regime and also once democracy emerges. Natural resources further increase the political stakes and make it more difficult to prevent the political moral hazard problem because the military can exploit natural resources once it comes to power. As such, they often make military interventions more likely.

One of the important implications of this state of affairs is that, when trying to shape or influence transitions to democracy, it is important that policy makers consider the complexities of the three-way interactions between the elite, the military and citizens. 

​Amen!​

Maintenance

Sunday Morning Sermon - Aug 11 2013

A body comes into existence.  If nurtured well, this body grows and matures into a healthy being.  Along the way however, steps have to be taken to ensure the continuous growth and development of this body, in a manner that will produce very little setbacks for a healthy and productive life.  These necessary steps are what I call "maintenance".

The same philosophy could very easily apply to all around us.  Not just to humans, but to the vast infrastructure around us.

In the post independence ‘50’s and ‘60’s the possibilities of taking our motherland, Sri Lanka, into an economical and social miracle was fully available. We had every opportunity, skill, resource, and even support from our Colonial master, Britain, to step ahead. However, petty politics, based on power struggle and selfish needs has made this a difficult target to achieve. Still, development of the infrastructure in this country has moved, even at snails pace, towards what it is now.  Billions of rupees have been spent to forge, build, and implement projects for the enrichment of the people and the infrastructure is reasonably on its way forward as we see it on the ground today, even if the socio-political climate has suffered tremendously, through hatred, wars, and mistrust between peoples.  

Communities have sprouted practically overnight in places where there was only bare land before.  Smaller towns have quickly developed and transformed into large metropolitan cities.

Hardly a day went by when one did not hear of or witness a new scheme or development beginning to take roots.  Foreign aid and development projects have also contributed effectively to this cause. People, both locally and from outside, have contributed in their own way and with their own expertise to the challenges faced with this mammoth task.  The maturity of society has still been slow in keeping pace with the expected development.

Today, t

​h​

e situation on the ground is received with mixed feelings. While infrastructure has improved the mindset of the people has deteriorated. Ethnic conflict is strife with the majority community taking and "Us and Them" attitude towards the minorities who have also made valuable contributions to the progress for over many centuries. Many have left the shores in search of greener pastures, peace, safety, and comfort.

After all this time, the ravages are beginning to show through the 

​glass ​

ceiling and we are on our way to simply becoming chronicled monuments of a recent era.

This does not have to be the case.  The key element missing here is maintenance, something we tend to ignore in just about every facet of our lives.  We tend to neglect our bodies, and on a larger scale, tend to neglect everything around us.  After all, why bother with something that works just fine for now?

This illusion is fine so long as things work well.  But the moment that something falls apart, we are taken off guard by the unexpected.  The evidence of such a demeanor is all around us.

Take to the roads today and tell me how you feel.  Are they being properly maintained?  Is the electricity service to your home steady and reliable?  Is the water supply piped in constant or intermittent? Walk into a modern and state of the art building or structure built in the last decade or so, only to notice the beginning stages of neglect and decay.  Or try using a service, which although recently introduced has fallen to hard 

​times. 

Look at your neighbor. Is he Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim or Burgher? How do you feel about him living next to you home?

 Does it bother you in any way? if so, why?

​ ​

Our philosophy and indifference towards maintenance is a major factor towards this decline.  An individual buys an expensive automobile, yet may search for the cheapest of labor to operate it.  The same attitude could apply to those investing in factories or industries.  Just about any responsible individual or party is more concerned with the initial investment in a project than the continuing expenses of maintaining his investment.

Is it indifference or ignorance? I sometimes wonder. Does not the analogy to a human body apply to just about everything we build or create?  Admittedly, maintenance comes with a price.  But the cost of neglecting this necessary function is far greater than imagined.

It is easy to complain and criticize, but how could one go about addressing this issue.  Well, we hear a lot about the high cost of living among the people.  Why not put our minds to get around them to drop the ethnic issues and concentrate on the needs for maintenance of the nation? Sooner or later, many professionals and skilled workers may leave, and with them so will a huge pool of talent.  Utilize that expertise now while they are here and develop a maintenance team of people, dedicated to the proper preservation of all things around us.

It takes more to build a community. It takes planning ahead, creative ingenuity and diligence to maintain it at a level acceptable to all.  And yet that is a challenge which many of our public service agencies have yet to fathom.

When are we ever going to learn?

Amen!

Profanity v Obscenity v Vulgar

Sunday Morning Sermon Aug 4 2013

Profanity is when something is considered insulting to a religion, its god(s), or people’s beliefs in them. Obscenity involves offense to taste or common decency, something vulgar enough to be taboo in a given context (often relating to sex or bodily functions).Vulgarity can mean crude, in general.There are legal nuances in all three terms.

