Widespread local fad of verbally maligning America

Cartoonist Jeffrey in The Island recently, without a single written word, succinctly depicted the latest international crisis Sri Lanka is caught in. His cartoon showed our island as an arecanut caught between the blades of a giraya labeled China and India. The Yuan Wang 5, a ballistic missile and satellite tracking Chinese ship, was then speeding its way to dock in China’s 99 year leased Hambantota Port.

In deference to our very helpful neighbour India’s wishes, SL requested a deferment of docking of the ship from its scheduled August 11. No latest news on this situation is available as I write this on Thursday morning, though today is fateful August 11.

Thus the importance of international relations of which one definition reads: “The way in which two or more nations interact with and regard to each other, especially in the context of

political, economic or cultural relationships.” With the world so closely connected and interdependent, international relationships are of paramount importance, more so to bankrupt and begging for assistance Sri Lanka.

My topic today is about people in our country who see the USA as totally evil and at the bottom of most of our troubles. Far-fetched and totally incorrect to such as me, but people do hold this view. I was completely surprised, nay shocked, at how two men and a woman friend bashed America and its relations with Sri Lanka when we dined together. International relations are between nations; however my chosen topic for today has currency as people make up a nation.

Thrashing and bashing USA

I write on what my three friends expounded, also from what is heard, read and listened to on TV. No less than Prof Tissa Vitarana recently in a press interview indulged in some strong anti-American thoughts and opinion.

One point made by my three friends is that the US is behind the militant elements in the Aragalaya, funding them secretly. Overtly American institutions like Human Rights Watch condemn the government for taking a strong stand on the new Aragalaya and covertly fund its protests against the government. The US is supposed by my three friends and those of like mind, to fund and maintain alive and shouting socialist groups and political parties. To these persons the totality of America is ugly, not only the Ugly American. This term is defined as: “An Ugly American is one who is in a foreign country whose behaviour is offensive to the people of that country.” Its first known use was in 1965; its etymology traces back to a 1958 published collection of stories authored by Americans Eugene Burdick and William J Lederer.

I remember hearing of a university prof of some years ago who badgered his students for singing American pop and drinking Coca Cola and such like. However, this ardent nationalist using his pedagogy power to influence his students confined to this country by circumstances, sent his son to the US for higher studies. That phenomenon is heavily present. Also the fact of a few returnees from the States, after higher education or prolonged visits, trashing that country completely forgetting what they got from it.

If one points out prejudice and too severe generalization, these bashers turn on you and accuse you of being un-Asian, not knowing China is now the world power, even being traitorous and the usual barb shot at you “Just because you got your higher degrees over there” or “your children are leading comfortable lives in the States.” They need to be reminded these expatriates, or almost all of them, worked very hard to get to the positions they are in.

Expert opinion

Confused and wanting my ideas judged, I being primarily an Indophile and then an Anglophile when it comes to looking outside of beloved Sri Lanka, I chatted with a person who was a top administrator in Ceylon/Sri Lanka and then worked for the UN.

He said that our country was non-aligned and that continued with varying degrees of balance as governments changed. I remembered particularly of a decade or two ago, our leaders leaning far too heavily on China and while assisting China in their Belt and Road Initiative, got into stupendous debt to fund ego boosting buildings and infra structure named after themselves..

My knowledgeable friend said that during Mrs Bandaranaike’s premierships, we were conspicuously non-aligned; and even hosted a very successful Non-Aligned Summit in Colombo (Sept 1976). She balanced then Ceylon’s friendly relationships with China and India very well, with personal gestures like having Indira Gandhi stay in Temple Trees during the NA meeting. The country benefited with China gifting us the BMICH and friendly relations.

India, though hurt, understood to a point our close ties with Pakistan during the war between their two countries and also giving landing rights to Pakistani aircraft during the Bangladesh war. During strained East West relations, Mrs B kept strongly non-aligned so much so that Henry Kissinger, then US Secretary of State sought an interview with her when she was in New York to address the UN General Assembly at its 31^st sessions in 1976.

We both agreed world politics, particularly geopolitics, have changed drastically since Mrs B’s time. Now China is a super power and the US seeks friendship with India, which is willing to reciprocate.

My friend noted that America came into our picture when Britain faded out of it, post colonialism and the breakup of its empire and resulting economic and power descent. He too pooh poohed the idea that America wants to take us over – neo colonialism or just overrunning our island to take possession of the Trinco harbour. That, to me, is stupid thinking.

The worst is seeing all evil in American proposed projects. It has to be recognized and accepted as a stark fact that all countries work for their own benefit and often smaller nations are pawns. We are a small country but pushed into the depths of economic and all other woes by our own leaders. So how could we be proud and suspicious? Remembered is the frightening rumour that gathered force when the American MCC pact was being discussed. You will have to get a visa to go on pilgrimage to Anuradhapura, the anti-American pundits declared. Could anything be more detrimental to a nation that was seeking our consent to a project of theirs from which Sri Lanka too would have benefited from?

The IMF is derided by these Western nation bashers. They must realize that the IMF is not American nor solely Western; China and Russia are members.

Shashi Tharoor, excellent speaker and formerly an UN Under Secretary-General, comes out so very strong against the British. He graduated from New Delhi and Fletcher in the US. True, the British exploited India severely when they ruled India, but pluses must be mentioned like India is whole and successful due to its retention of English in inter-state communication, its widespread railways built by the Brits and its bureaucracy trained by them.

Sri Lanka’s ultra nationalists see only evil in the time when we were a colony within the British Empire. We were not as badly exploitedas India, lacking her vast wealth and resources. The Brits left us rail and roadways, tea and the English language; good bureaucratic methods too, but now mostly forgotten by our so called government servants.

The friend I consulted and I concluded that America bashinag is psychological; the less privileged looking askance with green eyes at the better off; and of course most bashers being anti- capitalist.