World Media a tool of Democratic Dictatorship
Posted on September 1st, 2011
shenali waduge
In a world where politicians are known to be people of flexible integrity the institution we call Media is certainly not without bias. Functioning as a money-making corporation can we expect todayƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s media to be devoid of bias when media today belongs to members of an elite society who will never allow their status quo to change? Media today is the perfect tool that advances neo-colonial interests while denying us the Public the truth. The media is guilty of trying to spread a Western brand of morality & self righteousness which is making a mockery of our collective intellect.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Media is the outlet that provides us communication in varying modes & forms.
The context of what they relay & how it is relayed & what prominence they give that helps us to identify the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-biasƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ to those that are able to understand that there is no balance in the reporting. TodayƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s journalists lack ethics in what they report purely on the grounds that they are working for a media entity that functions for profit & these journalists are tied to a set of internal policy requirements that binds them through a contract.
How many journalists would really want to sacrifice their mode of income for truth & ethics?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The press gives the voice to the story & the press provides a narrative structure to ambiguous events making it coherent for us.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ People can certainly question bias by deducing for themselves who gains by the message being conveyed, who may be paying for the message, how accurate this message is & whether there have been alternate arguments given.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ News media is a money-making business. They depend largely on advertisements that is why they are always in a scurry to deliver ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-breaking newsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ & visuals. Television today is meaningless without pictures that is why prominence is given to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-imagesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ turning plain news into exciting & sensationalized stories. Media has a uncanny ability to even make the most hated politician a looked forward to item on television!
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is the few people who are able to balance right from wrong & those able to understand the manner in which the media functions that can identify media as being biased. Nevertheless, the reality remains that these people are few & far apart while the majority of the worldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s citizens end up being fooled by the media.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The accusation of bias is further strengthened as a result of most of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-sourcesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ from which media gains information being owned by Western interests. Moreover, much of the time media ends up focusing on issues that affect politicians or corporate executives instead of highlighting those directly affected by the issues.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ One of the best arguments is the present unrest taking place in the Middle East =85.did the media not know that people of the present countries had been crying out for ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-democracyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ & ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-freedomƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. How come it took the US, UK & NATO allies to become aware that these countries rich in natural resources were so fed up with their leaders? That the media was silent but becomes very active no sooner the West decides to use military force to dethrone these leaders depicts a lot of bias.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Egypt is another example. The one time darling of the West was soon projected as the villain by the media & every Muslim in Egypt was said to be gathering on Tahir Square to get a dosage of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-freedomƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. Did the West not know that Mubarak was corrupt? Similarly, why did the media not ask whether Swiss banking authorities did not know that Mubarak had invested in offshore bank accounts=85which means to say that the media, the Western governments know every penny of monetary transactions being made & are just watching to use these ills against them when the time comes!
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Thus, the media was found guilty of promoting Western interests in the Middle East as in all other nations that the West is currently attempting to topple.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ So why does the media lie to us?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Why has the media opted to side with western policy & how far has the media being able to project Western policy as better suited amongst the public & what would this translate to in terms of the future of non-Western democracies? Or are we to presume that only the West follows democracy?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Clearly the mass media is one of the most powerful institutions in our society. It is the ultimate source of information & at best the point that can give us the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-latestƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ news. To a great extent the media has the power to set the agenda of public discourse about politics & the media has the capability to even defuse Western ideology & even culture if it so wishes.
All this will largely depend in whose hands the media ownership rests.
Today, with US media practically owned by IsraeliƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s it is clear that no news which will affect Israel will be relayed. Therefore, there is not much journalists can do even if they desired to be ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-impartialƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. He has thus sold his conscience for his daily bread. Journalists today are tools & their talents are being used to project the agenda of the owners. John Swaiton, Chief of Staff of the New York Times claimed that journalists were ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-intellectual prostitutesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What all this actually means is that media has become subservient & it is serving only the interests of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-elitesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ & with the owner having the power to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-hire & fireƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ how many journalists or editors would want to sacrifice their jobs for ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-ethicsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚? In the US especially, with many mergers & takeovers resulting in media being consolidated & being reduced into the ownership of yet a few there is an authoritarian agenda taking place & the American public are being sold a story that is not the true version in the least.
