Oscar Wilde once said “Selfishness is not living your life as you wish to live it. Selfishness is wanting others to live their lives as you wish them to.”Every segment of our social lives is forcing us to live our lives by their standards. To change our behaviors all types of marketing and technological tools are being applied. The west has its own agenda and its own varied definition of freedom and equality. The explanations change for their own people and for others it has other meanings. While to back their agenda, every kind of arm twisting, funding and campaign is continually launched to change the mindset and opinions of people.
Social media has become the latest weapon for the spread of agenda-based ideas and concepts. It is extremely difficult for a common man not to get influenced by the wide web of various schemes serving different interest groups. It becomes extremely difficult for simple folks to distinguish facts or as they say alternate facts. The irony is that the mainstream media has now taken off their masks and are clearly serving their capitalistic masters. Unlike in old times, now the media shamelessly take positions and keep spinning the stories towards designated selfish interests.
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Understanding the matter better
The clergy has taken hostage the social and political system, even in this time and age remains the biggest reason for the vote, bloodshed, and monetization. The governments and enlightened and progressive minds remain under constant threat. The fundamentalist continues to penalize and punish everyone who does not succumb to their given conduct. Their punishments are cruel and still, people are called heretics if they even wonder to question their authority.
Clergy fully understands that their money-making machines will be jammed, the moment people start asking questions or are educated out of superstitions. The clergy supports the politicians by wooing their disciples to vote for them and in return, they ensure the fallacies in the name of religion are turned into law and their control keeps strangulating the broadminded thinking. The clergy also provides a deep support to multi-establishment as they remain pivotal for providing the blood of the innocent to their siege. In return, the priests ensure that behaviors of remain besieged to them.
Perhaps these days, leadership is more self-obsessed than ever
The leaders want their followers to sacrifice for them while they want to have complete power over them. The leaders are fully focused to become monarchs though all of them keep sloganeering democracy. They have managed to befool people in the name of electable, political dynasties and have ensured that no commoner or any free thinker ever becomes part of the system and even if someone from the education topmost becomes part of them, they ensure that he is corrupted so that he can be pressured to act as per their desires.
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Ironically, leaders, today are only worried about their own wealth, power, or popularity. Their self-interest takes better of their capacity to work towards the betterment of people. Leaders take disdain about the commoners and keep ensuring that the common man should remain their dependent so that their conduct can be maneuvered for their interest.
Manipulation and hanging on to power remain the mantra for all the elite
The elite though comprehends that the colonial style of governance will take the country to darkness but are not willing to change. The children of the privileged are now the biggest immigrants to the west. The elite retires and join their children, and most of the exclusive business groups have their businesses in Dubai as they have no faith in the country, and they feel their money is safe outside Pakistan. Ironically, most of the feudal, business tycoons and servicemen have made their fortune in Pakistan, but the country of their choosing is not Pakistan. The elite admires the rule of law, liberalism, contained clergy and accountable bureaucracy of the west but are unwilling to bring the same values to their own country.
Greed overtakes all the objectives and self-centered egoïstic purpose defies any constructive change. The elite keep subsidizing their own kith and keep taxing the poor. Elite has found legit ways of grabbing land in the name of service and providing subsidies to business houses while ensuring the justice system rots and poor prosecution ensures no one is held accountable. None of the leaders talk about the obvious and burning issues such as population explosion, education for all, reformation of civil services, land encroachments, etc.
None of the leaders are willing to make massive policy changes and give direction to the country. On the contrary, frivolous and theatric performances are given to distract commoners. None of the political parties work on their manifesto, what they work on is to ensure people are sidetracked and they keep following their nonproductive and self-serving political agendas.
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When will a common man understand that not only, he is being used but his children are being given a compromised future? It’s time that justice is demanded, and powerful establishments must be measured on KPIs. People should demand quality education for their children and local empowered governments. People must ask for transparency in each government function, and the elimination of the sacred cow concept. Technology must be used to eliminate discretion and clear performance must be asked from every public position holder for better governance.
The selfishness has been there for decades and getting worse. We have been yelling about it but now it’s critical to move from selfish behaviors to selfless actions. Keeping commoner interest before own interest is no longer a fantasy of a fool rather this is a serious time for introspection to change, to change to provide a bright future for our children.
Moied Javeed is a senior telecom executive in Pakistan and can be reached at mj@tptglobal.net. The views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.