Siege from within
When creative spirit of a nation is arrested from within, it is as vulnerable to external insinuations as is to internal machinations, and can never
August 23, 2016
No Comments
Note: Here conversation means any serious exchange of ideas between two or more persons. Nothing in any manner has any reference to any person whosoever. As I am interested in ethics also, by observing what usually happens in conversations at various fora from a chat between a few friends or acquaintances to a large organized […]
One friend sent this excerpt from Oswald Spengler: “This machine-technics will end with the Faustian civilization and one day will lie in fragments, forgotten — our railways and steamships as dead as the Roman roads and the Chinese wall, our giant cities and skyscrapers in ruins like old Memphis and Babylon. The history of this […]
The solutions economists put forward, such as to the (economic) problems/crises faced only by the state/government; I mean most of the economists, or almost all of the State Economists do that, and all of their solutions culminate in extracting more and more value or the wealth created by the entrepreneurs/citizens, i.e. that value and/or wealth […]
In view of the massive taxes killing the economic life of ordinary citizens, Pakistani economists need to come out of their comfortable economic models and embrace the Economic Activism, some of the ingredients of which may be as follows: Main ingredients of Economic Activism: Radical solutions Ready-to-practice solutions Campaigning for those solutions Activism for those […]
It’s the same ill that afflicts politics and economics in Pakistan. Choosing winners and losers by employing unnatural methods. In politics, it’s the establishment that does that. In economics, it’s the governments that do that. In both cases, the natural process of choosing winners and losers is thwarted.
The political engineering has utterly failed and thrown the politics into a bottomless pit. In the same way, economic engineering too has miserably failed and put the economic state of the people into a despairing helplessness. What’s political engineering? It’s the management of choosing political losers and winners disregarding the will of the people. That […]
Almost all the persons who joined IK (PTI) and devoted their wealth and energy to bolster his image and politics are without any exception one-dimensional men. Not the politicians who jumped into the PTI-ship purposely. They are an exception. One-dimensional men cannot see that the reality is a complex structure/phenomenon. And they can’t understand the […]
When creative spirit of a nation is arrested from within, it is as vulnerable to external insinuations as is to internal machinations, and can never
The middleman tends to be eliminated . . . He can only be safely eliminated by natural processes. Sometimes he is of real use and
How to Privatize Successfully – Part I If privatisation needs to be done, it has to be done because it is the decisive step in
Changing the economic system is not an easy task. And, of course, it is more complex when carried out half-heartedly. As privatisation is only a
He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.[George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950] People are difficult to govern because
[Here is the part 4 of the article: “Cynicism and Pakistan.”] The Theory of Lesser Evil (TLE) is a manifestation of cynicism. As cynicism finds
You can bring the rich to the level of the poor overnight but it takes a lifetime to lift the poor to the level of
O the Ashraaf Rulers! Develop new cities and have your dreams fulfilled; have Metro Buses and Metro Trains there and whatever you want! Why do
لاہور کی میت ہے ذرا دھوم سے نکلے [نئے شہر بساؤ اوراپنے شوق پورے کرو؛ ہمارے شہر کیوں ملیامیٹ کر رہے ہو!] روتی ہوئی حسرت
[Here is the part 3 of the article: “Cynicism and Pakistan.”] The discussion of the political cynicism here focuses only on the sections of society
The credit for any reduction in poverty in the country goes to privatisation, de-regulation and liberalisation, not to the so called pro-poor expenditures. Over a
Here is the 1st part of this article: Cynicism in Pakistan Cynicism and the politics in Pakistan Among other things, political cynicism destroys whatever little
It’s always been argued that there is no clergy among the Muslims. Is it so? Not the least! In fact, there is all the ‘required’
پاکستن کے سیاست دانوں نے، خواہ وہ جمہوریت کا لبادہ اوڑھے ہوئے ہیں یا مذہب کا، قریباً ستر برس سے یہاں کے شہریوں کو ٹرک
A Story of Complicity: Statistical Relationship between a Newspaper and a Politician * The writer supports freedom of thought, freedom of expression and freedom of
Note: The day Benazir Bhutto was murdered, December 27, 2007, it was the day when all the semblance of government evaporated in Pakistan; there was
This article was written last year in the wake of December 16 APS Tragedy to expose the Politicians’ inaction. It’s still relevant today on December
“I am a politician; I cannot commit any crime; I am perfectly innocent!” That is how, as we know at least in Pakistan, politicians argue.