Does this not look like democratic dictatorship?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If the media had relayed the truth, American citizens would not have allowed the crimes that is taking place to happen. If the American society knew that Western imperial centers where merely mouthing clich=E9s like freedom, justice, peace while they were sponsoring terrorists who were helping to overthrow these governments & installing puppet dictators=85the American citizens would have demanded answers from their elected leaders. Western media has artfully denied their citizens from knowing that their intelligence agencies have been & are in the business of destabilizing undeveloped countries to maintain their dependency, to keep these nations in debt & take over their natural wealth & divide amongst the powerful nations at a low price & offer to global markets at a high price. This is the crux of all Western foreign policy but the media has failed to project this truth amongst its populace. Why would the media in contrast go all out to project dictatorships & East-aligned countries differently=85.essentially it is because media is very much part of the Western establishment.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In Sri Lanka too there are plenty of examples that depict how large companies are able to hide their follies from the public purely on the grounds of the advertisements they give to these media outlets. If Governments & Corporate giants control what we read, see & hear it means the public of the world are being fooled with every event & issue taking place every second.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Western media is profit oriented, owned & controlled by wealthy profit-oriented people who are closely linked to/aligned with major corporations, banks & governments & even integrated with the stock market.
In the US, most of the media entities belong to Israelis. In the US there are over 25,000 media entities but only 23 corporations (owned by IsraelƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”s)control & influence the news, culture, political attitudes, political ideas & information going out to 311million people. Similarly, ownership of world media is also concentrated amongst 12 giant corporations.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ With news media functioning as a business there is no room for innovative editorial dominance except to become part of the apparatus that ends up pushing neo-liberal policies & ideologies amongst the na=EFve masses. With corporatization of the media editors end up functioning as managers of any corporate entity.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ A good example is the BBC, its board of governors make up those belonging to the upper middle class in political life & are products of Oxford or Cambridge, Eton or Winchester & from the House of Lords. These ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-elitesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ end up using their ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-privilegesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢to produce programs that are partial & supports the interests of a particular class.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Another example is found in an internal CIA report in 1992 that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-CIA have relationships with reporters that have helped us turn some intelligence failure stories into intelligence success stories. Some responses to the media can be handled in a one-shot phone callƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. A former CIA Director goes further to say ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The CIA owns anyone of any significance in the major mediaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Thus, when mass media is owned by the corporate elite the undeniable truth is that their ideology will always be promoted & the media becomes a tool to support the agendas that are planned. Any debate that issues amongst these western media is to fight over exactly how far the public becomes fooled!
The irony is that most of these media outlets & their workers do not know exactly how far they are being controlled & how far they themselves are unaware of the truth that exists depicts the dangers of what is taking place around us. These media entities themselves are victims of the propaganda hype that is being controlled by a few powerful people. Why else would media remain silent over US-sponsored dictators =96 Pinochet, Marcos etc. Why would media not demand answers for all of the democratic governments that the US & allies helped overthrow & install puppet leaders, why would media not question the atrocities taking place or even highlight the crimes against the Iraqi people by the US & allies, why would the media not tell the people of the world that more wrongs are being done by the US, UK, & allies than any dictators have done combined.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The dangers that media belongs to an elite group, interested only in profit & advancing ideologies that continue to maintain the status quo & existence of the rich & elite reveal that Western governments would continue intervention, proliferation of the wealth of poor nations & hamper realistic peace among nations & people. Media will help continue the unequal income distribution, trends towards privatization & help weaken governments by projecting them as dictators across the world media =96 we the people will continue to be fooled especially when the trusted ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-sourcesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ of the news material is also linked to Western interests including alternative sources that are the human rights organizations. Just imagine the amount of information being produced by Government & corporations in tandem from which media uses as sources & the damage they do?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Thus when the structure of the media is based upon the foundation of elitism, profit it is easy to understand why media would never seek to project the ills that the system that they are part of actually aims to protect. So long as media remains supportive by virtue of its allegiance to western ideology everything that reaches us in the form of news & information will remain biased & far from the truth. For all the wars, the fear psychosis & public uproar that has been created over the years helping to establish anarchy & unrest, the media must share their own guilt. People have been ignited into action by feeding them half truths & this is unethical journalism. The job of western media has been to misinform. In Iraq & all other countries that it has played a prominent role in toppling Saddam the dictator, it has never remotely pointed out the inadequacies that prevail in what the West promised these people & what they actually gave!
