The Path Less Travelled: Ethics in Sports, Politics and Governance

A few days ago a parent of a potential player of a big match for a Colombo school told me of calls they got asking them for one lakh of Rupees to get their son into the big match team.  They had a discussion with their son and he agreed that he does not want to buy his way into the team, even though he knew he deserved to be there.    I hope that this is the kind of response most parents would have given, as I believe that many of us are ethical beings.

Yet, when there is so much at stake – playing in a big match means a life-long recognition – this must be a difficult choice.  Therefore, I admire this young man and his parents for taking this stand.  Obviously, they live by a set of values and ethics in the long run will hold them in great stead.

I sincerely hope that life will reward them – as I do wonder at times when I see so much ‘in your face’ unethical behavior with impunity by the very leaders who should live by example for us.  Corruption stems from merely breaking a traffic law like running a red light, defacing walls with election posters when there are laws against it to acts of bribery for political favours to killing people who question.

Sri Lanka’s Reputation

Sri Lanka has the dubious honor of being 97th, tied with Liberia and below Rwanda in the Corruption Perceptions Index – 2009 of Transparency International.  This rank shows how one country compares to others indicating the perceived level of public-sector corruption in a country.   Hearing more and more appalling stories of connivance and graft amongst the inner circle of politicians and business on a daily basis, we are sure to slide further.

How can I have pride in the country of my birth when we are judged in this way by the rest?.

No matter what I do, this image is an impediment by association as I work and travel around the world, even if it is totally opposite to my personal values of integrity and respect.  This lack of respect for us is stark by the way foreign missions and immigration officials treat us as we travel the world.

Sri Lanka is where it is today through a steady erosion of some of the basic ethics and values of governance by a succession of leaders since independence.  It has gone down to such a depth, permeating every aspect of our society including our education system, which is the bedrock of any good society.   This grates me as I come from a family of educators and am one myself.

No wonder people are leaving our shores in droves as when the country’s values are not aligned with theirs, the only option for those who can is to up and leave.  So, Sri Lanka loses its best and the brightest.

My father who loved this country dearly decided to immigrate to Canada in 1973 when he encountered this erosion of values after election-day in 1970.  A party supporter of the winning SLFP government came to hoist a blue flag on the St. Sylvester’s College flag mast which is reserved for the national and the school flags.  As the Principal, he chased him away to be presented a week later with a ‘punishment transfer’ to Kurunegala.

After he ended his career at age 57, without enjoying a comfortable retirement here, he decided to risk moving his family to cold and alien Canada.  He sacrificed for us as his values were at loggerheads with what was beginning to happen to his beloved country.

It is unfortunate that this abuse of power has gone from bad to worse.  It is a symptom of the caliber of people who have got into politics in recent times and their lack of learning, ignorance of history and politics.  History continues to repeat itself around the world over the last many centuries where egocentric, corrupt leadership has meted out misery and mayhem to nations and its people through an arrogant compromise on ethics and values for personal aggrandizement.  Nations have been set back for decades and everyone has lost at the end.

Look at Africa

We only have to look to Africa – many of the failed states who had so much promise as they became independent in the 1950s and 60s to be plundered dry by a ruling elite leaving entire nations in misery.     As a result, think of the general reputation Africans have even amongst us.

Martin Meredith’s  book, The State of Africa – A History of Fifty Years of Independence quotes a distinguished West Indian economist Arthur Lewis who wrote in 1965 about West Africa;

Much of what is going on in some of these countries is fully explained in terms of the normal lust of human beings for power and wealth.  The stakes are high. Office carries power, prestige and money.  The power is incredible.  Most West African Ministers consider themselves above the law, and are treated as such by the Police.  Decision making is arbitrary.  Decisions which more advanced countries leave to civil servants and technicians are made by Ministers often without consulting experts.   The prestige is also incredible.    Men who claim to be democrats in fact behave like emperors.  Personifying the state, they dress themselves in uniform, build themselves palaces and bring all traffic to a standstill when they drive, hold fancy parades and generally demand to be treated like Egyptian Pharaohs. And the money is also incredible. …… There are also vast pickings in bribes, state contracts, diversion of public funds to private uses, and commissions of various sorts.  To be a Minister is to have a lifetime chance to make a fortune.

Sound familiar ?.

What is sad is that fifty years later Sri Lanka may be embarking on this path with many of our leaders living what was then called the “Platinum life”.   When people at the top live this life with impunity, by example everyone else aspires to a Platinum Life too.  The entire system becomes corrupt, even the gentleman’s game of cricket, and everyone loses and at the end, even those at the top.  I am hoping that our leaders and the people in Sri Lanka are more enlightened than the Africans were.

I am also banking on three other factors;

• our Buddhist heritage founded on compassion and the middle path
• A highly literate and educated population
• Our tradition of democracy

Yet, I get scared as I read Meredith’s book illustrating the unimaginable misery, loss of life for millions, continued sadness and suffering in many African nations whether it is Nigeria, Ghana (who seem to be finally getting their act together with righteous leaders), Liberia, Corte d ‘Ivoire, Kenya, the Congo, Angola, Zimbabwe and the list goes on.

