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Just in case one didn’t agree with this prognosis that the world was hopelessly out of plumb; the corona crisis might help take another look.
TUMHARI TEHZEEB APNE KHANJAR SE AAP HI KHUDKUSHI KARE GI
JO SHAKH-E-NAZUK PE ASHIYANA BANE GA, NA PAIDAR HO GA
YOUR CIVILIZATION WILL COMMIT SUICIDE WITH ITS OWN DAGGER
WHAT’S BUILT ON A SHAKY FOUNDATION WILL NOT LAST LONG”
ALLAMA DR. IQBAL
PAKISTAN’S POET PHILOSOPHER
Pre-corona crisis: a sorry state of affairs
To keep ahead of the pack some hounds had indeed gone on steroids. A rat-race depleted the natural resources and produced plenty of junk. If growth became the goal, seeking contentment was like reaching for the lights of a moving truck. Military-Industrial complexes needed perpetual wars to survive. Smaller families was a good idea – taken beyond a point, where children became a drag on the lifestyle, some societies could not raise enough for the old-age benefits. Evermore money was being recycled in the same piece of dirt, called real-estate.
In other words, the system was collapsing under its weight. But the worst part was that though it was all too obvious, nothing could be done but to sleepwalk with eyes wide shut. Anyone who suggested that the process was unsustainable; if not pooh-poohed as a naysayer, was shrugged-off with our legendary laissez-faire: yehan to apni guzarti hey maze main, akhrat ki khabar khuda janey (enjoy while it lasts – who has seen the hereafter). But no one, not even Iqbal, had the faintest idea that this wobbly structure could be so brutally rocked by a microbe.
Read more: Global Tourism: Challenges post Covid-19 & Opportunities!
The more we change, the more we remain the same
When corona happened, one was reminded of another shrug. Zia-ul-Haq was often warned that some of his actions would backfire. When they did, he simply said: yeh toe hona hi thaa; yes, that had to happen”. One still cannot deny all the collateral benefits: air getting cleaner, birds chirping louder, friends and families coming closer, moods more reflective, and personal hygiene now nearly an obsession. And of course, we are delighted that corona has lined-up all the high and mighty who were getting too big for their boots (no pun intended) in the same firing line.
Understandably, we do not want to lose these gains and have therefore assured ourselves that once the crisis was over, it will no longer be business as before. Possible; but not if history or even mythology were any guide. Nimrod was killed by a mosquito; an ant creeping up the tusk felled an elephant, and David got the better of Goliath. None of that convinced the people at the helm that the balance of power was a sound concept.
The UNO, established after the Second World War to prevent or preempt conflicts, cannot fulfil its raison d’être because the Big Five, reluctant to loosen their grip, scuttle all efforts to restructure the world body. At home, the political dynasties resist changes that could infuse new blood. And the Army nips in the bud any move to reform the Higher Defence Organisation, since it could dent its exclusive status. One might still argue that the corona phenomenon was a gamechanger and some citadels must therefore fall. The problem is that even revolutionary movements were hijacked by the better organized or the more powerful.
Read more: Post-Corona World (dis)Order: The end of global leadership?
The Iranian revolution was spearheaded by the Communist Tudeh Party, but was taken over by the Mullahs in quick time. The Arab Spring, triggered by a lone self-immolator, helped the Egyptian military entrench its regime. The Kashmir uprising of the 1990s was led by the pro-independence JKLF, which was soon edged out by groups sympathetic to Pakistan. “The more we change, the more we remain the same”, may sound cynical, but it’s essentially because the beneficiaries of the old order do their best, or their worst, to defend the status quo – in this case, to restore the status-quo-ante. And, they will also be better placed!
Post-corona world order: a level playing field?
Yes, the Virus may not discriminate between the poor and the rich, but the latter have more cushion to absorb its onslaught. Stronger economies, though certainly under stress, were more likely to survive this crisis than those barely keeping their heads above water. Individually too, despite the lockdowns; people with money in the bank could put food on the table, while the daily wage earners were out begging for alms. But for our charitable traditions, most of them would have kicked the bucket or stormed the Bastille.
Depending upon when we will limp back to a new normalcy, our emaciated masses would rather take out their pushcarts than rally to support a just order. And then there are no signs that the post-corona world would be a more level playing field for the underdog.
Read full article...
