Will Applause Turn To Votes?
By Sarath de Alwis –July 28, 2015
Sarath de Alwis
“It is not the consciousness of men that determine their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness.” – Karl Marx
Anura Kumara Dissanayake received several rounds of applause from the Business Community gathered in the ‘Rainbow hall’ of the Grand Oriental Hotel on Monday 27th July. Having retired from the humdrum of Business and Commerce eighteen years ago, this writer cannot comment on the quality of the composition of the audience – whether they were captains or lieutenants of our private sector. The presence of two brothers s who converted a family business in to dynamic blue chip conglomerate under Post JR neo liberal economic order was confirmation that comrade Anura Kumara and the JVP has a respectable resonance in the world of private enterprise. He did not actually use the Latin adage “Ex scientia pecuniae libertas. Out of knowledge of money comes freedom.”
That is what he promised the business community. But the money had to be redistributed. He ruled out vertical redistribution. We don’t wish to take from the rich and give to the poor. In a succinct presentation of the economics of a caring state he explained that substantially high investments in education, health, transport and related spheres would ensure horizontal redistribution and social justice. The next incisive observation was that the private sector was now investing by instinct and not by informed decision. “Now you sniff for opportunities and gamble with your seed capital”. A JVP government will identify opportunities within the larger frame of national priorities, conduct the initial studies and allow the private sector to work out the rest.
He cited an example of how the JVP during its brief stint in office launched a national drive to increase milk production and also found productive employment for more than four hundred graduates in Veterinary Science who were in search of employment. Read More
