Two acronyms are very popular these days, DIY (do it yourself) and IYI (intellectual yet idiot). IYI is offensive in nature yet applicable, though sparingly. Cognitive illusions are everywhere, getting pronounced with every passing day. Era of deep fakes, fake news and the post truth is resulting into a healthy harvest of IYIs .This term was first coined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his new book where he explained all type of asymmetries in detail. The pseudo intellectuals and pseudo left are responsible in creating these asymmetries in the system. It does not mean that extreme right is doing any good either. State, any state is a name of function based on three things, people, political system and the institutions. Under a perfect symmetry, institutions are under political leadership, people are governed by the institutions and political leadership is under the scrutiny of people. So it is a concentric relationship. In nassim taleb’s terms everyone has a skin in the game. When this trigonometry tilts on the side of one element, asymmetry is created. Historically britishers ruled subcontinent not by the principle of divide and rule but by creating different differentials between the different communities. Before the advent of britishers under the mughal rule, there was no poverty amongst the masses. The empire created poverty and deprivation for the masses, made different classes of people, doled favours to selected one, gyrated inequality, controlled all the three elements of state and rode their wave of prosperity yet claiming that they are the saviours. Shashi taroor’s thesis of inglorious empire explains it all, but probably it is more of an effort to spot light India then to correct the course of history, even with this the assertions are very correct. Three states are created basing on an idea or ideology, Pakistan is ideological state, israiel is an ideological state and USA is a country which came into being as an idea of city on a hill. The federalist thought it to be a state which will promote the human values and principles bolstering the comity of nations. Churchil invoking the same principle forced Americans to break the shackles of Monroe doctrine and cross the Atlantic to save the Europe and the humanity. All of these three countries have somehow emerged, despite different physical differentials, as the main geo- political nodes of the world. Countries bigger or smaller are aligning towards either of these ideological states. IYI’s are greatly benefiting from this strange development and are seen debating the concepts and terms without meanings. Pakistani riddle is all about giving the answer to three basic questions, one, is charity a function of state, second, who is qualified in an ideological state to give moral advice, third, is corruption a fungus or a termite (or both).All of these questions are to be answered with in the political realm of democratic dispensations as a system of government. Democracy in this part of the world is interrupted by assassinations. Democracy in quite loud terms says that one needs majority to change something. Ethics and morality say that even a very small minority at the right side of divide can bring change. Answer to first question, charity is not the function of state, it is embedded in the ethos of a nation to help and care for the downtrodden. When state indulges in this, then the capacity of people to hop poverty lines is gone. State is responsible to provide circumstances conducive for business, labour and sustenance, even subsidies, tariff holidays and blanket concessions are fine. Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) once gave an axe to a person (to cut woods and earn living) who was asking for the charity. As a sole owner of one fifth of maal-e-ghanimat, PBHU by every evening used to distribute all not merely as a charity but as a means of sustenance. Just after a while there was no one poor in Madina, everyone was doing his own business. Recently boards are pinned all around Washington, these read,” please do not feed wild animals and birds, less they lose their capacity to survive as per the laws of nature “.Answer to Second question , in the extreme sense of morality it is immoral to give advice to someone. Strange statement, isn’t it. Unnecessary advices is the bedrock upon which the capitalist system works, theory of advertisement, theory of cultivation and manufacturing consent is all based upon this. It is the political sales man ship which tells whom to vote for who. A leader therefore must not advice publically to another leader or a state. Take a leaf from the life of all the statesmen of the world and one will not find a single public advice, may be few proverbs here and there. Answer to third question, corruption is only a fungus and a termite if it is left to grow. Like termite, corruption is treated silently and effectively with deep strategies. If the corruption flag is raised too high, the state and its people will lose respect amongst the nations. Every state has corrupt elements, these are treated like termite, with sharp scalpels, strong medicines and ingenious potions, but all in silent. Black swan event which one cannot predict will come trading the paths of nations, leader has to do just one thing , just keep an eye on Nassim Taleb’s IYI’s, keep them at bay, basking under the sun all drenched in their thoughtless thoughts. Last thing, rural life is a naturalist environment, you cannot hide anything, and everyone knows everything in the village. Same way in a global village social media is a new naturalist environment, so take a cue from village life, do not respond to everything, instead of tweeting on a tree, chirp and chirp alone because life should be little nuts, otherwise it will be just a bunch of Thursdays.
The writer is a freelance who contributes regularly on security related issues. He is also a PhD scholar who can be reached at [email protected] Twitter: @Abid_Latif55
Published in Daily Times, December 30th 2018.