Post-corona world and Pakistan
Just in case one didn’t agree with this prognosis that the world was hopelessly out of plumb; the corona crisis might help take another look.
TUMHARI TEHZEEB APNE KHANJAR SE AAP HI KHUDKUSHI KARE GI
JO SHAKH-E-NAZUK PE ASHIYANA BANE GA, NA PAIDAR HO GA
YOUR CIVILIZATION WILL COMMIT SUICIDE WITH ITS OWN DAGGER
WHAT’S BUILT ON A SHAKY FOUNDATION WILL NOT LAST LONG”
ALLAMA DR. IQBAL
PAKISTAN’S POET PHILOSOPHER
Pre-corona crisis: a sorry state of affairs
To keep ahead of the pack some hounds had indeed gone on steroids. A rat-race depleted the natural resources and produced plenty of junk. If growth became the goal, seeking contentment was like reaching for the lights of a moving truck. Military-Industrial complexes needed perpetual wars to survive. Smaller families was a good idea – taken beyond a point, where children became a drag on the lifestyle, some societies could not raise enough for the old-age benefits. Evermore money was being recycled in the same piece of dirt, called real-estate.
In other words, the system was collapsing under its weight. But the worst part was that though it was all too obvious, nothing could be done but to sleepwalk with eyes wide shut. Anyone who suggested that the process was unsustainable; if not pooh-poohed as a naysayer, was shrugged-off with our legendary laissez-faire: yehan to apni guzarti hey maze main, akhrat ki khabar khuda janey (enjoy while it lasts – who has seen the hereafter). But no one, not even Iqbal, had the faintest idea that this wobbly structure could be so brutally rocked by a microbe.
Read more: Global Tourism: Challenges post Covid-19 & Opportunities!
The more we change, the more we remain the same
When corona happened, one was reminded of another shrug. Zia-ul-Haq was often warned that some of his actions would backfire. When they did, he simply said: yeh toe hona hi thaa; yes, that had to happen”. One still cannot deny all the collateral benefits: air getting cleaner, birds chirping louder, friends and families coming closer, moods more reflective, and personal hygiene now nearly an obsession. And of course, we are delighted that corona has lined-up all the high and mighty who were getting too big for their boots (no pun intended) in the same firing line.
Understandably, we do not want to lose these gains and have therefore assured ourselves that once the crisis was over, it will no longer be business as before. Possible; but not if history or even mythology were any guide. Nimrod was killed by a mosquito; an ant creeping up the tusk felled an elephant, and David got the better of Goliath. None of that convinced the people at the helm that the balance of power was a sound concept.
The UNO, established after the Second World War to prevent or preempt conflicts, cannot fulfil its raison d’être because the Big Five, reluctant to loosen their grip, scuttle all efforts to restructure the world body. At home, the political dynasties resist changes that could infuse new blood. And the Army nips in the bud any move to reform the Higher Defence Organisation, since it could dent its exclusive status. One might still argue that the corona phenomenon was a gamechanger and some citadels must therefore fall. The problem is that even revolutionary movements were hijacked by the better organized or the more powerful.
Read more: Post-Corona World (dis)Order: The end of global leadership?
The Iranian revolution was spearheaded by the Communist Tudeh Party, but was taken over by the Mullahs in quick time. The Arab Spring, triggered by a lone self-immolator, helped the Egyptian military entrench its regime. The Kashmir uprising of the 1990s was led by the pro-independence JKLF, which was soon edged out by groups sympathetic to Pakistan. “The more we change, the more we remain the same”, may sound cynical, but it’s essentially because the beneficiaries of the old order do their best, or their worst, to defend the status quo – in this case, to restore the status-quo-ante. And, they will also be better placed!
Post-corona world order: a level playing field?
Yes, the Virus may not discriminate between the poor and the rich, but the latter have more cushion to absorb its onslaught. Stronger economies, though certainly under stress, were more likely to survive this crisis than those barely keeping their heads above water. Individually too, despite the lockdowns; people with money in the bank could put food on the table, while the daily wage earners were out begging for alms. But for our charitable traditions, most of them would have kicked the bucket or stormed the Bastille.
Depending upon when we will limp back to a new normalcy, our emaciated masses would rather take out their pushcarts than rally to support a just order. And then there are no signs that the post-corona world would be a more level playing field for the underdog.
Read full article...
Post-corona world and Pakistan
