Features
250 Years of Illusion: America’s Tarnished Democracy
We have been deceived—again and again—into believing that U.S. democracy was born as a noble product of collective will. The story handed down to us is that George Washington, in a moment of virtuous restraint, rejected Colonel Lewis Nicola’s suggestion to crown him king, choosing instead the path of liberty and republicanism. This moment is celebrated as the moral genesis of American democracy. But 250 years on, the illusion fractures under the weight of historical reality.
What has been marketed to the world as democracy is, in fact, a meticulously engineered architecture of power: elitist at home, imperial abroad. The so-called “rules-based order” championed by American diplomats is not a codified universalism—it is an ideological cudgel wielded only when convenient, a system of selective legality designed to mask naked geopolitical aggression.
America’s origin myth is steeped not in egalitarianism but in extermination, slavery, and expansionism. The Declaration of Independence, crafted by men who themselves owned human beings, is less a document of freedom than a philosophical smokescreen. The economic engine of the new republic ran on the backs of enslaved Africans—auctioned, whipped, raped, and bred like livestock. The foundational wealth of the United States was extracted not merely through commerce or innovation, but through racialised brutality institutionalised as law.
Simultaneously, Indigenous nations were decimated by policies so ferocious they now fall under the ambit of genocide. The Trail of Tears, initiated under Andrew Jackson, led to the deaths of thousands during forced removals. The Sand Creek Massacre (1864), the Bear River Massacre (1863), and the slaughter at Wounded Knee (1890) are but a few unambiguous testaments to settler-colonial annihilation. These were not chaotic by-products of war—they were methodical acts of ethnic cleansing, carried out under government authority.
The Indian Boarding Schools, operating well into the 20th century, functioned as laboratories of cultural erasure. Native children were stolen from their families, stripped of language and identity, and subjected to systematic abuse. Many perished. Their bodies remain buried, literally and metaphorically, in the margins of American history books.
Slavery’s formal abolition was a bait-and-switch. The 13th Amendment, often cited as a moral landmark, explicitly permits involuntary servitude “as punishment for crime.” This clause birthed the carceral leviathan that now holds more than two million people—disproportionately Black and Brown—in cages. Chain gangs were simply replaced by prison labour. Jim Crow laws mutated into mass incarceration. Democracy, in the land of its supposed origin, has been operationalised as an instrument of racial management.
Beyond its borders, the United States has imposed its will through fire and steel. Since the mid-20th century, over 800 American military bases have metastasised across the globe—encircling rivals, destabilising regions, and foreclosing sovereign futures. The map of U.S. bombings reads like a grim eulogy for the postcolonial world: Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945), Korea (1950–53), Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia (1964–75), Grenada (1983), Panama (1989), Iraq (1991, 2003), Yugoslavia (1999), Afghanistan (2001–2021), Libya (2011), Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan—the list is encyclopaedic, the outcomes catastrophic.
George Washington
These assaults were not aberrations. They are the sinews of U.S. foreign policy. Civilian casualties, mass displacement, decimated infrastructure—these are collateral sacrifices at the altar of American primacy. The 2003 invasion of Iraq, launched under the pretext of non-existent weapons of mass destruction, killed hundreds of thousands and unravelled an entire region. It was not just a war crime; it was an act of ontological vandalism.
Meanwhile, the CIA functioned as the state’s clandestine sword arm—executing assassinations, staging coups, and manipulating foreign governments with pathological impunity. Operation Ajax in Iran (1953), the assassination of Patrice Lumumba in Congo (1961), the orchestration of Chile’s 1973 coup and Salvador Allende’s death, the slaughter following Suharto’s rise in Indonesia—these are not Cold War footnotes. They are the operational grammar of empire. From Latin America’s death squads to Africa’s proxy militias, the U.S. exported death in the name of freedom, dissolving democracies while preaching democratic virtue. The façade cracked further on 22 June 2025, when the U.S. military launched the airstrikes on alleged Iranian nuclear sites. Again, no Senate approval. Again, no UN mandate. No evidence presented, no imminent threat substantiated. Just premeditated violence delivered from above, wrapped in the rhetoric of pre-emption.
These violations are not the exceptions—they are the doctrine. They expose the hollow core of the “rules-based international order” that American officials regurgitate at every diplomatic summit. Where were the rules when the International Atomic Energy Agency’s findings were ignored? When civilians became uncounted corpses? Sovereignty is sacred—until it obstructs U.S. interests. Legality is upheld—until it isn’t. Morality is espoused—until it becomes inconvenient.
