Sri Lanka and the woes of independence

[Pessimistic]

Right wing journos quick to point the finger as ‘looney’ organic agriculture.

Turns out the country couldn’t afford to import fertilizer, so people were told to organic


Slightly different angle

https://www.news.com.au/world/asia/the-moment-it-all-went-wrong-for-sri-lanka/news-story/d81f11c688dce69c8edb5e06754838f8

 

[Johnny Bananas]

Right wing journos quick to point the finger as ‘looney’ organic agriculture.

Turns out the country couldn’t afford to import fertilizer, so people were told to organic


Slightly different angle

https://www.news.com.au/world/asia/the-moment-it-all-went-wrong-for-sri-lanka/news-story/d81f11c688dce69c8edb5e06754838f8

I very rarely agree with right-wing journalists, but this is one of those occasions. Organic farming always requires more land than conventional farming, something which doesn't just suddenly appear. When you're in a financial hole and have to decide what you're going to spend your limited reserves on, it's absolutely boneheaded to make a choice that restricts your ability to grow food, because it's guaranteed to lead to more imports and thereby make the problem worse. Not that the austerity the IMF demands is much better in terms of turning the ship around.

The first thing that should have been slashed is military spending, but that's hard to do when the Rajapaksas were voted in on a national security platform.

 

[Pessimistic]

I very rarely agree with right-wing journalists, but this is one of those occasions. Organic farming always requires more land than conventional farming, something which doesn't just suddenly appear. When you're in a financial hole and have to decide what you're going to spend your limited reserves on, it's absolutely boneheaded to make a choice that restricts your ability to grow food, because it's guaranteed to lead to more imports and thereby make the problem worse. Not that the austerity the IMF demands is much better in terms of turning the ship around.

The first thing that should have been slashed is military spending, but that's hard to do when the Rajapaksas were voted in on a national security platform.

Yes but the rwnj tried to paint it as ‘see where left wing green lunacy gets you’. This is good old fashioned corruption and ineptitude

Even the thread title is ‘see the colonials can’t be trusted to rule themselves’ vibe

 

[sonofafrank]

& caused me to look. See below.

'China's One Belt One Road (OBOR), now known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), was announced in 2013 and it seems it has one purpose only -- subjugation of the economically fragile nations on the way to becoming a great power by the time the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) celebrates 100 years.'

'There are numerous examples of countries, developed and developing, which are economically fragile that have become even more fragile courtesy the OBOR. The recent situation in Pakistan and Sri Lanka is case in point. The Centre for Global Development in a 2018 study of countries hosting OBOR projects found 23 of them in a state of debt distress.'

China's Belt and Road Initiative trapped Sri Lanka in debt, chaos - Sentinelassam

'Sri Lanka has taken loans from China, at lending rates in the range of 3-6 per cent against the 1-3 per cent offered by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
As a result, Sri Lanka has had to request China for a debt-to-equity swap, selling their own equity to Chinese companies as they have not been able to pay back their loans. China's investment of an estimated $1.4 billion in Sri Lanka's Colombo Port City project is the largest single foreign investment in the island nation's history. Dubbed as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the government of Sri Lanka and the CHEC Port City Colombo (CPCC) Pvt Ltd, the project has been much publicized for the employment opportunities and huge revenues which it would generate for the Sri Lankans.'

'What is seldom spoken about is the fact that of the 269 hectares of reclaimed land, 43 per cent will be controlled by the CPCC through a 99-year lease agreement. This is reminiscent of the not too long-ago takeover of the Hambantota Port on a 99-year lease by China Merchant Port Holdings (CMPH). The port is now operated 'jointly' by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority and CMPH, with the latter holding 80 percent stake in the port and exercising near total control over its operations. Sri Lanka is just one example of how China uses its economic power to ensnare unsuspecting, and sometimes complicit governments in an intricate web of debt and dependencies.'

Note: Colombo is the biggest port in the Indian Ocean as India is well aware:

What Chinese port city in Colombo means for India’s security | India News - Times of India

India News: Control of Colombo Port City is seen as a security concern for India

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

The heading on the top of the article is the dead give away why the poor Sri Lankan economy failed

 

[spinynorman]

I very rarely agree with right-wing journalists, but this is one of those occasions. Organic farming always requires more land than conventional farming, something which doesn't just suddenly appear. When you're in a financial hole and have to decide what you're going to spend your limited reserves on, it's absolutely boneheaded to make a choice that restricts your ability to grow food, because it's guaranteed to lead to more imports and thereby make the problem worse. Not that the austerity the IMF demands is much better in terms of turning the ship around.

The first thing that should have been slashed is military spending, but that's hard to do when the Rajapaksas were voted in on a national security platform.