Lets look at a common occurrence in our everyday life to illustrate this. 

You just stubbed your toe on a metal pillar or maybe opened your tax statement that came in the mail, and you want to let loose with some language that would make a sailor blush. Which category would those colorful words fall under?

If you're being profane, you may not need to worry about the arm of the Law, but if you believe in an immortal soul, you might be in trouble. Profane (from the Latin profanes, meaning "outside the temple" ) originally referred to things not belonging to the church. Later it meant blasphemy, sacrilege or taking the Lord's name in vain (we just call that blasphemy now).

Today, profanity is an expression that is specifically offensive to members of a religious group. The definition also extends to expressions that are scatological, derogatory, racist, sexist, or sexual. What is and isn't profane largely depends on the context and the company you keep.

Obscenity (from the Latin obscenus, meaning "foul, repulsive, detestable" ) generally covers sexual or scatological references to the body or bodily functions (i.e. F*&k and s#$t). The term is also used in a legal context to describe expressions (whether words, images or actions) that offend the sexual morality of a given time and place.

Vulgarity (from the Latin vulgis, meaning "the common people," ), which used to refer to text written in a vernacular instead of Latin, has two definitions today, depending on who you ask. For some, vulgarity is generally coarse or crude language. For others, it is more specifically the act of substituting a coarse word in a context where a more refined expression would be expected.

The actual intent and application of all these three category of words may have their nuances and variations in languages other than English, although in general, they must conform to the common definitions outlined above.

Schooldays were always filled with many of these "choice" words, be it in the classroom between colleagues or even in the playing fields. Cricket has its own share of vocabulary, referred to as sledging, that players choose to sling at each other during a game.

Pakistai dudes have a tendency to greet each other on the phone with a massive dose of "mother/sister" related "good mornings". At first I found that rather offensive in nature but eventually got used to it once I found that it was part and parcel of their Operating System, done in a very fun like and acceptable manner.

Whatever category they may belong to, the bottom line of the real meaning of many of these expletives is intent.

Amen!

Common Sense Thinking

Sunday Morning Sermon July 28 2013

Smart people do not always do things in a smart way. There are moments when smart people do confusingly irrational things like gambling away all their money on the stock market, or forgetting to take adequate clothing for an upcountry hike at Horton Plains in the middle of January. 

Whatever our background, training, Intellectual Quotient, or experience, common sense can be learned and applied in everyday situations. And while it may seem provocative suggesting that smart people don't use common sense, this deliberate association is merely to highlight that everyone has lapses in common sense. The more we're trained to think one way (by our workplace, family, culture, etc.), the greater the chance that sometimes we allow sloppy or auto-pilot thinking to take the place of common sense. Common sense isn't a one-stop-destination; it's a way of thinking that needs constant nourishing and application.

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, common sense is about exercising "sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or available facts". This definition suggests that common sense depends on not over-complicating the situation (simple), applying experience and general knowledge to the situation (sound and prudent judgment), and implicit in this is self-trust that our considered experience is valid for future situations. 

Common sense can also serve the purpose of removing us from being hidebound to rules, theories, ideas, and guidelines that would hamper or stifle the best decision in a particular situation. In other words, just because something says so, or just because it has always been done that way, is not a reason to abandon common sense about present needs and changed circumstances.

We are all human; we are fallible. And our brains work in certain ways as a means of providing shortcuts to ensure survival in a world where being chased by predators could end our life. In a modern world where caves and saber toothed tigers are no longer a constant companion, some of that reactive, split second judging can land us in hot water as we react instead of reflecting, assume instead of teasing apart the realities, and follow habit instead of challenging its continued utility. Some of the things our amazing mind is capable of doing to override common sense include:

 - Maintaining our own sense of reality out of proportion with identifiable reality. "Not seeing the big picture"

 - Reflex or associative thinking. "Reactive thinking that is totally based on brain washing through time"

 - Invoking absolute certainty. "Getting rid of doubt"

 - Bullheadedness. "Unwillingness to be wrong"

Common Sense Thinking isn't an invitation to insanity. Its only an opportunity to consider that our sense of reality isn't really real. What we see is what we've programmed our brains to perceive. Once we start sliding down the slippery slope of self-confirmation that reality is only ever what we see it as, the we open up to the possibilities of bigotry, selfishness, intolerance, and prejudice because we constantly seek to make everyone and everything else conform to our standard of reality, and our standard of "what's right". By divorcing ourselves from this one-sided reality, and learning as much as we can about how other people perceive the world and our place in it, we begin to make room for common sense to grow because our sense is built on "common" experiences, not just our personal ones.

