When Alexander Hamilton was 12 years old, his mother died in the bed next to him. His father had already deserted him and the death of his mother left him orphaned. Following his mother’s death, his uncle adopted him, only to die shortly after. He was then adopted by his grandparents, who also died. At 14, a young Hamilton had nothing. Over the next decade though, his fortunes changed. By 25, Hamilton was a notable war hero and the chief of staff to George Washington. By 35, he had authored the Federalist Papers and had established himself as a successful lawyer. By 40, Hamilton had retired as Treasury Secretary of the United States. His is a story of awesome social mobility. Through progressive industrial and social policies, he gave struggling boys and girls like him the chance to succeed. The system he designed became the hallmark of American progress in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Where social mobility and the ideal of the American Dream became the bedrock of the American superpower, similar social mobility can become the avenue for Pakistan’s global eminence. The following decades should be remembered as Pakistan’s equivalent to the ‘Hamiltonian Age’ where social mobility is possible and probable. We need to become a country that provides its citizens with the tools and opportunities to survive in today’s globalised capitalist economy. A Hamiltonian Pakistan will be one in which basic necessities like food and water are no longer craved. A Hamiltonian Pakistan will provide universal education and healthcare. A Hamiltonian Pakistan will thrive on meritocracy by rewarding effort and creativity. Most importantly, a Hamiltonian Pakistan will elicit hope and not despair.
The ascent of a Hamiltonian Pakistan will require our focus and priority to be on improving economic conditions. As is the beauty of living in a democracy; the coming months will provide each of us with the opportunity to seek the economic development required for a climate of social mobility. With the recent progress in electoral transparency through the development of legitimate voter rolls, now more than ever, the political process depends largely on us, the people of Pakistan. In developing nations like ours, public leadership and governance can have a direct and tangible impact on economic development. So, as election season heats up, we must look for candidates and parties that have the ability to serve in a manner that enables the necessary focus on economic development. It is a simple criterion, but one that will not fail us.
Progress is a structured process. One election will not transform our lives. But one election can certainly begin the process of transformation we eagerly seek. While we need to start with economic progress, there is additional progress Pakistan craves. What we must not forget though is that this additional progress — let us loosely refer to it as social progress — will follow economic progress. Selecting the better candidate in our constituency may feel minute in the greater context of the progress our country must make, but wholesale change is achieved with bits of progress on a broad scale. Social mobility will be the basis of tomorrow’s Pakistan. To achieve that tomorrow, we must vote intelligently today.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2012.
COMMENTS (18)
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Vote for PTI, simple as that!
Great piece Ibrahim. Succinctly put it with great perspicacity
Elections change nothing for the voters or the masses. We are repeatedly told that we elect bad people. That is not the real case. Much much before we the people go to vote, we muct all be so organised that we can keep our collective control over those whom we elect. If we the people do not organise then we shall see Mafiosis telling those whom we elect, what to do. This is exactly what happens in the USA. It happens just because the people of the USA although educated and well inforrmed never bothered to organise themselves enabling them to collectively be able to make any one "accountable" methodically, legally and peacefully.
F
Dream on. Islam was the first to bring democracy and equal rights to the world. We just have to follow Islam and Inshallah, we shall lead the world in achievements.
Most Pakistani writers, like the author, wish and hope without ever understanding the deep fundamentals and foundations of a democratic society. You cannot construct a Hamiltonian anything if the basics of your society, culture and system are rooted in prejudice, religious supremacy and bigotry. You cannot just dream and wish for western style democracy without fundamental debates on equality, tolerance and separation of religion from state. Try doing the last in any majority Islamic country! You cannot leap frog the basic building blocks. But you can quote David Brooks without understanding where he or the famous Hamilton come from.
@aurangzeb khan, HAHAHA that's exactlyy what I was thinking :P
The courage and dreams of youth on full display!
May the writer grow up fast, and take charge of the country known today as Pakistan. Amen!
You wrote "A Hamiltonian Pakistan will provide universal education and healthcare." Actually there never was a Hamiltonian USA let alone Pakistan which provided universal education and healthcare. In fact even today after the approval of Obama Care there are tens of millions of Americans without universal healthcare. Are you sure you are not mixing the socialist dreams with the US history? The truth is it was Roosevelt who provided public services that the author is talking about.
Zalmai
This is mere continuation of similarities between America's founding fathers and Pakistan's founding fathers in the Muslim League. From Nawab of Mahbubabad to Pir Manki, don't understimate the power of ideas and outstanding heroes to inspire Pakistan.
Have you heard of ostriches?
@Zalmai: Economic progress is our walking. Flying (in the form of social progress) will follow.
We need a truly Islamic welfare society.
@Usman: Had the 'richest country in history' opted to provide social safety net rather than engaging in useless wars, they would have been able to do it as well. Remember U.S. has one of the lowest tax rates in triad nations. Lastly, for your reference to Europe and welfare state, please also highlight the drastic socio-economic gaps that are developing in economies following capitalist policies. It is just a matter of time before political sentiments of have-nots jolt these countries. Purely socialist systems and capitalism systems have both failed, the world needs a hybrid and more complex system.
Ibrahim - Very well written. Hamilton's story is impressive indeed. I think one of the issues that you touched upon that people hardly realize is the phenomenon that social change follows economic change, it is not the other way around.
In Pashto we have a proverb, (Pa guto ki Kashmir jorawe), which basically translates into one is attempting to make Kashmir in his fingers or the palm of his hand. The moral of the story, simplistic and naive optimism while confronted with herculean tasks. Forget about a Hamiltonian age, strive towards building a society that is tolerant where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is guaranteed by the state. Learn how to walk before you attempt to fly.
So, young Hamilton was more like a symbol of death for whoever took him in. Perhaps we can coin a better adjective for Pakistan.....!!
"A Hamiltonian Pakistan will provide universal education and healthcare" How may I ask will a Hamiltonian Pakistan provide these two most onerous expenditures when the richest country in history has not been able to provide them? And for the other industrailized nations of Europe Healthcare is their biggest expense which encompasses more and more of their expenditures every year? Hamiltonian Pakistan is where the government should only provide rule of law, infrastructure, enforcement of contracts, and national defence. Healthcare and Education should be left to the federated units, the people of Sindh may believe Education is secondary to healthcare, whereas Peeople in KP may believe that Education should be the prime focus........ A welfare state along the lines of Europe would be the deathblow to Pakistan, a meritocracy and egalatarian society where issues of education and healthcare are arrived at at the local lever along the lines of the US/Hong Kong and Singapore hould be our chosen course.
Great piece!