Who are they fooling?

You can fool someone all the time, but you can’t fool everyone all the time.. In a country, where  computer literacy is at 10% (literacy assumed by just asking if people knew “about at least one use/application of computers“). In reality, actual computer literacy, which I would define as the know-how to independently use an application for one’s personal benefit, like typing a letter in Microsoft word, using the internet etc., with today’s easily navigable operating systems is way below 5%. Most of this will be from the Western Province. People using internet on a regular basis will be an even smaller percentage of the latter. So the steps to stop pornography over the internet (assuming it was even remotely possible) is so dumb.

The only sanctions the Government has is to force the Internet Service Providers to block the sites, which number more than the computer literate people in SL. Assuming, that will be done, there are a hundred other ways legally possible to access blocked sites.

What amuses me is that this info really gets to people not so enlightened about technology. For example, for the educated, but not so internet capable school teacher, large headlines in the local papers announcing the clamp of pornography over the Internet is a great sigh of relief. Such people are many. But today’s discoveries were yesterday’s myths and will be tomorrow’s common knowledge. So while the school teacher sleeps, his / her children will easily find out ways to access the so called forbidden lands.

I ask the same question as Mr. Rohan Samarajeeva at LIRNEasia.net. In addition to cinemas’ there are plenty of other ways in Sri Lanka to get your hand on a tape or two. Let’s be honest.. suppressing children not to watch something or not to do something only feeds their curiosity. But many an educated teacher fails to see this. This is the same for adults. How hard is it to keep a diabetic away from sugar? Paradoxically, something that you need to live, could cause your fall if not controlled. Its the same with everything, and the sooner a kid learns this, the better. I’m not implying that pornography is a something you need to live, but reproduction is, and I haven’t seen any other country carry the torch for “secretive sex” like Sri Lanka. Its ok to do it, but you dare imply it. Then, comes the worst part… they drag Buddhism into it.

Buddha never dictated out laws. He preached of the middle path. He preached advice. His preachings were to help people realize that there was black and white. Without knowledge of what is black, you can never really know what is white. The choice of accepting either is totally yours and according are the consequences.

But today, the black and white are all mixed up.. for personal benefits of course.. all we see is a darkening cloud of grey.