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ We can well understand the truth in this argument by the manner that a single event branded terrorism into a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-war on terrorismƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ & how the media hid a lot of controversial information from the public. Why did the media hide how the Co-Chairs of the 9/11 Commission said that the CIA had ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-obstructed
investigationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ & that military officials had misrepresented the facts to the Commission & the Commission considered recommending criminal charges for false statements. Media also hid about Commissioner Max Clelands resignation from the Commission stating ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-it is a national scandal=85this investigation is now compromised=85this White House wants to cover it upƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. Why did the media not relay what Senior Counsel to the 9/11 Commission John Farmer said ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-I was shocked at how different the truth was from the way it was described =85the tapes told a radically different story from what had been told to us & the public for two years..ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ Did the media not hide the fact that Bob Graham, a US government informant was the landlord to two of the hijackers for over a year & that the White House had refused to let the 9/11 Commission interview him! Similarly, former intelligence officers, former CIA agents, structural engineers, legal scholars, professors & the like have all openly declared that 9/11 had to have been an inside job since it was obvious that explosives had been involved to assist the collapse & much of the investigation had been tampered by why has this important statements & opinions been left out by the mainstream media?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ True what happened on 9/11 was unbelievable but it certainly was not the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-worst act of terrorismƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ as described by the media. Why has western media omitted to cover some of the worst acts of terrorism committed by the US, UK, France & allies?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ How many citizens of the world know that the US government has given more than USD200billion in military aid to train, equip, & support more than 2.3million troops & security in more than 80 countries purely to protect ruling oligarchs & MNCs from anti-capitalist insurgencies? How many citizens know how much US has spent towards supporting notorious autocrats & dictators who have tortured & killed while the US governments knew & preferred to just watch it happening? Would western media ever chronologically go through the lists of democratically elected governments that the US & allies have toppled to be replaced with their puppets? Why wonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t the media come out & say that the US & the West have been supporting terrorism & this is what has incited anger & resentment from people who are victims. It has been easy to use ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Islamic fanaticƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ theme. Did the media cry foul when US bombed a Sudanese pharmaceutical factory in 1998 claiming it was Osama bin Ladens weapons factory killing an unknown number of civilians & even the UN was blocked from conducting an inquiry?
A former US State Dept spokesman once said : ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-We lead. We go around the world & we make people be counted whether theyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢re on our side or on the side of the terroristsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. This in other words means that there are only two types of people =96 those who support US & the West & all those who do not are classified as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-terroristsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ or targeted indiscriminately. That the media is onboard with this type of thinking is clearly revealed in the manner the media was quick to blame ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-arabsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ & ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-muslimsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ for the Oklahoma bombing though eventually it turned out to be a former US soldier.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If anyone reads Western media reports they would be forced to assume that the West is devoid of all ills that happen in other nations. It is clear that the propaganda tool of the west is its media. Why does the Western media keep silent about supposed ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-corrupt regimesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ & only bring them out when it suits them? Or is it because these countries are affecting their foreign policy? A good example is Africa =96 for years western oil companies have raped & plundered these nations but no sooner militant uprisings threaten the supply routes to the West their Governments create a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-reasonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ which is perfectly backed by the media.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In Iraq the media is responsible for its role in the death of a million people who are dead as a result of a concocted invasion artfully planned & executed. In Afghanistan a similar fate is taking place as will happen in Libya, Syria & other countries earmarked in the Middle East.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The media is not concerned about the ethics of reporting because it is part of the WestƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s game plan to take over a new frontier as their nations are falling apart economically though the real control lies in Israel, its Zionist lobbies, the arms manufacturers & those that make up the transnational elite. The role of the media is to ensure that the people do not scrutinize. Media a member of that global elite will always find ways to control & limit the assumptions of the global readers & viewers so that imperial interests are never threatened at any time. There are exceptions like the Guardian but at times is careful to package what it relays. The case in point is that all Western media believe that the WestƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s political culture is benevolent & morally superior to all existing alternatives.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Is Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s media any different?
September 1st, 2011 at 6:10 pm
Shenali, I found the title of your article not quite right.