There are several things in life that every human being should know how to do and not leave to another person, things that go to the heart of personal survival, self-knowledge, and long-term health and safety. In this way, we can learn common sense through practical knowledge and application, informing us accurately when times are harder or when we must react quickly.

Some of them are, cooking, putting food on the table, growing food, nutrition information, respecting people and the environment, budgeting expenses, understanding personal limitations, analyzing situations logically, fixing utility problems that spring up at home, planning, multitasking, connecting with people, safety first, and being resourceful.

At the end of the end of the day what matters most to any individual is to trust oneself to take the right common sense steps in life.

Amen!

White Supremacy

Sunday Morning Sermon July 21 2013

White supremacy is the belief of, and/or promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds and that, therefore, whites should politically dominate non-whites. The term is also used to describe a political ideology that perpetuates and maintains the social, political, historical, and industrial dominance of whites. Different forms of white supremacy have different conceptions of who is considered white, and different white supremacist identify various groups as their primary enemy.

White supremacist groups can be found in most countries and regions with a significant white population. The militant approach taken by white supremacist groups has caused them to be watched closely by law enforcement officials. Some have even been labelled as terroridt groups. Some European countries prohibit white supremacist political activity or the expression of white supremacist ideas.

The recent youtube video of Paul Weston claiming that he IS a racist is a gross example of this evil spreading across Europe. The many racial posts to the thread on the youtube link also show the gravity of these feelings that are emerging among some white people.

This evil was predominant in the USA before the American Civil War and even for decades after the reconstruction era thereafter. Europe also had its own share of this phneomenon during WWI and WWII.

Colonialism extended the power and authority of white supremacy across South America, Africa, and Asia.

​ The aftermath of this is pretty apparent across South America, Africa, Asia and the Far East.

Ironically the old Colonial rulers, back in their homeland, are now crying foul that migrants from the Colonies have settled down on their land and are trying to take over. Is it payback time, I wonder?

Amen!

Writing Politics

Sunday Morning Sermon July 13 2013

Politics always raises very strong opinions, views and even stronger emotions, which makes political articles even more complex. Successful Expert Authors who specialize in this intricate niche know the best practices to writing quality political articles.

With the coming and going of each election season, there is a massive increase of political articles, stories, debates, and publicity across all media. These contributions to the political arena are often made by less experienced Expert Authors whose strong wills and resolute emotions are often reactive to current events.

Media bias also contributes immensely as to what is published where. Fox, for example is well known for its right wing and extreme stand. AlJazeera may be more biased towards Arabs and Islam. The Ceylon Daily News will always mollycoddle the MR  regime, for obvious reasons.

Some choose to ignore specific events although they may be high profile or significant just because it doesn't go with their grain.

Freedom of the press is nice to have in any democracy. Yet, it still comes under the hammer of what is allowed to be shown and what needs to be kept under wraps. Governments, usually hide behind the curtain of national security in order to stifle a particular news item that may expose their underwear. Wikileaks and the ongoing Edward Snowden chase are super examples of how democracy has failed to allow free speech.

While on the one hand there is a massive clamor to hurt the sensitivities of religious people by making fun of their God's, prophets, and Faith, based on freedom of expression, the need to shut down what some folks do not want others to see also prevails across the board, from Tokyo to Timbuktoo, whichever direction one chooses to travel.

No one can run away from the fact that we live in a world sandwiched between double standards in its various hues, colors, and concoctions.

Take the recent reports of the activities of the BBS, Duminda Silva, and DIG Vaas, back home, from each side of the aisle. The compatriots of the perpetrators of these crimes want to stifle the reality of the events while those on the other side want to bring the roof down. Even the reporting of Channel 4 UK during the LTTE campaign in Sri Lanka was totally biased to a great degree. BBC use their own style of diplomacy to run with the hare and chase with the hounds.

At the end of the day we only get what we are supposed to see and know. It is only when dynamic and independent individuals like Snowden, Manning or Assange, come forth with the raw evidence of whats happening behind the scene that all hell breaks loose.

Will we ever be 

​able ​

to live

​,​

 without a lie

​,​

 on this planet?

Amen!

Third Culture Kids

Sunday Morning Sermon - July 7 2013

A Third Culture Kid (TCK) is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents' culture. The TCK frequently builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture may be assimilated into the TCK's life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background.

My own two girls are typical third culture kids. The grand kids have spent most of their lifetime in Saudi Arabia so they could be considered less third culture except for the little Lankan culture that Shirani and I provide for them.

