Criticize don't Insult

“I don’t wish for my leaders to fail even though I voted for them or not. Because I understand one thing as a leadership coach is that when someone is appointed as a leader they become the leader of the entire country not only the ones who voted for him/her”

Often I hear people use taglines like “Appachi” “Hitan” “sir fail” and they seem to enjoy it because it’s the leader chosen by their political opposition, It’s not like that they use it to take a sarcastic dig but they use it on a regular basis. Personally, for me, it’s cringe-worthy because to me the leader we chose is a reflection of our ideas & values. People say it's two different things but believe me, it’s not! Any team, population which gets to appoint a leader if they appoint a smart one meaning they have given it some thought. While if it’s a dumb dumb well then look at his/her voter base. I grew up in Sri Lanka where a mass grave and the hope of eating bread for 3.50 was the lead slogan of a political propaganda for a presidential campaign and guess what… People voted for it. I also witnessed a losing election spun as a sympathy stunt and people voted for one president because she was attacked by terrorists. While the rest of the history you’re aware of letting me ask you “Why can’t you criticize without insulting?” don’t know what I mean? Let me refresh

• During Mr. Fonseka’s election campaign TV networks ran election propaganda for the government through movies about dictators and communicated a message that this person will be a dictator. Years later the same propaganda mechanism created the opinion that we need a dictator…
• Mr. Sirisena ran for president there was an imposter dressed as him who walked beside the then President and slouching to show that he has no personality compared to the glory of the “Great one”
• When Mr Premadasa / Wickramsinghe ran for president the fact that both of them not having kids was not only brought to question but was showed as a sign to say “He is less of a man, he has no kids how would he know about your kids” and surprise, surprise we decided not to vote for them too.
• But the latest is to say “Sir Fail” and make the man who was involved in ending the war a meme stock, and draw so many horrendous memes of the man to a point it’s not funny anymore.?

Why is it so difficult for us to read a bill, act, amendment, and praise or criticize our own comprehension? I’ll tell you why… because it requires you doing something… it requires you sitting and reading, thinking, writing, speaking and more thinking which we would not do because that’s not how we’re wired. If we want to appoint a leader he needs to tell us on a stage on how good he is by using his men. He never reads his election mandate on a stage and we never care to listen. We need to be told by screaming buffoons while insulting the opposition to provide entertainment and compare them to kings, speak about religion, 2500 years of heritage, and how a descendent of one bloodline has always been betraying.?WE REALLY NEED TO THINK OF NEW MATERIAL. I’m 34 and this is all I’ve been hearing since I took an interest in politics when I was around 7 years old and even then I knew there are more decent ways to criticize and Opposition.

Let’s look at the root of all this, our leaders since 1948 created a population who were ok to be called a developing nation because they used to get things for free because they saw how it worked. “When you call yourself a “developing country” others give us aid and with that, we could provide more free stuff, and along with free stuff came the ability to scare people “if you vote for the other guy this free stuff will go away” sadly those free stuff included things like Education, Healthcare and even Agriculture let me break down the cycle for you in each of these areas.

• Education?– provided free so quality? Who cares I can get a job that I can survive with and feed my family, save up a little, and retire. Higher education? Sure if you’re giving it to me FOC I’ll learn something completely and utterly useless, get the degree and demand for a job, even at 45 I’ll be still saying “the government didn’t give me a job” because that’s what was shown to me. What if someone can afford to pay?

“How dare he pay for what I’m getting free” not

“Ok, let him pay and with his/her money I’ll be able to get a better quality education and we both win”?

Why because class & caste differences were deep-rooted by our kings for 2500 years where to date it’s an ongoing real social issue and the person who was given something for free by the government thinks it’s his birthright to have it and God forbid if a rich kid who’s father pays the taxes for the education that the poor kid gets, get the same quality in education and go to the same university, He / She will be ragged simply because of the seniors who live their youth suffering from an inferiority complex.

Don’t believe me? A low caste man cannot be a Mahanayaka Thero in any one of the 03 assemblages here in Sri Lanka! Where Lord Buddha himself visited and preached… We just don’t like someone bettering us through the system that was made for all of us. Again don’t believe me? Doctors! Go overseas spend locally earned money at other countries?“No problem”?pay for it here and set a unified standard??“How dare you”?subsequently the outcome? An unintelligent population who don’t know how to read a P&L, understand a budget debate, read a bill that’s about to pass also a set of people who can read giant slogans about Race & Religion and scream loud without even knowing the proper meaning of the holy text that is taught to them in school.

• Healthcare?– run by a set of egotistically driven people with a privileged mindset who thinks that they’re above everyone else. Where the Attendant dares to scream at a patient if he faints or pukes on the Hospital floor. Where the Nurses think that they deserve to be doctors and the doctors think they deserve to be Gods. People created by the same free education which was given to them by the taxpayers whom they yell at once they come to the hospital for treatment.

Also since healthcare is free, they can do whatever they want… Don’t believe me? A doctor left a chunk of gauze inside the patient and stitched him up. And the patient was asked to come back so that they could correct it and it was covered in the news but the patient got no compensation for a licensed medical professional endangering his life. If this happened in a country like Australia or anywhere else where the public is supposed to have healthcare insurance the insurance company not only would’ve come for the doctor but also taken the hospital to the cleaners. Since the surgery was free and the man was a common one he just laid on the table so they could correct their mistake. Why… Because if he questioned the response he would get is?“It’s bad enough that you’re getting it for free, you’re also running your mouth”?not a public apology admitting the mistake and assuring that it’ll not happen again.

• Agriculture?– We Sri Lankans have been farmers for the longest time with the best organic farming practices. We used trees to fertilize acres of lands, birds were used as anti-pest devices, naturally, harvested oils were used as a pesticide agent as well, and mind you we’ve been engaging in such practices for Millennia. But when a corrupt politician wanted to make an easy buck they said “Pesticides are much more effective”, “Chemical fertilizer is faster and increases crops” not only that someone had a brilliant idea of providing Fertilizer free. Can you imagine how much corruption would’ve taken place?

As a result of giving everything free and having rulers who did not foresee a future and prepared a country for tough times came across a pandemic. And it all fell on the shoulders of one government whereas leaders who ruled us for over 73 years are responsible for it and more importantly citizens who got used to freebees all their life are to be blamed.

At least now let’s learn, let us learn to study, read and ask the question “HOW” as in if an idiot politician says “I’m gonna implement a 100% renewable energy plan” ask him “How” if he says it’s my business?“then respond by not voting for him”?because that’s your business. If someone tries and explains something when you ask “HOW” Google it… find out if he said the truth and is it doable, Still if it is not respond with a?“Sorry”?at the next election. Because we don’t have time for incompetence anymore, not in Schools, Not in farms, not in hospitals, and most certainly not at the Parliament.

On the off chance, you get to criticize him/her don’t criticize them because of them not having kids or anything personal about them. Don’t attack their character because virgins and saints don’t live among us And if you’re saying that you’re one remember you’ve at least jaywalked. So criticize… call their bluff, take them to the cleaners but do it in your regard. If the information is not given to you, go look for it. Claiming your right as a citizen at an election is not your duty, following up with your mandate is.

I don’t wish for my leaders to fail regardless of the fact that I voted for them or not. Because I understand one thing as a leadership coach is that when someone is appointed as a leader they become the leader of the entire country not only the ones who voted for him/her

So remember… if you wish for the leader who presides over you to fail simply because he’s not the one you voted for, you’re just setting yourself to fail eventually. And quite frankly we as citizens of this great nation have failed enough, it’s time we stand up for our rights as a citizen and question the leaders bestowed upon us with logic.