Quite agree, that the governance of the West is dictatorial, because the policies are those of a wealthy minority and not those of the masses, and hence there cannot be anything democratic about it. They use the media, AI, HRW to dupe the masses that what they have is a democratic system and what everyone else has is autocratic. There is hardly any difference between how Hitler used media to his advantage and how the Western Govts are using media these days. Same old dog – just a different set of tricks!
September 1st, 2011 at 6:59 pm
This is simply BS. Anti-western journalism is no different than “western journalism” that this writer talking about. You can compare and contrast them and the bottom line is everyone bias.
First of all you are out of realities of this world. The kind of utopian world you envision do not exist or will never going to exist. I don’t think there are journalists who work for nothing either. Some writers including this writer must go and put a yellow-rob on them, become monks if they are so disappointed of western system of politics. Some will always lead this world while others will criticize it and that will not stop anything but the world continues on. I would rather have western world lead and have my individual freedom than living under dictators, theocrats, and communists and live under their tyranny .
The democracy nor western world are without their imperfections and there’s no hundred percent perfect system or perfect people exist like some want to believe. But the western world will be the power until the end of this world whether some people like it or not! If they don’t lead someone will.
The proven fact remains that the dynasties, dictatorships, communism, theocracy and the rest don’t seem to work well. But the Western democracies are proven successful for decades and those people who are oppressed under the clutches of cruel dictators speak up for themselves more louder every where in the current world than what the hired opinions of certain writers telling us.
The worst of all most majority of these writers who preaching so loud against the Western world live in these affluent western world and enjoy every privilege that they offer. That is great hypocrisy than western imperialism, i guess!
September 1st, 2011 at 7:30 pm
A web of deciet from top to bottom all controled by virtual money dispensed from the west. The media is no different from the doctors,the lawyers , politicians etc. The final price is paid by the poor and the enviorment. 40 million people were pushed below poverty lines last year. Until the marginalised rise up against this system the system will continue. When they do it will be destructive and humanity will pay the price once again. The only way to prevent it is for all right thinking people to demand good governace but what we see is sycophancy.
September 1st, 2011 at 9:46 pm
This was published a few months ago and I think it is appropriate in this context too.
It usually longer than my posting but bear with it !
Lately I was involved in some heated discussions in one of the internet forums and some of the irritant topics to many that I brought to surface were the level of corruptions, lack of transparency, foreign debts and the efforts to smother the freedom of speech.
None of the participants were able to give any convincing answers, instead restored to whipping some political parties, some religious establishments and those who represent minorities’ interests up.
One personal experience I quoted was one of my friends was trying to bribe his daughter in to a super grade school in Colombo when the same person openly says that the corruption is a thing in the past and the new man in the driving seat has already seen to it.
When confronted then why he needed such an intervention when everything if fixed already, he meekly said otherwise she would be left behind (not the very same words).
His house is like a shrine dedicated to his man now on the driving seat yet, privately has different agendas.
The same phenomenon was much evident even during some of the heated discussions mentioned earlier.
Some were ready to portray Sri Lankan as one only second to the Heaven (not in religious terms but only figuratively speaking terms) and started whipping up the western and other developed nations blaming all our failures on them.
Yet most of the participants were happy to enjoy all the benefits derived from living in those decadent societies.
Why they are unable to return back to their place of birth and the country that they are so desperately trying to portray as the next best thing to the heaven, they too like my friend who was trying to bribe someone to get a placement for his daughter have thousand other vague excuses.
They live, work, send their kids to schools and universities there, have a comfortable life, enjoy the benefits of having placements based on merits than anything else, transparency and most importantly the freedom of speech which most or all of them are non existence in the their so-called heaven.
This is what I see as the modern-day feudalism.
The Apple Polishers do not want their compatriots to know that there is another world far better and much different than theirs, beyond their tine hamlets.
The moment when others know the world beyond their hamlet is much better and open, they too aspire to be there and or demand the same conditions in their tiny hamlets too.
Once that happened the status quo would be broken.
The best example is the present Arab spring uprising engulfing most parts of the region.
Once the status quo is broken, many who preach so much rubbish but not put them in to practice know very well that their and their families places in the pecking order of the society would be drastically changed not because of anything else but all what they enjoy today, have been obtained only thanks to the virulent and rampant corruptions (in one form or the other) in their heaven.
No Merit No Transparency.