The west became wealthy through destroying the environment in the process of industrialisation and exploiting the stolen resources of the Global South. These countries are now expected to develop without causing the same wanton damage that we did. Realistically they ought to be given major assistance from the wealthy world to develop in environmentally sustainable ways, but as is you have the dichotomy of the western left wanting to end coal mining and the left in South America celebrating the discovery of new resources to mine and build wealth.

The western left are embracing the concept of "degrowth", but there's a difference between degrowth for those of us in our comfortable homes in Melbourne or Sydney than there is for an ordinary person in Colombo.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

The west became wealthy through destroying the environment in the process of industrialisation and exploiting the stolen resources of the Global South.

True.

These countries are now expected to develop without causing the same wanton damage that we did.

Only by idiots who want to use them as an excuse to do nothing themselves.

Realistically they ought to be given major assistance from the wealthy world to develop in environmentally sustainable ways, but as is you have the dichotomy of the western left wanting to end coal mining and the left in South America celebrating the discovery of new resources to mine and build wealth.

These things aren't in conflict with one another. My understanding is that lithium and rare earth metals are the new South American resources boom, not coal, and they have the ability to assist in the decarbonisation process rather than hindering it. Guyana has new oil reserves, but I'm not aware of many other major new fossil fuels discoveries.

I'm sure if you asked the western left, most of them would be in favour of assisting developing countries in sustainable development. If I ran a wealthy country, I'd create a fund to buy up fossil fuel projects for the purpose of keeping the resources in the ground, and back renewable energy projects in those countries instead, and encourage other wealthy countries to contribute.

The western left are embracing the concept of "degrowth", but there's a difference between degrowth for those of us in our comfortable homes in Melbourne or Sydney than there is for an ordinary person in Colombo.

I don't understand what the western left has to do with Sri Lanka. They didn't make the decision to embrace organic farming in a balance of payments crisis.

 

[spinynorman]

These things aren't in conflict with one another. My understanding is that lithium and rare earth metals are the new South American resources boom, not coal, and they have the ability to assist in the decarbonisation process rather than hindering it. Guyana has new oil reserves, but I'm not aware of many other major new fossil fuels discoveries.

I'm sure if you asked the western left, most of them would be in favour of assisting developing countries in sustainable development. If I ran a wealthy country, I'd create a fund to buy up fossil fuel projects for the purpose of keeping the resources in the ground, and back renewable energy projects in those countries instead, and encourage other wealthy countries to contribute.

I believe there was reasonably recently some reserves found in Bolivia? And the coup government was keen to open its profits to foreign corporations where Lucho campaigned on the profits going to the Bolivian people. I may have my wires crossed though.

Anyway, point well made and I suppose it depends on how liberal (pun not intended) one wants to draw the boundaries of what the left is in the west.

I don't understand what the western left has to do with Sri Lanka. They didn't make the decision to embrace organic farming in a balance of payments crisis.

Fair cop, I think my final point was pretty tangential. Anyway, of course the external fault is with those who want to maintain a colonial dynamic and internally those who wish to profit from its continuance at the expense of ordinary people.

 

[Kwality]

True.


Only by idiots who want to use them as an excuse to do nothing themselves.


These things aren't in conflict with one another. My understanding is that lithium and rare earth metals are the new South American resources boom, not coal, and they have the ability to assist in the decarbonisation process rather than hindering it. Guyana has new oil reserves, but I'm not aware of many other major new fossil fuels discoveries.

I'm sure if you asked the western left, most of them would be in favour of assisting developing countries in sustainable development. If I ran a wealthy country, I'd create a fund to buy up fossil fuel projects for the purpose of keeping the resources in the ground, and back renewable energy projects in those countries instead, and encourage other wealthy countries to contribute.


I don't understand what the western left has to do with Sri Lanka. They didn't make the decision to embrace organic farming in a balance of payments crisis.

There is a disconnect between the left/right tribalism of the political classes & the need for good government in developing countries.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

I believe there was reasonably recently some reserves found in Bolivia? And the coup government was keen to open its profits to foreign corporations where Lucho campaigned on the profits going to the Bolivian people. I may have my wires crossed though.

You may be right, I'm certainly no expert on recent events in Bolivia. But I did read this article stating that recent new discoveries are simply compensating for a lack of production from existing reserves, so maybe the net impact is limited.

Bolivia heralds major new gas find amid production slump

Bolivia's government announced on Saturday the successful drilling of a new natural gas well with potential reserves of some 300-350 billion cubic feet (8.5-9.9 billion cubic meters), a big find amid a domestic drop in hydrocarbon production.

www.reuters.com

Anyway, point well made and I suppose it depends on how liberal (pun not intended) one wants to draw the boundaries of what the left is in the west.

