Daily Times

“The question will arise, and arise in your day, though perhaps not fully in mine, ‘Which shall rule — wealth or man; which shall lead — money or intellect; who shall fill public stations — educated and patriotic free men, or the feudal serfs of corporate capital,’” Edward G Ryan wrote in 1873. No point looking up who Mr Ryan was; what is pertinent is that more than a hundred years ago he had the foresight to predict what has come to pass. In Pakistan while the rural populace continues to struggle against the large landowning feudal families, the urban populace is being suppressed by capitalism’s lord. Wealth and money rule unchallenged.

Within just days, the government’s resolve to tax the property barons, an initiative that was applauded in this very space, vanished into this air and an amnesty scheme was given the thumbs up. There is definitely something terribly wrong with the system if waivers and exemptions can be granted to the powerful elite against taxes evaded and due to the nation to the detriment of honest taxpaying citizens and the voting majority to boot. The “To big to fail sector” argument is a fallacy since property investment is mostly speculative, hardly productive and does not generate employment. Perhaps someday the authority to give amnesties to those who hardly need it, contrary to the best interest of the rest of the nation, needs to be debated by the superior courts.

In another development during the last few days, the cyber bill became law. Everyone, from now on be careful of what you post or circulate on Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp and the rest of the social media because you can very well end up paying five million rupees as a fine and go to jail for 14 years at the whim of those in power. And if you believe that the judicial system will provide you any relief, than you are too naive to be a Pakistani. Opposition stalwarts continued to give lip service against the provisions of the bill, but in the end when push came to shove, they feigned powerlessness to make a difference; all the hype on social media was a big fat nothing. Frankly, all that hype by the opposition now appears to have been staged rather than driven by an actual desire to protect the freedom of the masses to speak their mind without fear of repercussions. Undoubtedly, controlling freedom of speech of the masses is in the best interest of everyone walking the corridors of power. It is a fact that money will drown out the speech of those without resources.

It would not be unimaginable that pretty soon the voting public will lose confidence in these revered institutions, passionately projected as the pillars of democracy. And it is not about free speech alone, the entire paraphernalia of odds is stacked against the common man; you may call it democracy or whatever you want to call it, and the government may even be by the people, which is where people got fooled in the first place, but at the end of the day, it is surely neither of the people or for the people.

Take the case of the free market. As aptly pointed out by someone who cannot be directly credited since I can’t recall the book or the author, free markets require legislations about property rights, monopoly, contract enforcement, bankruptcy and enforcement of such laws. In all these cases, the laws are designed or otherwise enforced in a manner definitely unkind and unfair for those powerless to do something about it.

It is no secret that the powerful can forcefully appropriate land, the infamous qabza (land-grabbing) group, and the only remedy available for the meek is to file a case in a diwani court, if they are allowed to in the first place, and which is the beginning of an uphill task of trying to get justice. These courts are designed to test the patience and monetary resources of the poor, who eventually end up losing the land and the rest of their wealth as well. The meek might or might not inherit the earth someday, but they surely won’t get a clean title to the land on this earth any time. Although at current property prices in Pakistan, the meek aren’t even in a position to buy any land, period.

There is definitely legislation enacted to prevent monopoly power. But why then are prices of all utilities and certain primary inputs fixed by government, and that too keeping the interests of the investors in the forefront? Copyright laws are designed to create monopolies, irrespective of the logical sounding reasoning propagated in their defence. And how many of you actually believe that markets operate freely in respect of majority of goods and services, especially when outputs are generally controlled by oligopolies? Even advertising business is a cartel. In spite of readily available evidence of abuse of monopoly power, how many businesses have actually been taken to task by the system?

Contracts and their enforcement is another amazing mishmash. Undoubtedly, none of you have ever read the contracts that you sign when buying any goods or services; these are actually drafted in a manner to make them unreadable to the consumers, who really don’t have a choice anyway. Sign the contract, which in so many words says that nothing is ever the fault of the supplier, or go elsewhere. And when has a warranty ever worked? The manufacturers and service providers very well understand that individual consumers cannot even contemplate a legal action if a newly purchased television blows up. And obviously as per the contract it is the never the manufacturers’ fault anyway. So why does the government do absolutely nothing to protect the consumers?

Bankruptcy laws are another amazing fact of life. When the big guys go bankrupt, they get their loans written off. The other day an anchor on the idiot box was passionately detailing billions of loans written off by successive governments with no serious repercussions for businesses. Try defaulting on a mortgage for genuine reasons, such as temporary loss of employment, and you will face the unbridled wrath of the entire enforcement network. In case of a car it will be immediately repossessed, and pretty soon, you will not have a roof over your head. And worse, all the time the interest will keep mounting up, because that is what the contract says, and you are not a big enough for the bank to even begin to consider a waiver. While the judiciary cannot apparently do much about the billions written off, in your case you are looking at jail.

Finally, let us look at how laws are enforced. Have any of you noticed how quickly and efficiently the legal and judicial system works when you break the law, and in fact, even when you might just be at the wrong place at the wrong time? And conversely have you noticed how the entire enforcement agencies seem to freeze up when the shoe is on a rich man’s foot?

All in all, the chips, each and every one of them, are stacked against the common man, and that my dear reader is the true gift of democracy. The illusion is so realistic that even to criticise the system is deemed a punishable offence, but unless we accept the fact that the system is not working the way it should and blindly keep repeating the mantra, democracy will continue having its revenge.

The writer is a chartered accountant based in Islamabad, and can be reached at syed.bakhtiyarkazmi@gmail.com