Antonio Gramsci’s concept of cultural hegemony is not an abstraction here. American dominance is sustained not only through bombs and bases but through narratives. The cinematic heroism of soldiers, the pageantry of 4th July, the mythologising of the Founding Fathers—all cultivate acquiescence. This is not democracy; it is imperial pedagogy. History is sculpted to erase Indigenous resistance, to sanitise slave rebellions, to omit the bloodied cost of expansion. Power survives by shaping memory.
Domestically, this hegemony manifests as a fortified police state. Urban policing is militarised, racialised, and terminally unaccountable. Surveillance pervades every digital crevice. Billionaires underwrite elections while voters are purged from rolls. Meanwhile, whistle-blowers like Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden are criminalised for revealing the very duplicities on which the system runs. Justice is rationed. Dissent is criminalised. The machinery of control is bipartisan.
And yet, resistance grows quieter when comfort replaces conviction. U.S. policymakers have long perfected a dual strategy: attracting the brightest minds from other nations through the front door with scholarships and opportunity, while welcoming corrupt elites through the back—bringing with them vast stolen wealth. This was not coincidence; it was policy. Intellectual capital is harvested, while accountability is outsourced. Those who manage to benefit—regardless of where they come from—often learn to stay silent. Silence becomes the currency of survival.
Meanwhile, American officials, often standing in nations hollowed out by these very dynamics, deliver polished speeches about anti-corruption and a “rules-based order.” It is disarming to witness a person speak of justice while actively undermining it, to see a smile accompany the quiet betrayal of their own conscience.
At 250 years, the United States is not an enlightened republic; it is a paradox on the verge of collapse. It exhorts others to uphold international law while treating treaties as toilet paper. It funds brutal regimes while sermonising about human rights. It cloaks militarism in democracy and calls it liberation.
To participate in this pageantry is to be complicit. To swallow the official myths is to ingest poison disguised as principle. American democracy, if it is to mean anything, must be exhumed, dismantled, and reimagined—not venerated as sacred scripture, but interrogated as a living contradiction.
by Nilantha Ilangamuwa ✍️
There is an unending debate about the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) of the global sport of tennis. The debate is on, as to which one is the GOAT of the players of the “Big Three” era. Those three are Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. All three were very prominent figures in that period. Their intense rivalries pushed the sport to new heights and captivated millions of people in a global audience, thereby significantly increasing tennis’s popularity. However, of the three, Roger Federer was a rather central figure.
Federer’s list of tennis accolades is staggering, and his greatness is often reduced to headlines and statistics: 20 Grand Slam titles, including a record eight Wimbledon singles crowns, 103 Association of Tennis Professionals Tour Singles titles, and 237 consecutive weeks atop the world rankings. He is well-known for his fabulous all-court game, and he is one of only four players to have won a career Grand Slam on three different surfaces: hard, grass, and clay.
His career is marked by remarkable consistency, including reaching 10 consecutive Grand Slam finals and 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals. Federer’s game was often described as graceful, effortless, and artistic. His fluid movement, powerful forehand, and elegant one-handed backhand made him a joy to watch for fans worldwide. He redefined modern tennis with his blend of power and finesse. Yet for all that, beneath the elegance of his backhand and the sheen of trophies lies a deeper heritage; one that elevates him from tennis legend to a true Great Of All Time.
Federer views these achievements as milestones, not the destination. He has always emphasised relationships, gratitude, and giving back, values instilled by his South African mother, Lynette, and nurtured over a lifetime of turning success into service. His effortless finesse and mental fortitude created ballet on grass and clay; moments etched forever in sporting memory. But narrowing Federer’s story to courts and scores does him a disservice.
Federer’s South African heritage cultivated a profound connection to the continent. He holds dual Swiss and South African citizenship and has frequently returned to support earlychildhood education via the Roger Federer Foundation, impacting over two million children across Southern Africa. More than just funding, Federer has rolled up his sleeves, visiting rural schools, launching coaching clinics, and advocating for play-based learning. Philanthropy is woven into Federer’s identity just as deeply as tennis. As he once said, “greatness is not confined to silverware; it lives through the lives we touch“.
Among his lesser-known acts of compassion is one of the most profound. It was in 2005 when Federer was fast turning into a tennis sensation, that he found twin infant girls abandoned outside a health clinic during a charity trip to a remote village in South Africa. The man did not walk away. Moved by their vulnerability, he quietly ensured their care and education, funding their essentials through a foundation partner. He did this without fanfare or media attention, and no publicity followed.
Fast forward to July 11, 2025. At a gala event in Geneva celebrating Federer’s stellar career, two young women took to the stage. It was the same pair of South African twins, now in their early 20s, returning to honour the man who saved them.
Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic
The sisters spoke with composed gratitude: “We do not remember being abandoned as infants. But we remember being saved. And the man who saved us is sitting right here tonight.”
