Political Expediency Is Killing Our Country

By Vishwamithra1984 –July 27, 2016

“When virtue is lost, benevolence appears, when benevolence is lost right conduct appears, when right conduct is lost, expedience appears. Expediency is the mere shadow of right and truth; it is the beginning of disorder.” ~Lao Tzu

It is no longer sensible to be sensible. It is no longer reasonable to be reasonable. Whatever we do must be related to the consequences that our deeds entail. They must be directly relatable to the effects, good or bad, redeemable or irredeemable and rectifiable or not, of action we took. Any deviation or oblivion that we might show in the face of unfathomable odds should not be given a scrap of a chance to succeed. In order to avert a much more alarming and tragic calamity, we must act now and abandon this all-consuming political correctness and confront the obvious. The mindset that entraps the underlings of nuanced behavior and calculated responses, especially from politicians, is indeed a very damaging feature of our processes of political action. It has not only entrapped a free and liberated cascade of thoughts and ideals, it has enslaved the very elements of creative genius which has produced many a marvel in our ancient times.

But there was a time that being politically incorrect was way too frequent and far too atrocious. That was during the last regime of the Rajapaksas. They did not have time for political correctness. Their plans were devoid of political correctness, their executions displayed unfathomable depths of callousness; a total disregard for all that had been held lofty and sacred. That was the other extreme. This bigoted set of politicians let loose their political kith and kin robed in saffron who were armed with the Pali stanzas of the Dharma and fortified and shielded by the official security forces of the country. Patriotism was the theme and sovereignty of the nation was the bedrock of their vicious campaign. Eighteenth Century English writer Samuel Johnson wrote that ‘patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel’ but it is the Nineteenth Century’s Irish poet and playwright, Oscar Wilde who paraphrased the quotation of Johnson and reaffirmed the inherent sardonicism of the saying. He, Wilde, declared that ‘patriotism is a virtue of the vicious’.

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