The Harsh Truth

Re: # 8
Bismillah. Eventhough I have not gone through the whole article, I have got the main idea from your wise response. In turn, I totally agree with you. We have a treasure that solves all the world problems and, we still look around us for solutions! " Allah does not change what is in people until they change what is in themselves"
Salam

Look here.Other than Israel, Pakistan is the only country created on religious grounds. To solve its problems, Pakistan has to go back to its roots. Islamisation is the only way . Start with politics first. Islamise the political system. Neighbouring Iran is a fine example to emulate. Put a Guardian Council in place. Introduce public hanging as a crime-detterent. Introduce interest-free banking to revitalise the economy. Give women their rights as per Islamic laws. Implement the Shariat whatever may be the consequences. If there are any controversies in the way, resolve them. Let us see what Islam really has to say on these issues.Consult Islamic scholars and clarify Islam's stand on macro and micro economic policies. Let Pakistan be the second country in the world after Iran to become an Islamic paradise or a fortress of Islam. Reread the Quran and reinterpret the Quran.If an Islamic economic model is successfull in Pakistan, even non-Islamic countries will be ready to follow in its footsteps. If Islam is the panacea to all economic national problems, let Pakistan prove it.

HI Rajiv here,
i agree completely with one point that u have to look within rather than looking without.forget what world has got to say about pakistan.the first thing is what u think about ur country and what u can do about it,so that ur country can develop.of course u have to take care of the growth of women keeping all aspects in mind,like their education is most important factor then u have to give equal importance to them in the society.then ofcourse other factors are also important as given above. in the end i would say,instead of blaming others u do something for ur country.(u means all the people of the country)

When we talk about investments in infrastructure in Pakistan, are we talking about Investments or are we talking about charity. Because it is not necessary for currency to appreciate for investment to be made, but it is important for the capital to be efficiently utilized.

In order to ascertain whether capital is being utilized efficiently, we need to be certain that people would pay money to receive goods and services that were produced from the investment.

I hope I have not lost you yet.

Finally, all said and done, people in Pakistan have to put their money where their mouth is before people abroad will do the same. This was clearly stated even by a Japanese delegation to Pakistan.

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If the people in Pakistan, who have better knowledge of the socio-political and economic risks in that country, are not committing significant resources by investing in Pakistan, how do they expect us to invest in that country

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During the Asian currency crisis, Soros was known to have said that the people in the Asian countries themselves lost faith in the currency (as they went short the local currency) which resulted in the crisis. Soros infact was hurt by the crisis himself.

Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics. :-)

So far, you have told us that the majority of the population is more than fifteen years old and works in industry.

FWIW, the percentage of GDP generated from agriculture is 22%.

Little axiom:
GDP = Consumption + Investment +Exports -Imports.

Exports need not be of the wheat or cotton variety. If I sell you a new netscape add-in and book the profits in Pakistan, They become an export. Back to lies etc. This is meaningful from a traditional statistical measure and handy for the taxman. If I live in Pakistan, and I get rich, wherever I make my money, the total wealth of Pakistani`s as opposed to the nation has grown. If I choose to spend some of that on a better lifestyle, more than one Pakistani see`s improved wealth.

The decision on what form the revenue assets should possess for a nation should be left to the marketplace. If I can make an honest buck at it, there should be no restraint on my ability to do so.

Heres the rub. Sure, Pakistan is mostly agrarian, unfortunately we`re not very good at it. We`ve got 12% (roughly) of our land which is arable and irrigated. The industrial base, of whichever complexity, is anaemic because it subsidises the agrarian economy. Our yields however are feeble. Ceteris Paribus we cannot compete, without plundering the coffers of the more viable businesses.

The reason for the incongruous tax system is political and not economic. More to the point, we have fifty years of data demonstrating that it doesn`t work. We need to encourage those bits of the nation that work. IMHO that is indeed, whatever leverages off human capital.

The best of that is stuff which no one else is doing. ergo, infotech etc.

Re:Moe

Sorry Moe, went to the site. Got anything that doesn`t plan to package education with a heavy dose of dogma?

We`ve talked about this elsewhere in chowk as well. There are a number of well intentioned and IMHO misguided education programs out there who argue that spreading literacy is simply a function of throwing data at kids. I disagree.

When I speak to the odd cabbie from NWFP and ask them why they never learnt to read and write, they say ``well, we had the school, but I was more interested in farming`` or something similar. A cultural problem, and a serious lack of teacher quality. One, I find unlikely to be addressed by ``Teacher training programs``.

The magnitude of the problem is such that opening a few more rural schools is unlikely to make an appreciable dent, even for the kids in attendance.

No doubt a few will be helped who would not have been, but there is a question of ``bang for the buck`` which I feel will be insufficient.

Add a religeous agenda to all of this, and I`m afraid my money continues to go to the childrens villages.

Having said that, what I had hoped to find, and referred to peripherally in my earlier post, was something that leveraged into the education level in the urban centers. Appreciate the sentiment though. Glad that there are people out there who care.

As Mr. Kahn said, ``... little steps of veri- table giants ... ordinary folks doing extra- ordinary things...not for reward...no reward
is enough..the reward is in the doing. Pure``.

So:

Give a gift of life to the children of Pakistan by finding out more about ``Pakistan Education Development Foundation USA``, by visiting their website at:

http://www.angelfire.com/pa/Pakliteracy;

Because:

According to UNESCO, Pakistan ranks 160th out of 174 countries of the world in literacy.
Current enrollment rate for primary schools - Pakistan: 66%; Bangladesh: 82%; China: 95%; Indonesia: 91%; Burma: 85%; Vietnam: 88%; Mexico: 98%; Iran: 96%.

Let us take little steps of veritable giants!

Beautifully put! FWIW this seems to be a phenomenon familiar to all expatriate Pakistani`s and, I imagine to large numbers of white collar urbanites in Pakistan itself.

Still, as long as the biryani`s steaming, a point of contention. The fragmentation of the occidents feudal system came about when the cities became powerful enough to operate independently and had sufficient resources to withold, that any attack on their independence was not worthwhile for the incumbent power base.

All the problems you describe exist, but they exist to a lesser extent in the cities. The contrast is harsher because there is the ``melting pot`` still being driven by vested agrarian interests.

Remember, in developing a nation, it is not necessary to develop all of it at the same time. You can make the cities more attractive to rural citizens thus forcing automation on the agrarian economy. The ideas of the freer populace will gradually percolate through the national corpus. (I appreciate this last is based on dubious science, but hey, its a pov).

Thats the neat historical solution, lets step out of the box for a second. Do we really need a couple of megacities in Pakistan in the new millenium? Everyone else is talking of diasporas out of the cities, the idea of virtual corporations and virtual workplaces is recieving more press, fast and efficient methods of transport are increasing cachement areas for efficient trade and communication, and financial markets are no longer dependent on proximity to physical funds.

Furthermore our current voting system of proportional geographic representation is tilted to support the agricultural sector. To get an equal voice, the urban system needs to be dispersed.

I`m throwing this open for discussion since I dont have any clear ideas on the subject and am no kind of urban planner. How would you satisfy the conflicting objectives?

This is excellent! A conscience is really all we need.