Aslam Effendi – An Unsung Free Marketeer from Pakistan
Note: This article was written in early 2011 as a short introduction to the life and work of Aslam Effendi and was included in the book, Hard Facts of History, by Aslam Effendi that was published in February 2011 by the Alternate Solutions Institute.
It was back in March 2002 that I came to know about Aslam Effendi sahib. Vincent H. Miller (died 2008) of the International Society for Individual Liberty (now Liberty International), USA, made a revelation that there was a free marketeer in Pakistan, and he lived in Islamabad. He introduced me to him. I wrote him, and he was happy to know that there were a few other free marketeers in Pakistan also.
In June next, I went to Islamabad to see him. He was very old, but vibrant with the Spirit of Liberty. We had hours and hours of discussion about his work, Libertarianism, Anarchism, Anarcho-Capitalism, …
Creative Destruction: The Way Forward for the Economy of Pakistan
No documentation.
No income tax.
Only consumption tax in one digit at the POS.
50% cut in the size of the government.
50% cut in the spending by the government.
Let everyone import.
Let everyone export.
No licensing. Only registration.
Minimum tax/duty.…
اقتدار کی جنگ اور ہم شہری
ایک طرف دو قوتیں: عدلیہ اور عمرانیہ
دوسری طرف دو قوتیں: قائمیہ اور سیاسیہ
ان میں سے ایک راستہ ممکنہ طور پر آئینی حکمرانی کی طرف جا سکتا ہے۔
جبکہ دوسرا راستہ آئین کی لازمی تنسیخ اور فسطائیت کی طرف جاتا ہے۔
اقتدار کی اس اعصاب شکن جنگ کا اہم ترین پہلو یہ ہے کہ اس میں ہم شہریوں کے کسی کردار کی کوئی ضرورت نہیں۔
15 اکتوبر 2024…
ایک بڑا خلطِ مبحث: عمران خان کو سیاست میں ہرائیں
پاکستان کے دانشور اور تجزیہ نگار ایک سے بڑا ایک خلطِ مبحث پیدا کرتے رہتے ہیں۔ اور پھر خود ہی بڑے ناز سے بتاتے ہیں کہ بس یہی آخری صداقت ہے۔
ان کا یہ عمل ایک مغالطے کو تخلیق کرنے اور پھر اسے ایک سچائی کے طور پر پیش کرنے سے مماثل ہے۔
جبکہ ان کے پاس دلائل کم ہی ہوتے ہیں۔ نہ ہی یہ دلائل لانے کو ضروری سمجھتے ہیں۔
بہرحال، موجودہ مغالطہ جس سے بحث مقصود ہے، یہ ہے کہ عمران خان کو سیاست میں شکست دیں۔ اسے سیاسی طور پر ہرائیں۔ یعنی وہ کہنا یہ چاہتے ہیں کہ عمران خان (یا تحریکِ انصاف کہہ لیجیے۔ میری رائے میں عمران خان ہی تحریکِ انصاف ہے۔) کو منصفانہ اور شفاف انتخابات میں ہرائیں۔
میرا استدلال اسی مغالطے کو جھٹلانے اور اس کی تردید پر متوجہ ہے۔
پہلے تو یہ کہ عمران خان سیاست دان نہیں، نہ ہی پاکستان تحریکِ …
The unraveling of IK Fascism in Pakistan
Here are two books and a movie to understand the nature of fascism and the unravelling of IK fascism in Pakistan.
1. Political Ponerology: A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes, by Andrzej Lobaczewski
2. The Mass Psychology of Fascism, by Wilhelm Reich
3. Movie: A Special Day, by Ettore Scola (1977)
23 September 2024…
The Presidential Debate: The Way They Behaved
The US Presidential Debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on September 11, 2024, was qualitatively a bit better than the previous debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Donald Trump behaved and was less harsh and emotional. He was composed and calculated.
Kamala Harris appeared acting, overreacting, and playing more to the gallery. She seemed to be trying to provoke Donald Trump by constantly pointing to and looking towards him. He did not take the bait.
All else is their politics, their economics.
17 September 2024…
I represent the people. And that’s my choice.
I do not represent this state, this bloodsucking state, until it changes and is out of the Jaws of the Riyasati Ashrafiya.…
Why do we need a limited government in Pakistan?
Playing with or using or spending other people’s money engenders reckless behavior.
That’s one of the arguments that call for a limited government.
Not only for a limited government, but in principle no government intervention in the market, but very rarely, like the case of the CCP (Competition Commission) in Pakistan.
And most of all, no intervention in the money market. Because that impacts the whole financial system and thus the production system.
12 September, 2024…
Regarding what’s happening presently in the power corridors of Pakistan
Could there be any disaster greater than the debacle of 1971?
It’s a power struggle between those who follow nothing, no constitution, no laws, no values, no principles, no traditions, no norms, but only when they all or any thing benefit them.
And they all include in this no-holds-barred fight: politicians, military, judges, intellectuals, NGO-minds, media persons and a section of the people.