The two noblest professions are teaching and politics. [Aristotle] Back in 2002 when the 35th Annual Session of Pakistan Philosophical Congress held in the Bukhari
Here is the first part of this article: A depoliticized Pakistan on the rampage The 2nd and the final part: Depoliticization and its causes What’s a depoliticized
Note: I sent this piece of writing to all the newspapers one by one; none bothered to see it or use it, that I am
Note: This article was completed on December 31st, 2014, and was originally posted on this Blog in January 2015. Presently there is happening quite a
Note: I completed this article on December 9, 2014, and wrote: “(Government) ought not to be afraid of martial law the prospects of which are
Patron Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders Shahid Rasheed Button says State Aristocracy is being promoted in Pakistan. Here is the story published in Pakistan Observer
Pakistan is a criminally horrible state. Read the whole story, published in The Express Tribune on September 15, 2015: Minister directs hospitals to remove political
So to say, in about 70 years, the political gains Pakistan’s polity has been able to make are dismal! Pessimistically, it’s NOTHING! Optimistically, it’s merely
It seems the present dispensation of PML-N believes in no principles of taxation. It’s just there to extort whatever amount of taxes the Federal Board
Note: This article was completed on August 4, 2014. Since then little has changed; this piece is still relevant on this 68th Independence Day. Stray
A person who is murdered, has he any rights? That question may seem strange. Let me add another dimension to it: What’s the spirit of
The pivot of politics is always seeking power, so that a political party is able, so to say, to implement its program on the basis
Countries may be likened to individuals who are resourceless and in order to grow and progress need help from their near ones, dear ones or
The Government of India Act 1935 declared “Pakistan” only as an independent dominion. Then in the constitution of 1956, the state was named as the
The title of this piece appears to be problematic. One can argue how cynicism may be confined to geographical specifications such as one of Pakistani
History is replete with stories of off-springs used in order to seize and wield power. One such story has been narrated by Abdul Haleem Sharar
کل 17 اپریل کو میں ریاض صاحب سے ملنے گیا۔ ریاظ ، مصورہیں اور بیشترعلمی و ادبی کتابوں کے سرورق کھینچتے ہیں۔ وہ کہنے لگے،
The case of 2014 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Malala Yousafzai, which she shares with an Indian Kailash Satyarthi, who has devoted himself to the
It does not need any political acumen to see the reality behind the results of those surveys which declare the governance in the province of
Better to start with two clarifications: First, this piece does not raise the question of Pakistani state’s viability in the sense Pakistan’s Leftists and liberals
In the matters of running the state of Pakistan, penetration of politics, politicians and political considerations have marred the capability of the state to think
Nothing can be understood in isolation. So is the case with three recent press releases of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), which acts as
Years back, when the very well-know Pak Tea House was closed down, a small portion of the Hall III, Al-Hamra, The Mall, Lahore, was made
As the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek launched this August 14 their “Azadi March” and “Inqilab March” respectively, and then undertook the Sit-Ins (Dharnas)
Everything has an aesthetic aspect. Politics is one of them. The political aesthetics appears, among other things, in two forms: Mannerism; and, Language. The others
The blood of “Minorities” and the flag of Pakistan! Note: This comment and the picture was originally posted on August 14, 2014.
In Pakistan, everything stands politicized. So is religion. Those who are clever enough make hay while the sun shines. Tahir-ul-Qadri is one of them and
The place is not far from Islamabad. A three hour drive and one is far away from almost everything Pakistani. Not only is the weather
It is essential to seek out enemy agents who have come to conduct espionage against you and to bribe them to serve you. Give them
Mr. Khan now be serious! Somehow the circumstances have made you a political leader. Now you lead a political party, which has a considerable following;
Mr. Prime Minister! You are better placed than any other Pakistani citizen, since you are sitting in the center of the state. The office you
Copyright © 2021 Pak Political Economy. All Rights Reserved