Elitist Culture in Pakistan

When pursuing the path to collage in the morning, one can see certain individual that are
relaxing in their BMW or Mercedes, commonly known as the cultural elite.
At the time of partition the country was in turmoil with barely any resources to ensure the
survival of both the country and its inhabitants and so the country depended on agricultural
produce for prosperity thus the political structure consisted of mostly those individuals who
held large portions of land, they in the later stages became known as the feudal lords or the
political elite of Pakistan a concept which can still be seen widely in Pakistan. Pre-Partition
there was another elite group in united India and that was of businessman and industrialists,
they were mostly Muslims who migrated to Pakistan after which they also quickly rose to
control majority of Pakistan’s trade and commerce. As a study conducted in 2011 suggests
that nearly 60% of the Pakistani economy is controlled by a mere 21 business families.
UTILITARINISM
The basic criteria implied for judging the actions by using Utilitarianism is the good and bad
effect that it creates, Utilitarianist in the case of a robbery would argue that if those who are
benefiting from the robbery are in greater number then it is morally right to perform the
robbery implying that if the loss is born by just the billionaire who owns the bank and a lot of
people get the benefit from the heist because of their poor social status, it is deemed morally
true.
AFFECT TO THE SOCIETY
The Elite in any society are categorized into three broad categories 1. The highest political
structure 2. The business tycoons and industrialist 3. High ranking military officials.
For most part in the world the elite perform their activities without any hindrance to general
public, however this is not the case with Pakistan as here most of the elite be it any category
have a strong and manipulating effect on the society which is both short and long term in its
effects. The social effect in the long run created by the rural elite or commonly referred to as
(Vadera) can be justified by the fact that most workers tend to not even have the right to
questions their judgement (Vadera), simply because of the fear for humiliation or being dis-
owned.
The elite also have the tendency to challenge the legal structure of Pakistan, they have the
resources and influence to bypass the legalities and roam in the country without any fear of
being caught. This act creates a sense of fear in the sort run as it implies that the state has
failed in front of a single man just because of his influence or material wealth.

The Utilitarianism loss to the society can be judged by the following standards which are as
follow,
1. CONSEQUENTIALISM
Consequentialism as a concept states that any action can only be judged by the result, as if the
actions generate positive results it is morally correct, implying that the methodologies should
not be judged as only the result should be catered to. For example during the recent pandemic
situation, there has been a severe shortage which has been artificially created by manipulating
the demand and supply forces, this was done to attain higher profits and as the sugar trade is
only controlled by the elite it would only benefit them, according to consequentialism this is
not ethically or morally correct because the result hindered the suitable livelihood of a lot
many individuals, this cannot be set as a standard because in a fair market the forces are let to
float.
2.Net Utility
Net Utility implies that those actions that attain the highest net utility should be opted for,
meaning that those actions that result in the most morally good choice should be chosen.
The elite in Pakistan doesnot take into consideration this clause of Net Utility, this doesnot
only apply to the political or the business elite but also to surgeons as they are performing a
duty that prohibits them from any wrong activity, however there have been cases where
doctors in Pakistan have surgically removed vital organs such as the kidneys or lungs without
the consent of the patient, for the sole purpose of selling them to the highest bidder.
Furthermore there have also been instances where rivalries amongst the families have led to
kidnappings and even murders, such heinous activities have completely shattered the concept
of Net Utility as now the common resident fears for his/her life as if there is a quarrel with
the elite he might lose his life.
3. Total Social Effect
This criteria is established after the fact that even though the actions may seen just but the
result that it creates might not be beneficial at all, meaning that even when the actions seem
just they might be as cruel as they can be, an example of this is Maria B a famous clothing
brand in Pakistan, the owner send one of the employee back to the village after affirming that
he had contacted the deadly virus, although this act may seem noble however she sent him
through the public transport causing the entire buss to be affected by the virus, this had a
negative social effect as Maria B is included the elitist society of Pakistan.
There are sometimes certain cases when the total social impact is positive, as the famous
businessman Jahangir Tareen has utilized modern agricultural techniques to not only improve
the per hectare production but also the per captia income that is derived from the agricultural
land.
4.DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECT
Utilitarianism has the direct effect on a large number of people and this is widely practiced by
the Elite, according to the direct effect the decision that directly effects the utility relating to a
large proportion of the society can be the direct effect for example because of the influence of
the elite in shaping the economic policies of the country, there are a lot of situations that are
not in the favour of the society so this causes extreme turmoil for the population i.e. due to
the negligence of the government and the political as well as the business elite there has been
a severe locust attack which has caused severe shortage of wheat in Pakistan forcing the
import of wheat even when Pakistan is a major exporter.

The indirect effect however focuses on the actions, complete this Fauji mujhay
nahi samajh aa raha.
5. PRESENT AND FUTURE EFFECT
The concept of utilitarianism considers the present effect in the short run, implying that the
actions and decision that lead to changes in the livelihood of the society are to be taken into
consideration, this can be seen by the fact that a mere 21 families in Pakistan control over 60
percent of the industry, this cannot be socially acceptable as the concept states the benefit
should be divided amongst the majority of the population to be deemed morally correct.
Not all decision that are made can be ascertained as wrong, for example certain decisions
made by the influencers are essentially for the long term benefit for the public, meaning that a
rally against the killing of a police warden by an MPA would seem as a revolt, but if the laws
are passed because of the pressure, this would prevent any such heinous act in the future and
serve as a lesson that no one is above the law.