12 September, 2024…
Imran Khan Phenomenon: A Penultimate Explanation
[This piece I wrote like in a fit.]
Finally, I found what may be termed the penultimate explanation.
Since this IK (Imran Khan) phenomenon emerged on the political scene in Pakistan (end of 2011), I have been writing and speaking about it, trying to explain it.
Although, of course, there could never be a single explanation that is sufficient, especially in the case of a social phenomenon, in certain cases, there is an explanation that presents itself as revealing as the crux of a matter can be.
This explanation that I have found or realized now, and I term it the penultimate explanation, is such one that, without any fear of exaggerating, can be said to be the final explanation regarding the IK phenomenon.
Personally too, now I feel that finally I am able to untie the knot. I find myself satisfied with it now.
Actually, what used to baffle …
7 arguments against devolving government to the local level
The issue of devolution of powers to the level of local governments has become an intellectual, political, and economic fad in Pakistan.
When something becomes a fad, it means it is accepted without giving it any thought or putting forward any arguments. It acquires the status of something taken for granted. And it is presented as an established truth that no one is supposed to disagree with, and if a poor soul happens to do so, he is treated as a stranger to the cohort.
I have experienced and observed both sides of this coin, that is, the way the faddists treat it and the way the faddists treat the ones who try to differ with the fad.
To begin with, here are my arguments against the fad.
- The local government is neither the issue nor the solution. Under the circumstances, if devolution is pursued, it would push the Rot
Elite Capture – A Misleading Term
Elite capture is a euphemism and a misleading term that conceals the real extent of an impactful phenomenon, that is, a systematic capture of the state.…
A Critical Discourse on the Constitution of Pakistan
This discourse with Saeed Afridi took place in a WhatsApp group and has been compiled with his permission.
On May 7, 2024, out of desperation, I made a comment in a WhatsApp group, of which most of the prominent intellectuals are members. And thus, a discourse was set in motion.
The discourse is copied below, as it happened in the heat of the moment. That is, without any correction of spellings, etc., in order to keep the spirit of the discourse intact.
But it is not to be taken as an isolated dialogue between Saeed Afridi and me. We have been, now and then, conversing in the same WhatsApp group on this and other topics, and hence this discourse has a context as well.
The credit for this idea of compiling this discourse goes to Amer Zafar Durrani, who, in the middle of the discourse, intervened with these words: “This …
Theory of Riyasati Ashrafiya and Colonialism
Since I don’t see colonialism as an all-encompassing, overriding excuse and don’t hide myself behind that, my analysis focuses on the evolution of the institution of the state in the subcontinent and how that institution of the state was co-opted by the (Muslim) Ashrafiya and how the Ashrafiya took hold of a constitutional state after the partition.
My work on the theory of Riyasati Ashrafiya actually dwells on the theory of state, … and what type of state evolved in Pakistan?
In India, that didn’t happen. Because there was no taking hold of a constitutional state by a Hindu Ashrafiya. The constitutional state kept evolving there.
So far as the anti-colonialists’ love for natural evolution is concerned, Afghanistan is one of the most prominent examples.
Take Afghanistan as an ideal and romanticized country the anti-colonialists must love, where, ‘colonialism didn’t interfere with societal development; it actually didn’t erase an entire …
When to topple a government-the case of Bangladesh and Pakistan
The toppling of the Hasina Wajid government in Bangladesh as a consequence of massive and violent protests helped me arrive at a clear-cut view regarding what has been happening in Pakistan.
Earlier, my inclination was the same as the presently held firm view: When to try to topple a government? My answer is: Never!
In political philosophy, the issue of civil disobedience is of paramount importance.
That is, when it is fine to try to stand against a government.
And what circumstances justify the launch of a civil disobedience movement against a government?
Now I unequivocally hold this view: in countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, a government must never be pushed to the wall by any means or in any manner.
By countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, I mean the countries where constitutional rule is not deeply entrenched.
The military establishment in such countries always waits in the wings to …
Indian and Pakistani Society: Social, Cultural, and Sexual Upheaval
Indian society is passing through the throes of social, cultural, and sexual upheaval.
Ours is immersed in the nectar of hypocrisy.
While the state in both countries is playing the role of a leg-puller with a degree of difference, it’s because in India, the size of the middle class is much larger than Pakistan’s.…
If one believes in violence, one can never play a positive role in the resolution of a conflict
If one doesn’t think in terms of values, first and foremost in terms of moral values, one would never be able to understand and resolve whatever conflicts one has to deal with.
Most probably, one would contribute towards sharpening the existing conflicts and thus would help give rise to new conflicts.
Violence is one such case in point.…
The Matrices of State Economics
The business of electricity
Who Owns Pakistan
There is no ownership of the state of Pakistan in Pakistan!
No political party owns it.
No constitutional institution owns it.
Neither the parliament nor the PAs.
To all of them, it’s a gold mine to extract as much gold as possible, and that’s what all the fighting, including the politics, is all about.…