Saad Gul
In the Jews’ Old Testament, Israel produced a series of states that rose and fell politically – roughly six times – because of corruption. Every time they experienced a collapse, however, the Jewish people would interestingly assume total responsibility: “If the state has collapsed, we must have done something wrong” they would think. It was an extremely powerful exercise that required both humility and courage. It was a kind of brutally honest self-reflection that helped them course-correct after every fall. It required them to shed previously held belief systems that would be replaced with newer, more empowering ones – making room for growth and expansion.
In Pakistan, no one seems to have either the humility or the courage to assume responsibility for practically anything. Instead every conversation about rights in the country is devoid of the other complimenting half which is about responsibility. For instance, in case of a security lapse, the establishment blames India. Historically, economic failures have always been blamed on the previous government by the current government. Embarrassing performances in cricket result from the corrupt Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The citizens – who bribe consciously and habitually – call our Police corrupt. The under-paid and seemingly overworked police officials conveniently play victim and accept the ‘bonus’. Business owners – while buying assets worth billions – evade millions in taxes because they blame the government for never supporting businesses on anything; they call it a trust deficit of sorts. Our law enforcers and justice providers, who are infamously known as ‘the untouchables’, have illegally and shamelessly encroached onto public parks in the Federal Capital. The ruling elites blame the system or the opposition – without even hinting at the need for radical reforms in the obsolete governance regime.
This is just a glimpse into the malevolence, tragedy and suffering that the country’s 220 million plus people go through every day. Going down this rabbit hole seems like a perpetual journey of unpleasant revelations: blame, lies, corruption, theft, delusion, ego, denial, entitlement, irresponsibility, bigotry, scheming, deception, and evil.
The result? Disregard for law, intolerance against minorities, religious fundamentalism, low to no access for most to basic health and education, inflation, unemployment, low tax revenue for the government, predatory corrupt institutions, weak infrastructure, and disconnected youth that turns towards drugs and alcohol in frustration and desperation. This is not an exhaustive account of the myriad of other problems the country is engulfed in.
That’s not the point, nevertheless; the point is that while the ‘system’ is like this and while we’re all just cogs in the Matrix, we have to accept that we have done something massively wrong. Just like the Jews.
The bad news is that finger-pointing and shifting responsibility will not fly for much longer. The worse news is that no one is coming to save us from the outside. The somewhat pleasant news is that – while this is a collective failure – we can choose to create a different future by first accepting we’ve done something wrong and as long as we’re ready to consciously inculcate a willingness to honestly stare at our own inadequacies by letting go of belief systems that no longer serve us.
Simply put, we have to stop lying to ourselves and those around us. Although this is going to be extremely difficult and painfully discomforting, this is the only option, the only path forward that will allow growth and expansion.
In the past seventy years, our economy has failed over a dozen times. We have been – ostensibly – rescued by an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout every single time. In reality the cobweb of problems only grew thicker without resolution of the core issues that dog our economy and governance.
How many more times would it take for us to realise that since this strategy has not worked in the past, it won’t in the future. Something else has to change, dramatically. Perhaps, instead of treating symptoms, we must go to the source. The source – that no one is willing to talk about – is our own tainted and weak character. Every single one of us.
This is why you and I will have to develop new belief systems, assume total responsibility and always assume that we must have done something wrong.