Going Mad with Power

Ghana’s Nkrumah came into power in 1960 creating a republic that gave him unlimited powers.  He was revered at the time as Africa’s savior and promised to build a post colonial superpower.   He had spurts of developing the country with schools and hospitals but ended up being one of the worst scoundrels of Africa amassing millions of dollars for him and his cronies, wreaking havoc and hurting his own people as many of them do to stay in power.  In the middle of all this he also promised to tackle the scourge of corruption as it had got entrenched by then.  All this was hollow promises as there was a huge gap between and what he said and what he actually did.  He finally met his downfall as such leaders cross the line eventually from thinking invincible.  On 24^th February 1966, while he was away the army took over the country.  An army taking over a country is hardly liberation, but things had to change and Ghana went through misery for many more years until now where some good leaders have emerged.

The list of names of these reptilian leaders who came into power with so much promise are endless – Mobutu, Houphouet-Boigny, Kaunda, Arap Moi, Mengitsu, Banda, Abacha, Savimbi, Mugabe and the list goes on – one would have lost all hope for Africa.

Then came Mandela….

The world was fortunate indeed for Mandela – an aberration, a saint whose authentic leadership is based on set of values founded on respect and dignity for all human beings.   For Africa to produce such a visionary leader gives us all hope.

Reading the Mandela life story in Long Road to Freedom confirms his resolve and strength of character to take the more difficult path of peace and reconciliation, when he could have been tempted to take revenge in a reptilian manner.   His limbic brain, the seat of compassion and positive emotions, certainly overcame the reptilian brain which is the default mode for survival (many reptiles eat their own) which would have clamored for the lowly response of hate and revenge.    From a Buddhist view he is an evolved being, developing his compassion through reflection, contemplation and meditation in his 30 years of confinement, rather than wallowing in the dregs of anger and violence.

Rugby and Reconciliation

Not only was he compassionate, he was savvy and creative to see opportunities by bringing unlikely bedfellows together.  That is the way he brought Rugby and Politics together with incredible consequences.  The movie Invictus shows his foresight to use the Afrikaner pride of Rugby to build trust and hope between the once divided communities.    He had the strength of conviction and confidence to pull this off as the majority native Africans saw the Springboks, Rugby and the colour green as symbols of oppression.  The mostly white Springboks team, being underdogs at an international level at the time, never expected to be supported by every colour and class nationally at the 1995 Rugby World Championships hosted in South Africa.  The Springboks led by François Pienaar who Mandela developed a close relationship with were inspired to win against a New Zealand All Blacks onslaught led by the power house Jonah Lomu.  It was a masterstroke as the entire nation came out to celebrate, which had a lasting emotional effect of togetherness.

Mandela kept winning for South Africa and the world, but then he also knew that his time was up and stood down before he got entrenched and lost perspective with age.   When people resisted his impending departure, he said, “A young nation like this cannot be run by an Octogenarian like me”.

I keep wondering how Mandela is so different to Mugabe who clings to power well past his ‘use by date’ of sanity.  I believe every one of us has the Mandela potential within us.  Mandela is an incredibly aware human being living in the present, balanced and fearless as a result whereas Mugabe is full of hate and fear, unaware and untouched by the misery he has spread to a once beautiful nation. We have to only follow our own Buddhist doctrine of the Noble Eightfold Pathway and live a life of mindfulness in the middle path to become Mandela.

Our ethical foundation emerges through Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood.  For that we have to be wise through our conceptual foundation of Right Understanding and Right Thought.  In order to get there, we have to have the mental discipline through Right Effort, Right Concentration and Right Mindfulness.

Mandela embodies the following words of wisdom I found in the business book, the Fifth Discipline Fieldbook by Peter Senge et al –   quoting our very own Sage, Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne

The Most Dangerous Stage is Respect

When we try to bring about change in our societies, we are treated first with indifference, then with ridicule, then with abuse and oppression.  And finally, the greatest challenge is thrown at us. We are treated with respect.  This is the most dangerous stage  - A.T. Ariyaratne

Mandela overcame the most dangerous stage and he is a truly free human being now – a true saint.

Hope for Sri Lanka – Dharma Mahinda ?

We do have hope that in Sri Lanka too in victory this regime will provide a leadership that is magnanimous, ethical, humble and compassionate, while creating a discipline and accountability within the political system, the judiciary, the bureaucracy and the security apparatus to give every Sri Lankan a life protected by justice present with dignity.   This way we would have truly learned from history and not take the Africa route fifty years later.

Sri Lanka beating the biggest scourge of terrorism has shown the world it can meet this ultimate challenge and now we have an opportunity to be a beacon of stability and sustainable growth by being    a well governed nation.

In the meantime, we honor and applaud the kind of behavior the cricketer and the family showed when the pressure was on.  This is the true spirit of our nation founded on a Dharma where Right Action is the cornerstone.  It is our own individual choice and action that makes for a collective positive outcome.  The true test is the path we choose when temptation is offered to us.  Nowadays, it seems the path less travelled is the right one, but the more difficult one to take.  Everyday is a test for us and we hope we can endure even in the most difficult of times.   There is a good reason according to Venerable Nyanaponika.

Today’s danger is over-development of one-sided brain activity devoted solely to material ends, in the service of thirst for sense pleasure and the lust for power.  The concomitant danger is that mankind might one day be crushed by the very creations of its own hypertrophied brain – its body killing inventions and its mind killing distractions.  The remedy that will prevent catastrophic developments is the Buddha’s Middle Path.  It is the eternal guardian that, if listened to, will protect humanity from shipwreck on the rocks of extreme – mental, spiritual and social.  – Venerable Nyanaponika

May all beings be well and happy!