Even after everything was extensively overhauled, amended and rebuilt from the ground up, it took only 670 words to break it down. Try making sense of that.
The response from the public wasn’t ‘hey good job’. The response was ‘hey, are you still there?’. If that doesn’t get you concerned about things, nothing will. Why are we here?Who got us here and who will get us out of here?
Aren’t we all the same? Don’t we bleed the same blood? Yes, we don’t eat the same food or drink the best of waters but I thought we all had one goal, to build ourselves as a nation and to progress. Only one of us is still inclined to do that. I cannot speak for the other half, I am not as wise.
Human subconscious is intriguing. Our views are not formed, but influenced, by mass media. What we see on TV and the internet tends to have an impact on us.
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But Zorain, we have free media. Ask yourself, did you see much of the 2025 Bangladesh revolution on mainstream media? Did you see much of the 2025 Sri Lanka gen Z protests on mainstream media? Or instead, were you being shown ‘we’re about to take off as a country’. Let alone take off, where’s the runway?
Think about it. This is what they don’t what you to do, to think. The last thing they want are informed citizens who are capable of critical thinking.
Thinking used to be an instinctive response back in the day. Now, we’ve deliberately been kept too occupied with mind numbing entertainment.
The Roman poet Juvenal said ‘give them bread and circus and they won’t revolt’. How about instead of promoting sports in empty stadiums, we give our people world class educational institutions, quality healthcare, sound infrastructure and if all that is too much for you, let’s begin by giving them free libraries.
But wait, that’s too risky. We can’t afford giving them libraries because what if they start reading and thinking? What if they started thinking for themselves and realized, they’ve been misled by false narratives?
What’s worse than a faulty narrative? A failed narrative.
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I wanted to blame our education system but then I realized, we have none. We haven’t had one in 75 years; I don’t know if we’ll have one in the next 75 years. An informed citizen is an unwanted citizen. A citizen capable of critical thinking is a vile citizen. Keep your head down, be obedient, pay taxes and don’t question.
I heard someone say we should bring in PhDs scholars to improve matters. Let me tell you this. In authoritarian regimes, there is bound to be widespread anti-intellectualism. You can only grow intellectually when you’re allowed to question processes, procedures and the makers and beneficiaries of those procedures. Of-course, you cannot do that in oppressive systems. They are meant to beat down dissent and ensure silence. Even then, the caged bird sings and oh how beautifully she sings.
If you can’t openly question, then you don’t have the right to complain that you haven’t produced a single brilliant mind in decades. Why? because questioning has been frowned upon and responded by with force and oppression.Let alone frowned on, questioning is slowly becoming a crime. Soon enough being opinionated will be a crime. You heard it here first.
Francis Bacon said reading makes a full man, conference a ready man and writing an exact man.How do you do either of those when you’ve criminalized criticism? How do you foster greatness then?
Read literature, philosophy, jurisprudence, the world is open for you! Seek knowledge in times when anti-intellectualism is on the rise. Do not be comfortable in ignorance. Step outside your little bubble and be comfortable in exploring differing viewpoints. Feel a little uncomfortable by learning something that contradicts your beliefs. There is no growth in comfort. Challenge yourself intellectually.
There’s a reason why we were not taught about the Tiananmen Square Massacre. There’s a reason why we weren’t taught about Bhagat Singh and there’s a reason why we are not being taught about great people. Honest people I’ve known, don’t make it too far in life. Live a little, lie a little, we’re all going to go away one day.
In the end I’ll leave you to this saying by Maruc Aurelius “To offend a strong man, tell him a lie. To offend a weak man, tell him the truth.”
Written by Zorain Nizamani
The writer is a PhD Student. He can be reached out at znizamani@ualr.edu