If the placements are based only on merits, many sarong clad children and young men from many tiny hamlets would overtake them like a Ferrari overtaking a Micro on a race track.
The outcome of such a contest is too obvious and needs no further elaborations.
Then why to upset the apple cart but enjoy polishing apples and preach rubbish which none of them have any idea of putting in to practice.
If they are really determined to see the country changes from its present position to a developed nation, then why so reluctant to come back and infuse whatever expertise that you have gained while staying in those decadent societies.
Speak openly and oppose to corruptions and malpractices.
Demand placements solely based on merit and not on connections, wealth or any other criteria.
Most importantly preach only what you follow than the other way around.
During one such discussion, somebody mentioned that we need farsighted leaders.
I do not think that we need leaders in this century too.
What we only need is some capable people to represent us (Representatives and not Leaders) and to turn aspirations of the people in to realities than megalomaniacs to plunder the wealth of the people on legacy creating ventures and stifling aspirations of the people to ensure the continuity in their scions’ places in pecking order of the society for a long time to come.
September 2nd, 2011 at 1:55 am
I do not know where such an able researcher get the information from. Almost majority of the media in the west were in full support of Egyptian people fight for their fundamental rights against Mubarak. You are communicating in English language, which is a western language which everybody in Sri Lanka would dearly like to learn to further their career prospects like you have done .
By all means criticize the west but please get the facts right and do not be obsessed by some ideology.
September 2nd, 2011 at 5:05 am
maha,
Shanali has full right to express the facts, opinion or point of view. Somebody lives in the West does not mean she or he has to support Western govts to orchestrate wars and kill millions of innocents people for deferent agenda. There are many people in the West know that there is a dictatorship govt run by news agencies owned and operated by intelligent agencies. There is no secret about this. There are one section of public in the West have been trying free news papers and radios for long period.
To reply to your question again, There are huge section of Chinese, Hindus, Muslim, Buddhists and many other group have been coming to west for better economic opportunities as a result of low population growth, large land mass and better economy. And these people came under invitation of Western govts and many of them are second third, fourth and fifth generation. However, it does not mean they do support any one to kill their relatives or brethren in million under false pretense to achieve deferent agendas. They all have equal rights to oppose any invasion any country. Criticizing is or showing what is wrong with the West is not hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is when you attack an another country for killing 1 or 2 innocent persons in a war while you kill millions children and women
across the globe for false reasons.
Now Egypt: Tell me why West nest agencies did not ever bother Egypt for more than thirty years. The secret is president Mubarak funded by West and suddenly people turned against him and West media turn against him because they had no choice; they claim they are democracy and they have to go with public up rising, otherwise, west loses military interest in the Suez canal.
second, wait and see that Muslims will never adopt western democracy and it conflict with Islamic values and it conflict with every other non western cultures. May be, they will create a democracy which suite and protect their culture. However you going to see the “crying wolf” change it’s true color when Egypt elect a Islamic brotherhood and oppose US and Israel, then then it is not the democracy but “a dictatorship”.
September 2nd, 2011 at 6:57 am
maha,
you have user name of part of a Sinhalese name. Are you a Sinhalese Buddhist? and if so how come you offended by this article?
September 2nd, 2011 at 9:30 am
this kind of article are not allowed in any of western news papers. That’s one of the reason that Shanali is pointing.
But in website news and forums, you can see this kind of articles and comments are everywhere. So it is not something that Shanali made out of.
September 2nd, 2011 at 10:11 am
when Egypt uprising occurred, I was watching tv with Canadian and asked Canadian friends “How come CNN joint protesters and called Mubarak dictator”. They said, “don’t you know American”.
September 3rd, 2011 at 6:02 am
Maha says : “The democracy nor western world are without their imperfections and there’s no hundred percent perfect system or perfect people exist like some want to believe”.
Moving toward a 100% perfect system in the world and for the individual is the only way to go. That is the only worthy Goal for mankind. This cannot be done overnight, but a general effort must be made by one and all to move in that direction. Any other way means taking sides and creating wars where millions die for no real fault of theirs. Wars create hatred and an endless cycle builds up.
Family Planning in heavily populated countries is a must. Sri Lanka must start on serious Family Planning now as must India. Illegal Migration in to Lanka must never be allowed and all illegal migrants deported.