They are often conflated, since the idea of "centre-left" has morphed into being supportive of neoliberalism but adding some LGBT+ tolerance to it. Leftism to me has always been about supporting the marginalised and a wealth transfer from the haves to the have-nots.

Bringing this back to Sri Lanka, it's interesting how the Rajapaksas started off being somewhat social democratic, then in recent years shifted to being neoliberals. Except they took the very worst aspects of both positions - borrowing from overseas to fund white elephant projects, and then following it up with huge unnecessary tax cuts. Fundamentally this is an issue of competence rather ths ideology, at least on economic matters.

 

[CD Xbow]

The Diplomat has an informative article on the collapse of the Rajapaska government The Rajapaksa Regime Is Gone. What Next for Sri Lanka? A lot more to unfold yet. While some bad luck has been involved (Covid, war in Ukraine) many of the economic problems has been caused by a series of own goals by the Government. Let's hope their slaughter of our cricket team is a first step to a national revival.

 

[footyfan1978]

PM escaped by plane to Maldives.
These type of people do this in history so many times.
Created a mess via their own corruption and cowardly run and hide when they do not want to hang around and fix their mess.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

Uh oh, here comes the cavalry.

BBC News - Sri Lanka PM tells military to do whatever necessary to restore order
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-6215671 1

 

[Fyfe! The Musical]

Right wing journos quick to point the finger as ‘looney’ organic agriculture.

Turns out the country couldn’t afford to import fertilizer, so people were told to organic


Slightly different angle

https://www.news.com.au/world/asia/the-moment-it-all-went-wrong-for-sri-lanka/news-story/d81f11c688dce69c8edb5e06754838f8

This was already well documented in The Guardian and Foreign Policy. It is not a right-wing talking point, if anything right wing journalists are way behind the curve. You cannot have high-yield agriculture without synthetic fertilisers, and Sri Lanka's choice to adopt organic farming was always going to be a colossal failure.

 

[Fyfe! The Musical]

The western left are embracing the concept of "degrowth", but there's a difference between degrowth for those of us in our comfortable homes in Melbourne or Sydney than there is for an ordinary person in Colombo.

Degrowthers are the most dangerous ideologues in society. Thankfully no major political party in the world believes their nonsense.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

Degrowthers are the most dangerous ideologues in society. Thankfully no major political party in the world believes their nonsense.

Wouldn't you say some aspects of it can be a good idea, such as a lower population and more land returned to the wilderness?

 

[Fyfe! The Musical]

Wouldn't you say some aspects of it can be a good idea, such as a lower population and more land returned to the wilderness?

How do you achieve a lower population?

Synthetic fertilisers means more land remains wilderness.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

How do you achieve a lower population?

Cut immigration to a level that creates a steady but slow decline in population. Birth rates are already below replacement level.

Synthetic fertilisers means more land remains wilderness.

Perhaps I don't understand the full extent of the degrowth agenda, but I didn't think it necessarily involve the large scale use of organic farming.

Organic farming is a con anyway, it allows synthetic fertilisers but only a select few.

 

[Fyfe! The Musical]

Cut immigration to a level that creates a steady but slow decline in population. Birth rates are already below replacement level.

Have not read any degrowther who is against immigration, all are hard leftists who believe in open borders.

 

[Pessimistic]

Population world wide is Flattening and will fall. Of course some places will vary substantially from that

 

[Johnny Bananas]

Sri Lankan security forces raid anti-government protest

Follow the latest news headlines from Australia's most trusted source. Read in-depth expert analysis and watch live coverage on ABC News.

www.abc.net.au

New President comes in, army crushes protests, a tale as old as time.

 

[Fyfe! The Musical]

Sri Lankan security forces raid anti-government protest

Follow the latest news headlines from Australia's most trusted source. Read in-depth expert analysis and watch live coverage on ABC News.

www.abc.net.au

New President comes in, army crushes protests, a tale as old as time.

This will backfire on the president when the army realises it can take power.

 

[ferball]

The problem is terrible leadership. And given they are a functioning democracy where the major party can and has been voted out before, this is on the people themselves, they chose their leaders.

A barely functioning democracy where government critical reporters could write their own obituary on Friday and be dead by Monday.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

A barely functioning democracy where government critical reporters could write their own obituary on Friday and be dead by Monday.

So why did the government lose the 2015 presidential election?

 

[ferball]

So why did the government lose the 2015 presidential election?

What's that got to do with anything?

 

[Johnny Bananas]

What's that got to do with anything?

I wouldn't call it a "barely functioning democracy" if the government have been shown to lose elections and accept the result in the recent past.