Our tendency to entrust blind faith is representative of the fallacy of collective wisdom. Most significantly, it represents our reluctance to take responsibility of the inherent problems our society faces. We are ostriches who follow blindly, with our heads buried in the sand while marching towards our singular goal. We hang on to bits of hope, without recognising the need to stand up to — and eventually surmount — our challenges. Unfortunately, the bitter truth is that change does not arrive by hanging on to bits of hope. Hope is an undeniable prerequisite for change, but blindly following, hoping for the best without acting, is not the avenue through which change arrives.
The path to progress requires an awareness of the need to struggle. Pakistan is beset with serious challenges. In order to overcome these challenges, the country will need to work towards a set of common goals. What will such an effort entail? For example, to overcome the energy crisis, we will need to find the right balance between providing residential sufficiency and industrial growth, while focusing on achieving national consensus on the construction of the Kalabagh Dam and the pursuit of alternative sources of energy (including wind and nuclear). Similarly, in the aftermath of the US departure from Afghanistan, it may be necessary to give Fata additional attention and resources. This will require the entire country — from Karachi to Chitral — to make sacrifices. Neither of these goals will be achieved by entrusting blind, singular faith in one event. Change is a multidimensional process.
With that said, it is a single event that sets change in motion. While the departure of a dictator and the restoration of judges were both praiseworthy events, what we failed to realise was that these events were merely the beginning of the process of change. Unfortunately, we began both these processes, but left them unfinished. The ascent of democracy that accompanied the departure of a dictator was meant to lead to a growing economy, better governance and less corruption. Unfortunately, it led to the opposite. Our economy is in shambles, governance is unheard of and corruption is omnipresent. Similarly, the restoration of judges has not prevented injustice from taking place in the lower courts. Neither has it improved the rule of law in our country.
As with all processes, unfinished change is useless. Collective blind faith towards a singular goal can be helpful for Pakistan, but only if the achievement of one goal propels us towards the next goal required in the process of change. Pakistanis are capable of bringing change, but we cannot afford to be shortsighted. We must learn to march on following our first step. We cannot forget that change is a series of steps in the right direction and not just the first such step.
Published In The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2012.
COMMENTS (9)
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How does one walk blindly while head buried in sand? We have ourselves a metaphor overload emergency.
Since problems are multidimentional and complex, one dimentional solutions give birth to fallacies.
collective wisdom can happen if everyone is allowed to express their views. The problem starts when few people start controlling the discussions. Thats why freedom of speech is very important for a democratic setup.
Good piece, Ibrahim.
@Farid: How does any of what the author writes in this piece lead you to call him a "liberal"?
Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it....here come the trolls. They will start by attacking you for criticising their faith in Imran Khan. Then they will criticise you for criticising. Then finally they will attack you for 'sitting in the US at Harvard and making pronouncements like these' as if Harvard is very easy to get into and all you need to do is pay to go there. If Pakistan was well-off every Pakistani would be at Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, Cornell, Columbia and Berkeley isnt it? And ofcourse nothing to be proud of, that we have a phenomenally bright Pakistani at the world's most prestgious institution who is still actively concerned with and invested in his homeland. You are a traitor if you are doing well!
So we have another liberal in training.
Ibrahim- While what you are saying is understandable, you are making a naive assumption that either all human behavior is rational or only rational behavior produces rational outcomes. Look at it this way, my father told me that if I did well in matriculation, I will be good for life. Then the same happened for High School, then bachelors, Masters, and still continues. If I told you that your life will be financially better 1.5 times 20 years from now, if you did these 100 things, will you go for it? most likely not. Same is the case of nations. Change is a journey made up of many small live or die full of struggle events. Had the people bringing about French Revolution known that their sweat and blood will be wasted by installation of other aristocracy, will they go for it? Most likely not, but they did kick-off a chain of events that paid off eventually.
Very well written; you've spotted a problem/trend. As Pakistanis, we have to stand up to the challenges we face instead of ducking our heads in the sand.
How does this article prove the fallacy of collective wisdom? These were hollow slogans used by groups whose interests were being served by exit of Musharraf or restoration of CJ. Show me one villager, 60 percent Pakistanis are villagers, who really thought that exit of Musharraf or restoration of CJ would change their fate? Collective wisdom is visible on the streets: people want electricity. But civilian and military elites have other priorities; their interests conflict with that of the masses.