Even Shirani and I have spent more than  half our lives outside Sri Lanka and it is possible we could be classified as third culture adults, within the same concept.

Studies have shown that there are different characteristics that impact the typical Third Culture Kid:

• 40% earn an advanced degree (as compared to 5% of the non-TCK population.)
• 45% of TCKs attended 3 universities before earning a degree.
• 44% earned undergraduate degree after the age of 22.
• Educators, medicine, professional positions, and self employment are the most common professions for TCKs.
• TCKs are unlikely to work for big business, government, or follow their parents' career choices. "One won't find many TCKs in large corporations. Nor are there many in government ... they usually do not followed in parental footsteps".
• 90% report feeling as if they understand other cultures/peoples better than average.
• 80% believe they can get along with anybody.
• A study whose subjects were all "career military brats"—those who had a parent in the military from birth through high school—shows that brats are linguistically adept.
• Teenage TCKs are more mature than non-TCKs, but ironically take longer to "grow up" in their 20s.
• More welcoming of others into their community.
• Lack a sense of "where home is" but often nationalistic.
• Depression and suicide are more prominent among TCK's.
• Some studies show a desire to "settle down" others a "restlessness to move"

Dr. Useem coined the term third culture kid after her second year-long visit to India with her fellow sociologist/anthropologist husband and three children. In 1993 she wrote:

In summarizing that which we had observed in our cross-cultural encounters, we began to use the term "third culture" as a generic term to cover the styles of life created, shared, and learned by persons who are in the process of relating their societies, or sections thereof, to each other. The term "Third Culture Kids" or TCKs was coined to refer to the children who accompany their parents into another society.

—Ruth Hill Useem, TCK World: The Official Home of Third Culture Kids

She describes the third culture as a shared, or interstitial way of life lived by those who had gone from one culture (the home or first culture) to a host culture (the second) and had developed their own shared way of life with others also living outside their passport cultures.

It is believed that parents of TCKs are often highly educated, successful in their careers, and are not likely to divorce. When a group (whether it is the military, a business, government, church, etc.) decides to send somebody to a foreign country, it is making a significant investment. The group wants to send people who will represent it the best, and provide the most value for the investment. TCKs will thus have a higher probability of coming from a family where at least one parent earned a college degree and often an advanced degree. "Almost all" TCK families are deployed to foreign countries as a result of the father's profession, and very few families live in another country primarily due to the mother's occupation.

TCKs also tend to come from families that are closer than non-TCK families. They will also have a smaller likelihood of having divorced parents (divorced parents are unlikely to allow their former spouse to take their child to another country). "Because the nuclear family is the only consistent social unit through all moves, family members are psychologically thrown back on one another in a way that is not typical in geographically stable families." 

Many TCKs take years to readjust to their passport countries. They often suffer a reverse culture shock upon their return, and are often perpetually homesick for their adopted country. Many third culture kids face an identity crisis: they don't know where they come from. It would be typical for a TCK to say that he is a citizen of a country, but with nothing beyond his passport to define that identification for him. Such children usually find it difficult to answer the question, "Where are you from?". Compared to their peers who have lived their entire lives in a single culture, TCKs have a globalized culture. TCKs typically have a global perspective and are flexible both socially and intellectually, as well as able to comfortably engage with those who think and act differently than they do. It is hard for TCKs to present themselves as a single cultured person, which makes it hard for others who have not had similar experiences to accept them for who they are. They know bits and pieces of at least two cultures, yet most of them have not fully experienced any one culture making them feel incomplete or left out by other children who have not lived overseas. They often build social networks among themselves and prefer to socialize with other TCKs.

Studies have found that, although TCKs learn to build relationships to all of the cultures they've experienced, they don't quite have full ownership in any. While TCKs can assimilate elements of each culture into their own life experiences, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background. ^[19] The unique experiences of TCKs among different cultures and various relationships at the formative stage of their development makes their view of the world different from others.

They tend to get along with people of any culture, and develop a chameleon-like ability to become part of other cultures. Adapting to new situations quickly and with confidence is no problem for third-culture kids. Excellent communication and diplomatic skills are what many third-culture kids get out of their experience abroad. These skills help third-culture kids thrive later on, during their academic studies as well as their career. [1] Some TCKs may also isolate themselves within their own sub-culture, sometimes excluding native children attending their schools, or defining themselves in relation to some "other" ethnic or religious group.

http://www.tckworld.com/useem/home.html

Note: Third culture kid (TCK, 3CK) is a term coined in the early 1950s by American sociologist and anthropologist Ruth Hill Useem "to refer to the children who accompany their parents into another society". Other terms, such as trans-culture kid or Global nomad are also used by some. 

Amen!