Our future is like Schrodinger’s cat

In the face of an unprecedented economic meltdown, we should join heads and work together to save our country. Instead, we are posturing to bang heads and draw blood. On both sides of the aisle, we have unleashed the fury within us. Our patriotism has been replaced by partisan gridlock. Tribalism has returned like a savage. It’s us vs them. We have rolled up the sleeves. We are misled by our egos. We are blinded by our self-righteousness.

Donald Trump, over a year ago, landed himself in hot water when he coaxed his die-hard supporters into joining the Save America Rally and march on the Capitol: “We will not let them silence your voices… We are not going to let it happen… Our country has had enough… We will never concede… You don’t concede when there is theft involved… You will have an illegitimate president (Joe Biden), … And we can’t let that happen… We will not be intimidated into accepting the hoaxes and the lies that we have been forced to believe…” What happened next was a national embarrassment.

Assuming Imran Khan means well, does he realise that peaceful protests can easily turn into mob violence? In a large crowd — a procession or a rally — each member of the crowd loses his individuality. His behaviour is governed by the ‘group mind’ — the collective unconsciousness. A feeling of purpose and invincibility can subdue his capacity for rational and moral judgement. In the words of Gustave Le Bon, a pioneer in crowd psychology: “The role of the scholar is to destroy chimeras, that of the statesman is to make use of them.”

Human emotion can be beautiful and uplifting. As Khalil Gibran reminds us: “When love beckons to you, follow him though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you, yield to him, though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.”

Human emotion can be irrational and destructive. When Othello enters his bedchamber where his beautiful wife, Desdemona, sleeps like an angel, he is overpowered by emotions. He loves her with all his heart but he is consumed with jealousy. We know his wife is innocent but Othello is convinced that she has been unfaithful to him. He decides not to stab her but instead smother her with the pillow. “Yet, I will not shed her blood, nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow, and smooth as monumental alabaster. Yet, she must die…”

In politics too, human emotion can be constructive or destructive. The decline of democracy in the Roman republic can be attributed to violent rhetoric, pandering politicians, and partisan gridlock. Besides, income inequality had grown by leaps and bounds, and bribery and corruption were rampant.

The age of powerful statesmen and dictators like Caesar, Napoleon and Ataturk is behind us. We are in the antechamber of the Fifth Industrial Revolution. More than 50% of our children in elementary schools and kindergarten will have jobs that don’t yet exist. Let’s embrace the future. Let’s bid farewell to populism. We no longer need a saviour or a demagogue. We need a working system, rule of law, balance of power, across-the-board accountability, institutional integrity, bureaucratic ethics and efficiency.

Our economy in shambles, we have our hands tied behind our back. But given the opportunity, we need to invest in science and innovation. R&D in public and private sectors. Let’s welcome the age of telecom, 5G, gene editing, brain-computer interface, distant learning, virtual and augmented reality, quantum computers, AI-optimised manufacturing, smart houses, smart cities, and smart implants and technology in healthcare. We owe it to our next generations — Generation Z and Generation Alpha.

Unfortunately, our present government seems as clueless as our previous government. Our federal ministers are quick to point fingers at the opposition to cover their flaws. Their political discourse is riddled with ad hominem fallacies and straw man’s arguments. The imbroglio is appalling. The opposition, on the other hand, is hell-bent on staging mass protests instead of sitting in the legislative assembly for which they were elected by their constituents.

Our future is like Schrodinger’s cat. We don’t know if it’s dead or alive or both.

But we know one thing for sure: our house is on fire. Let’s stop the inferno before it reaches the meadows where hope lives, where geese and sparrows cackle and chirp, where our children run barefoot on grass chasing butterflies.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2022.

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