Then came their own act of generosity. They said, launching a scholarship fund under Roger Federer’s name, to support rural children, “It is dedicated to helping underprivileged children in rural areas gain access to sports and education, the very things Roger had given us. It is our turn to give back, just as Roger gave to us, without expecting anything in return.” A visibly emotional Federer was left speechless before he gathered himself and said in a shaky voice, “I thought I was just helping two lives.
I had no idea they would come back and inspire the world.” That moment, a twin act of kindness born and returned, was described as “grander than all the 20 Grand Slam titles… one of the most powerful moments in tennis history“. That evening rippled globally, it flew virally across social media, confirming that character can outrank championship counts.
Off the court, Federer’s family life is rich and intentional. Married since 2009 to former player Mirka Vavrinec, they have four children: twin daughters Myla Rose and Charlene Riva (born in 2009) and twin sons Leo and Lenny (born in 2014). Their household, brimming with two sets of twins, reflects unity, resilience, and love, values the Father and Mother Federer’s cherish.
If tennis is art, then Federer’s philanthropy is impact. His “Match for Africa” series: exhibition matches featuring Nadal, Murray, and Gates, has generated over 12 million US dollars to support education in Africa. Beyond big events, his foundation has supported earlychildhood programmes in six countries, deployed digital teaching tools and training tablets for educators, and engaged communities and governments to bolster preschool readiness. These are not just token gestures; they are sustained efforts that aim to change systems, not just headlines. He privately supports coaching and education in African villages: a lyrical service that mirrors his gameplay: smooth, reliable, and deeply invested.
In his understated way, Federer has consistently reinforced kindness and integrity. He funds an elderly couple every Australian Open; the parents of his first coach, late Peter Carter, covering flights, hospitality, and box seats, every year, since 2005. Federer has never forgotten the Carter family’s role in his life and career.
These gestures resonate because they are personal, respectful, and ongoing. They speak of a man who remembers where he came from, on and off the court, and who sees grand gestures in the small, consistent acts of humanity.
When discussing Federer as the GOAT, numbers will take you so far. But greatness also measures intangible things: compassion, humility, and legacy. What Federer did for those abandoned twins, and how they returned that grace, reveals more about his character than any gold trophy could. It is easy to point to “trophies won” as the final verdict. But Federer’s life story adds nuance: identity, empathy, and generosity, which truly elevate his accomplishments to a celestial level. His Wimbledon stamps, Swiss coins, and honorary degrees are symbols. The real trophy is the networks of lives he has touched: the rescued twins, African children on new educational pathways, and the families of those who supported him along the way.
Roger Federer’s journey from a junior champion to a record-breaking legend serves as a benchmark for aspiring tennis players and inspires millions around the world to aim for greatness while remaining grounded. In essence, his legacy celebrates not just a phenomenal tennis player but a true sporting icon who left an indelible mark on the game through his achievements, style, character, and humanitarian efforts.
In the court of moral measure, Federer is undisputed. His twin daughters and twin sons will grow up knowing that their father is more than a record-holder. He is a man defined by action. The twins in South Africa, now embroidering his legacy with their own generosity, complete a cycle: champions saved, and champions paid forward.
Yes, Roger Federer is the tennis GOAT. But he’s also the GOAT of genuine kindness, empathy, and impact. That, ultimately, is why the story of greatness cannot, and should not, be limited to statistics alone.
Role models are remembered, not just for what they win… but for the gratitude they inspire, the opportunities they create, and the kindness they live out.
The story of the South African abandoned twins was garnered from the News Arena Network – Geneva through News Arena India on 14th July 2025.
by Dr B. J. C. Perera ✍️
(Tennis Player)
Lakdasa Wikkramasinha
(1941-1978) has been acknowledged as one of the finest Sri Lankan poets writing in English. The Sri Lankan born Booker Prize winner Michael Ondaatje says Wikkramasinha has written “some of the most permanent and iconic poems of this country”.
In a period spanning only thirteen years before his untimely death, Wikkramasinha published six collections of his English poems (and two collections of Sinhala poems as well).
Rage and Heartbreak fulfills the pressing need for a collection of critical writings on Wikkramasinha’s poetry. Essays authored by Gamini Haththotuwegama, Lilani Jayatilaka, Annemari de Silva, Nihal Fernando, Vihanga Perera, Madri Kalugala, Chandana Dissanayake, Nipuni Ranaweera, and George Braine are followed by Indrakanthi Perera’s brief memorial.
Most authors are practicing or retired academics, mainly in English literature. Some are published poets.
Rage and Heartbreak is published by Tambapanni Academic Press and priced at Rs. 3000/.
