Daily Times

Gone are the days when on the budget day almost everything came to a halt on the streets, with people glued to the TV screens or radio sets in anticipation of some major concession for the working masses. After all in those days budgets did matter. That is now a bygone era, with the masses having little interest in what is being said or in no mood to be continuously duped by the sermons of these false prophets. Ironically, ‘fixed’ cricket matches interest them more than the monotonous theatrics of a budget speech. Despite the working masses being written off by the ruling elite, analysts and the intelligentsia, the masses have a fair intuition about the hard realities and the truths behind these facades. In those times the economy was in a relatively more stable state and the rulers did have some capacity to plan ahead and somewhat control spiralling prices. Moreover, traditional leadership had not betrayed the masses so ferociously and the pressure simmering from below was palpable in the subconscious of the ruling elites who had to pay some heed to it and reflect it in the budget proposals. The extant ruling elite has totally lost its predecessors’ sensitivities to this situation. Their catastrophic economic crisis and extreme instability, with the failure of all capitalist economic models, has made the rulers indifferent and arrogant. Today all the mainstream political entities are thoroughly entrenched in the system, representing various sections of corporate capital whose rate of profit depends on crushing the masses even more. The only solution to the social and economic crisis under capitalism is further loans, tax exemptions, etc, to attract direct foreign investment under the dictates of this punishing market economy. It is no wonder that every budget these days is pro-rich and anti-poor.

Capitalism not only in Pakistan but the world over is going through a relentless crisis and there is no room for any reforms. On the contrary the hard won welfare state is under unprecedented attack in advanced countries. Pakistan’s capitalism never experienced any healthy phase in its entire history and has now rotted to the core. Instead of improving the lot of the unfortunate inhabitants of this land, it is retarding living standards, plunging more and more people into the abyss of misery and poverty and rapidly increasing the already bulging sea of the unemployed. Society is in constant decline and there is not a single ray of hope in the present economic system and its political horizon for any prosperous future. If the previous regimes were imposing capitalism and increasing the burdens on the working classes in a specious manner, the present staunchly capitalist government comprising the capitalists and landed aristocracy have unleashed an aggressive onslaught upon the already exploited masses. On the other hand the imperialists in their crisis have increased their leeching of the masses by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other institutions. The second largest allocation is for ‘defence’ spending and has actually increased by 11 percent. It is not an accident that throughout history military spending increases more during so-called civilian democratic regimes than during military dictatorships. Just compare the meagre Rs 26 billion allocations for the health sector and a paltry Rs 64 billion on education with that of Rs 1,370 billion on debt servicing and Rs 700 billion for the military. These figures not only reflect the contemptuous attitude of the rulers towards the woes of the masses, there is also a method in this madness. In their almost insane lust for privatisation and profits, these essential and basic sectors are being forced into the private sector, as they are prodigiously profitable due to their indispensability for human existence. The provision of charity of Rs 1,500 per month for the most deprived families is appalling. With soaring inflation, what can be achieved with this generosity is pitiful. In a tragic paradox, the expenses of the Prime Minister’s House are a scandalous Rs 1,500 per minute or Rs 90,000 per hour. It is so base and abhorrent that if you come to think about the bare existence of these wretched of the earth compared with the nauseatingly hedonistic lifestyles of the rulers, it arouses revulsion.

But when it comes to their own class these vultures cannot even wait for the budget. A week before the budget was to be presented these bourgeois rulers introduced exemptions for corporate capitalists from taxes and customs duties to a staggering Rs 477 billion. Billions have been stashed in the black hole of the imperialist and local corporate independent power producers (IPPs) and yet their insatiable thirst for higher and higher profits is never quenched. They keep on nudging the rulers of their own class for more and more. No soul is allowed to even question the grotesque prices at which these plants are supplying electricity to the national grid and the agreements signed ensuring the continuum of their boundless profits. The holy cows of foreign debt repayment, military spending and lucrative deals leave very little for anything else. The announcement of rise in basic wages and salaries is pathetic compared to the high inflation and the announcements will largely remain announcements with little chance of any real implementation. The spontaneous eruption of fierce protests by clerks in Islamabad is an indication of what the workers’ response will be in times not far ahead.

With astronomical indebtedness and record deficits, there is hardly any room for developing society and alleviating poverty. Rather the opposite will be practiced. In spite of the media’s vociferous budget haranguing, this whole joyless ritual is a meaningless exercise. The profits of the ruling class are the foremost sacred task of the state and every capitalist regime. And yet this budget represents only one-third of the economy, which has been conveniently ignored by the media. The other two-thirds are the crime-based parallel or black economy, which not only is a cushion to the formal economy but also provides 73 percent of jobs, with harrowing conditions and excruciating exploitation of the workers. To think and nourish illusions of any betterment of the lot of the oppressed masses in this system is a deceit, distraction and betrayal of the toiling classes. The only future capitalism offers to the people is one of more devastation, misery, deprivation and torment. The masses generally lag behind the economic events and processes. But it seems that they are fast catching up. Once they are at par with the economic changes, they will rapidly develop a collective consciousness and enter into a decisive class struggle to conquer this economy, society and its politics playing havoc with their lives.

The writer is the editor of Asian Marxist Review and international secretary of Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign. He can be reached at ptudc@hotmail.com