Daily Times

Am I the only Pakistani who feels that our thoughts, words, and actions are betraying us at the moment? Our jokes are flat, our stories are boring, and all achievements seem to be meaningless. We are behaving like a person whose house is only open on one side; he sees the sun go down but not when it rises. We argue with those who have the opposite view of the sun; not realising that the defect does not lie with the eyesight but with the padlocked windows and closed minds.

One of the greatest joys of politics is that unlike religion it allows us to have heated conversations, encourages debate, and embraces different opinions. These differences in opinion are healthy because, without getting hurt, they allow us to be inquisitive, which develops lateral thinking and leads to a lifelong learning. This is basically about taking cognitive positions, which are neither safe, nor political, nor popular; but those that our conscience tells us to be right. They are not blinded by the so called patriotism either; because a wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or states it.

We moved away from the politics of ideology some time ago. This has given birth to a society where everybody is dominated by somebody. Our private economies depend less on private ownership and more on property that is institutionalized. As private economies become abstract, our community lives are replaced by a displaced citizenship and our business with self-interested contractors. In such a society, we are not slaves who get carried to a market and sold; but we are free only within narrow parameters. The alignment of political power with wealth is that enemy of freedom which destroys the natural wealth of the economies of households and communities. This also leads to annihilation of democracy as it becomes difficult to learn the truth about the activities of the government and corporations, the quality of products, or for that matter, about the health of one’s own and national economies.

With the regional and international politics taking worrisome turns, unethical agitation as well as cornering the opposition should become matters of extreme national concern

It is said that politics and prostitution are the only jobs where inexperience is considered a virtue. It may feel relevant at the moment, but we have since moved away from that position to something called a “group mind” or “herd mentality”. This concept was first conceived by French social psychologists in the 19th century and explained how cultural, social, and economic factors converge to create trends in rational and irrational human behaviour. It describes how people can be influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviours on emotional rather than rational basis. It explains the way individuals change their ideas and actions to meet the demands of a social group or perceived authority. When individuals are affected by such mentality, they make different decisions than they would individually.

No prize for guessing that we have three major and one or two minor political herds in the country. There is a constant verbal and written media confrontation between them; played out as one against the rest on daily basis. The government has labelled most of the opposition as corrupt and is out to get them. The opposition, on the other hand, is desperately highlighting how incompetent the government is. There is a stand-off because the establishment is on one-page with the government who is surviving from one natural or self-made crisis to another. Meanwhile, the society is equally divided along these herd-lines where people have abandoned their beliefs, principles, and values in search of something they might not even believe in but the rest of the herd does.

Living in a command-based system, we have been programmed since childhood to become followers. We are conditioned to support the herd, and the popular opinion; and to discard what is different or stands alone. We are so programmed that all it takes for any authority to condition our minds is to simply repeat a statement or a chorus. The whole point of party propaganda is also to create slogans and everybody embraces it whether it has any meaning on not. We see only what we want to see, or the authority tell us to see. We accept illusions because we are presented with the illusion that they are being embraced by the majority. In truth, these illusions are popular because they are sold by the media with such intensity that its sheer force disguises lies and truths. The mob, in the spirit of our age, usually obsessed with being on the right side of history, often ends up on the wrong side of history.

My apprehension is that in the wake of current political tribalism, we are crossing all boundaries. When elections are over, and no matter how imperfect they were; most of the public stands behind the new government. The defeated political parties and media also support the national consensus on pertinent issues. We seem to be the only country where political parties in the opposition fight the government tooth and nail on sensitive national issues and only come around after arm twisting by the establishment. Hand in glove with the sympathetic media outlets, they do not mind misleading the public about sensitive issues. If this is righteous agitation, they could rebel from within the system; but one can only wonder about their motivation. With the regional and international politics taking worrisome turns, unethical agitation as well as cornering the opposition should become matters of extreme national concern. Sanity may only prevail if the government and the opposition behave in a manner where legal cases against politicians are kept separate from the national discourse.

The writer is a Consultant Psychiatrist & Visiting Professor based in London