The citizens of this sun-kissed island are getting ready for a doubtful 2024, but before that they have to celebrate Christmas and the dawn of the New Year. This celebrating habit has continued even if credit cards have to be pulled out in case there is a shortage somewhere. In the past we maintained cultures and traditions and it wasn’t expensive or exhausting to do that. Now we have to maintain both ourselves and the lawmakers, who are largely responsible for making this
nation bankrupt!   

The initial pinch regarding cost of living was felt during the height of the civil war when goods and services were taxed enormously; a war tax added to the equation, chocking everyone. The time when the war broke out was about the period in history when this country’s people lost something valuable. The people sided with one of two camps and in this process they sacrificed great human qualities like the will for reconciliation and the appreciation of democracy. There was a defence secretary who once openly said ‘either you are on the side of the terrorists or you are on the side
of the government. 

The war gave rise to so many heroes; many in the south and a good number of them in the north. We saw the luxury life Tiger Leader Prabakaran enjoyed; his private pool, expensive vehicles and other material things suggesting he was giving instructions to his cadres from inside an air-conditioned abode.  We saw the lawmakers, especially from the south, who held office between 2005 and 2015, enjoying privileges like never before. There were heroes in the north and the south from both camps during the war and their maintenance was a huge strain on the economy from a people’s perspective. 

These anti-democratic forces slowly destroyed the values of society and brought in a new culture of depending on politicians at the expense of a vibrant and helpful social culture. Before that earning a living wasn’t tiring or complicated. Then there was the dawn of the era of thieves; either featuring in ‘white shirt and tie’ or ‘white national’. The latter group milked the government coffers dry. If a time-line is prepared, initially living was easy, then we saw an era where living became tiresome, and now we see a desert in front of us. 

Citizens of this country are forced to think like great artists now. An artist has a tendency or great urge to portray an angle in a scene which is otherwise missed by the untrained eye of non artists. It was a well-known fact that the ‘71 insurgency’ showed another perspective about what was happening to this country which was far different from what the media was portraying through their news outlets. The present-day Aralagalayas (struggles) are aimed at fulfilling personal agendas. The Galle Face Aragalaya was a classic example; of course sparing the handful of protesters who were there in the same geographic location and campaigning for the sake of ushering in change and opening the eyes of the public. 
The public needs ‘eyes’ which can see for miles. We don’t need lawmakers who’ll make their companies and businesses grow at our expense. We need lawmakers who’ll help us reach our goals. Backing the old system of maintaining corrupt lawmakers will not help us reach our goals and
find ourselves. 

Like the great artists we need a bigger canvas to paint our life story on. Anyone riding a Harley-Davidson bike will vouch that controlling a two-wheeled bike is easier when the structure is bigger when compared to a smaller bike. We have been forced to shrink our thoughts by the people in power. We need to recreate that society where its members knew more about responsibility, democracy and human values. That society- if recreated- will be too big for lawmakers to tamper with and eventually destroy. 
This Christmas our wish must be to promote the thought of maintaining both a vibrant culture and helpful society; even if it must be done at the expense of severing ties with
anti-democratic forces.