Vihanga Perera (Ph.D., Australian National University) is an academic and researcher working at the Department of English, University of Sri Jayawardenapura. He is also a poet and novelist, an arts critic, and editor of creative work. He is a recipient of the Gratiaen Prize and the State Literary Award.
George Braine (Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin) taught English in four countries before retiring from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He was acquainted with Lakdasa Wikkramasinha in the 1970s.
Eight babies have been born in the UK using genetic material from three people to prevent devastating and often fatal conditions, doctors say.
The method, pioneered by UK scientists, combines the egg and sperm from a mum and dad with a second egg from a donor woman.
The technique has been legal here for a decade but we now have the first proof it is leading to children born free of incurable mitochondrial disease.
These conditions are normally passed from mother to child, starving the body of energy.
This can cause severe disability and some babies die within days of being born. Couples know they are at risk if previous children, family members or the mother has been affected.
Children born through the three-person technique inherit most of their DNA, their genetic blueprint, from their parents, but also get a tiny amount, about 0.1%, from the second woman. This is a change that is passed down the generations.
None of the families who have been through the process are speaking publicly to protect their privacy, but have issued anonymous statements through the Newcastle Fertility Centre where the procedures took place.
“After years of uncertainty this treatment gave us hope – and then it gave us our baby,” said the mother of a baby girl. “We look at them now, full of life and possibility, and we’re overwhelmed with gratitude.”
The mother of a baby boy added: “Thanks to this incredible advancement and the support we received, our little family is complete. “The emotional burden of mitochondrial disease has been lifted, and in its place is hope, joy, and deep gratitude.”
Mitochondria are tiny structures inside nearly every one of our cells. They are the reason we breathe as they use oxygen to convert food into the form of energy our bodies use as fuel.
Defective mitochondria can leave the body with insufficient energy to keep the heart beating as well as causing brain damage, seizures, blindness, muscle weakness and organ failure.
About one in 5,000 babies are born with mitochondrial disease. The team in Newcastle anticipate there is demand for 20 to 30 babies born through the three-person method each year.
Some parents have faced the agony of having multiple children die from these diseases.
Mitochondria are passed down only from mother to child. So this pioneering fertility technique uses both parents and a woman who donates her healthy mitochondria.
The science was developed more than a decade ago at Newcastle University and the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and a specialist service opened within the NHS in 2017.
There was a case of epilepsy, which cleared up by itself and one child has an abnormal heart rhythm which is being successfully treated.
These are not thought to be connected to defective mitochondria. It is not known whether this is part of the known risks of IVF, something specific to the three-person method or something that has been detected only because the health of all babies born through this technique is monitored intensely.
Another key question hanging over the approach has been whether defective mitochondria would be transferred into the healthy embryo and what the consequences could be.
The results show that in five cases the diseased mitochondria were undetectable. In the other three, between 5% and 20% of mitochondria were defective in blood and urine samples.
This is below the 80% level thought to cause disease. It will take further work to understand why this occurred and if it can be prevented.
Prof Mary Herbert, from Newcastle University and Monash University, said: “The findings give grounds for optimism. However, research to better understand the limitations of mitochondrial donation technologies, will be essential to further improve treatment outcomes.”
The breakthrough gives hope to the Kitto family.
Kat’s youngest daughter Poppy, 14, has the disease. Her eldest Lily, 16, may pass it onto her children.
Poppy is in a wheelchair, is non-verbal and is fed through a tube.
“It’s impacted a huge part of her life,” says Kat, “we have a lovely time as she is, but there are the moments where you realize how devastating mitochondrial disease is”.
Despite decades of work there is still no cure for mitochondrial disease, but the chance to prevent it being passed on gives hope to Lily.
“It’s the future generations like myself, or my children, or my cousins, who can have that outlook of a normal life,” she says.
The UK not only developed the science of three-person babies, but it also became the first country in the world to introduce laws to allow their creation after a vote in Parliament in 2015.
There was controversy as mitochondria have DNA of their own, which controls how they function.
It means the children have inherited DNA from their parents and around 0.1% from the donor woman.
Any girls born through this technique would pass this onto their own children, so it is a permanent alteration of human genetic inheritance.
This was a step too far for some when the technology was debated, raising fears it would open the doors to genetically-modified “designer” babies.
Prof Sir Doug Turnbull, from Newcastle University, told me: “I think this is the only place in the world this could have happened, there’s been first class science to get us to where we are, there been legislation to allow it to move into clinical treatment, the NHS to help support it and now we’ve got eight children that seem to free of mitochondrial disease, what a wonderful result.”
Liz Curtis, the founder of the Lily Foundation charity said: “After years of waiting, we now know that eight babies have been born using this technique, all showing no signs of mito.
“For many affected families, it’s the first real hope of breaking the cycle of this inherited condition.”
[BBC]
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