Tribalism or Nationalism

With the recent events in our beloved nation, it should be clear that nationalism in this country has been ideologically defeated. However, what was defeated was not nationalism in comparison to what other nations called nationalism. What was defeated in Sri Lanka was tribalism, which was ingrained among our self-identified nationalists. Anagarika Dharmapala, an early Nationalist intellectual, saw nationalism as a holistic view of how a nation could defend its sovereignty, enhance its cultural spirit, and grow outwards to the world.

Our country was decoupling from its colonial hangover after independence. However, the 77 neoliberal market reforms steered our country towards becoming a western exploitation colony. Economic degradation followed, which was mirrored in cultural degradation.

Any country's national spirit is an immortal body. It could be abused for one's own self-serving purposes. When some people think of nationalism today, they often think of tribalism. This tribalism stems from their individualistic, self-serving opportunities. Tribalism has always prioritised the individual self. This is the person created by the free market economy. It is not a person created by our country's cultural soul.

Tribalists are not motivated by long-term goals. They are motivated by short-term emotional factors or their own opportunistic angles. 

All nationalists around the world, as well as the early intellectuals of our nationalist movement, believed that the economy was the foundation of the nation. They recognised the importance of industrialization and the need to defend our domestic market. There used to be a trade-marked nationalist party that defended two IMF programmes for personal gain.

"We do not want to industrialize for the sake of power. We want to industrialize because it is the only way to get rid of the curse of poverty. It is the only way to ensure higher living standards and to give our people, when they are free from the pursuit of inadequate food and shameful housing, the leisure and serenity to enjoy our beautiful country; to develop their culture in their own way" - Philip Gunawardena

However, tribalists prefer to focus on cultural issues because it is more comfortable for them. And not in conflict with their personal interests.

Tribalists are unscientific because they are uninterested in resolving real-world problems. And science is unsettling because it interferes with their game theories and self-interest. As a result, they are poor at educating the masses and arming them with self-defense tools. Instead, they manipulate public emotions for their own gain.

Tribalists' biggest blunder, and potentially the most damaging, is their foreign policy. Foreign policy is regarded as a domestic issue by them. This is harmful for two reasons. Because we are a colony, getting diplomacy right is critical for our country. Second, we are entering the era of multipolarity, in which we must understand the world based on its current state. However, tribalists in the nationalist camp tend to lump our multipolar allies like Russia and China in with the US. There is another party in Sri Lanka that shares the tribalists' viewpoint. That is the frontline socialist party. Despite identifying as socialists, they harbour anti-Chinese sentiment. The reason for this is that the material conditions of peratugami and tribalists are identical. Eventually, this tribalist attitude will only benefit colonialists by blurring the qualitative difference between China and the US. The only way to achieve clarity in foreign relations today is to examine it from a multipolar perspective. Nationalists in colonial countries are all doing the same thing. Except for the Sri Lankan tribalists. Ignorance of the tribalists will alienate us from the new progressive development. That has already occurred. We were at the forefront of the non-aligned movement when it occurred. However, a multipolar movement is forming in our backyard, and we are not a part of it. So, rather than tribalism, For the sake of our beloved country, we should cultivate nationalism.

Opportunists come and go. The National Spirit will remain the same.

 “Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will.” -Antonio Gramsci