Stagnant Society

The author compares the social and economic structures of western countries with North Korea and Myanmar to

show the dilapidated state of the latter then he goes on to compare the state of affairs in Pakistan to the Western

countries which is an unjustified comparison as one is the colonizer and former is the country which gained

freedom from the British colonization.

The author discusses the dissent on freedom of expression and thought in Pakistan by certain elements of the

state and talks about civilian supremacy and democracy but does not take into account the fact that the certain

institutions have become so powerful as to pressurize the elected governments into submission due to the civilian

incompetency as they created a vacuumed due to their under par performance which was bound to be filled by a

more disciplined institution or force.

The argument revolving around subsequent dictator led martial laws causing the democracy to go weak is partially

invalid as we have a very good example of Turkey where military attempted a coup on elected government but the

people revolted, not because there military was rogue rather due the fact that the civilian government had

invested in the human capital development and fulfilled the needs of its people rather than playing dynastic

politics.

In Pakistan, as long as businessmen led dynastic political parties keep on playing musical chair for the power

centers, they will never be able to focus on the most important issue which is development of human society

which in turn will make promote the freedom of speech and expression a non-issue as people would take care of it

themselves.

When comparing with developed nations, our entire focus is wrong. Rather than focusing on self-centered

institutional based agenda, the focus should be on development of human capital through education and

promotion of ethical and moral values.