The real role of all Media is to expose the truth. There is no other role. Our thanks to Shenali for constantly exposing the truth however unpalatable to some.
September 3rd, 2011 at 9:25 am
Thanks for the article, Shenali. Yes arrogant nations like England, USA, France etc like to lecture others on democracy. Think they can launch wars against sovereign nations, just so they can grab resources from those countries like they are doing in Libya. Hats off to Germany, Russia, China and like minded countries for staying out of these arrogant imperialist conquests of these nations like England, US and France especially.
September 5th, 2011 at 12:03 am
All who addressed to me:
I know this website from day one when it was hosted years ago from Los Angeles, California, USA.
You should have tolerance for opposing views although they may not agreeing with your views, or ideologies. That’s how things work in our modern society in an age when people enjoy the privilege of the freedom of expression.
However, if you feel this writer is ultimate truth, no one must question or oppose his/her views and want to impose that ideas on the readers, then, the article must not leave room for readers comments, or delete the comments that don’t seem to support the ‘writer’s of the ultimate truth’.
By the way, I don’t think that’s ethical to ask a bias and prejudicial question on a public forum by the writer or any other commentator. Does it matter commentator is a “Sinhala Buddhist,” “Sinhala Agnostic,” “Sinhala atheist” “Sinhala Muslim” “Sinhala Christian” or “Sinhala Whatever”? Such statements indicate religious fanaticsm.
Per your question, i am certainly a Sri Lankan. I do not need to display my religious banner if i am Buddhist, Hundu, Muslim, Christian in order to make a comment. That’s absolutely prejudicial, this article does not deal with any religious issue after all. you folks must rise above this fanatical stuff. There’s no such a thing called a “Sinhala Buddhist”. you are slapping at the Buddhism.
I don’t how long this world has existed but history has not written any perfect world before and i do not see the current world is going towards a perfect world either. I haven’t read Lord Buddha, Lord Jesus Christ or any such great or divine persons ever predicted a perfect anything on earth but they have talked total opposite of that kind of ideology.
I am sure those economic opportunities, resources, and land masses are available in China, Russia, and most parts of Middle Eastern countries and other parts of the world besides the West, but unfortunately not a whole lot of people of the third world countries are given much opportunities to become a citizen in any of those countries!! The west welcome people regardless of your religion, ethnicity, class, or race which is one of the greatest Western values that must be admired and appreciated.
Many thousands of Indians who lived in Sri Lanla not only for the economic opportunities and landmass but for the hard labor who served our country for generations were not given citizenship in Sri Lanka for decades.
September 6th, 2011 at 12:28 am
Maha thank you for your response. In an online forum like Lanka Web, contributors should be able to write and comment as they wish without personal attacks. The level of discussion should be kept to a high standard. I totally agree with Maha it does matter who you are,as long as you we have a civilized discussion on issues.
September 6th, 2011 at 7:49 am
I did not wish to make any personal attack, but the way I express was wrong. I sincerely apologized to mama for that part. There are good patriotic Sinhalese Christian and we can’t deny that there are small minority of Sinhalese Christian who works with western groups against Sinhalese Buddhists and Sri lanka as whole.
Now my answer to maha’s latest comment is here: The west mean a few major western countries, US, Canada, EU and Australia and planing control the whole world; all global wars are part of it. And Sri lanka is on the top list to get control over it. As result of it, there is daily threat of war crimes and threat through UN to investigate war crimes.
Maha said West is good because they give citizenship to many but others don’t. Here is my answer again. A West do not have enough population. B they keep immigrants to connect business to other part of the world. C they use many groups for covert activities in other part of the world and bring their influence. D again all these including what I forget to mention are part of covert activities to get control.
China a huge population and various groups who are already supported or will be supported by West to break it up .
Russia is same. Have many groups already bombing and Western intention is clear it is not just ended up breaking up ex-soviet union and broke up some part of Russian federation and waiting for opportunities to come from place like Chestnyia.
some of Arab countries, Afghanistan, Pakistan are already destroyed by using heavy population explosion, deferent ethnic and religions groups. East Tumor and Southern Sudan is another example of the West.
So who the hell want to give citizenships to help west who are bent on conspiring against other countries.
East Europe is another example; they conspired years against easter European to annex them former EC to strengthen military and economic power of the west with plan to invade other countries which are doing now