Why the pessimism?

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Okay, I’ve had enough. This forum is full of self-proclaming patriotic Pakistanis who seem convinced that there is a vast conspiracy trying to cripple Pakistan, enemies within and without on the verge of some huge blow to cripple Pakistan.

I say no to all that.

Pakistan is huge, and Pakistan is strong, and Pakistan is, in general, united.

Our leadership is bad? Yes, but many many countries have had worse. We’re doing well. Our leaders are petty and corrupt and incompetent, but they are not oppressive, and they are at least holding off collapse. When Zardari became president with Gilani under him everyone was convinced the country would fall to bits, but it has held. If anything, our government is more stable than than anyone ever thought it would be. It has resisted so many strong efforts to bring it down. Put it this way: Canada’s government formed in 2008 fell, but Pakistan’s government formed that same year is still going.

Our economy is weak? Yes, but there are scores and scores of countries in worse shape. Pakistan has never seen mass starvation. Even after the worse flood of the past 80 years wrecked our agricultural heart, Pakistan has not seen a wave of deaths from malnutrition, has not seen massive food shortages. That shows someone in government has been doing their job right.

Some people are convinced that there is a conspiracy to seize Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. That is an impossibility. Warheads and delivery systems are so dispersed that they cannot be taken or destroyed in a strike. The means of production cannot be destroyed without war; and no one will go to war knowing that it could bring nuclear attack upon them. Nothing but an act of God can disable Pakistan’s nuclear status, and no nation has leadership stupid enough to seriously think about it. (This is also why there has never been an attack on North Korea or Iran’s nuclear assets).

Pakistan has a terrorism problem? Yes, but in a nation of 180 million, it’s a relatively small scale issue, both in terms of the number of people who died relative to the population, as well as the geographic isolation of the source of the attacks. Pakistan doesn’t have a problem like Algeria did, or Yemen does, or Tajikistan did in the 90s. Terrorism in Pakistan is a tiny speck on the nation.

Pakistan is strong enough to have nothing to fear from any nation, any terrorist group, or any organization on this planet. They can do nothing bu scratch at Pakistan while our nation just shrugs them off.

Pakistan Zindabad!

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Re: Why the pessimism?

From 1999 -> 2009
GDP $ 75 billion -> $ 185 billion
GDP Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) $ 270 billion -> $ 545.6 billion
GDP per Capita Income $ 450 -> $1250
Revenue collection Rs. 305 billion -> Rs. 1.05 trillion
Foreign reserves $ 1.96 billion -> $ 14 billion
Exports $ 7.5 billion -> $ 18.45 billion
Textile Exports $ 5.5 billion -> $ 11.2 billion - -
KHI stock exchange (100-Index) $ 5 billion at 700 points -> $ 26.5 billion at 9,000 points
Foreign Direct Investment $ 1 billion -> $ 4.6 billion
External Debt & Liabilities $ 39 billion -> $ 50.1 billion
Development programs Rs. 80 billion -> Rs. 621 billion

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Re: Why the pessimism?

We are far better then scores of other countries. Look at the bright side, regardless of all the problems, all of us also know the solutions. It's just we have to work together for our country, and the time is here to remind ourselves, what we gave to Pakistan.

Through these hard times..
as always..
One flag to unite us all..
One land to bring us all..
One name to die for..
Love Live Pakistan

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Re: Why the pessimism?

The reason of pessimism is the way our people in charge are humiliating the nation.

Look at how they bend their heads and sit in front of every kutta coming from USA. They are tied into slavery so much that they can't even tell the truth to their own people.
They have gotten so used to it that they hardly feel anything wrong with it while people see it all and they feel it and that makes them lose faith in their country.

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Re: Why the pessimism?

I hate to be an optimist, but I feel like I have to revive this thread.

Yeah its a shame that a bunch of rats damaged our base and took hostages in it, but lets be honest. The hardest threats to defend from are threats where threats from within, and threats where the only purpose is to cause death and damage.

Lets remember that America had Fort Hood shootings not too long ago, where one guy killed 12 and wounded 30 at a military base. The scale of this was much bigger and more premeditated, its not surprising that they had more success, in terms of damaging assets.

As for internal intrigue, let the dust settle. the military is a lot of things but it is self-propagating as a group (anyone whos lived in Pakistan knows that). This could finally trigger an immune system reaction against the religious whackjobs in their midst.. we should hope.

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Re: Why the pessimism?

The guys we were proud of, have let us down just as any other institution in the country.

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Re: Why the pessimism?

Fort Hood shootings were by a person from the base who was an employee, not by 6 men managing to penetrate security cordons.

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Re: Why the pessimism?

:jhanda:Indeed!! we will come out of this … we should be thankful .. we dont have problems like other countries in Africa and UAE!! we have got the 6th largest army in the the world and they are always ready to put their lives on the line!! I’m proud of my PAK FAUJ JAWAN!! and plz guys refrain from bashing our army!! they give their today for our tomorrow … lets not be so ungrateful to their sacrifices!

Alhumdulilah … our GDP is still increasin despite 2 recent disaters and all the mess we are in!!

Thanks for this thread! :slight_smile:

Pakistan Zindabad!:jhanda:

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Re: Why the pessimism?

EXCUSE ME?? 10 PAK FAUJ JAWAN ARE MATRYED?? AND 15 ARE INJURED?? WHT ELSE YOU WANT THEM TO DO TO PROTECT US?? they did their best!! hence, stop blaming our army!

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Re: Why the pessimism?

exactly! people that are complaining that they have betrayed them, go and fight the war yourself and don't betray your country. It's not easy giving your life away to your country unless you love something enough that your own life doesn't matter. It's time to take your action rather than sit at the forums and complain about the men that died with honor.

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Re: Why the pessimism?

I can also type in capital letters but it won't make my case any stronger. I won't make any complain if they confess that they don't have capacity to counter Taliban, hence these attacks will continue to happen, rather than making the tallest possible claims in the world and getting the fire like they did last night.

I am complaining against the lies that I am fed day in and day out. That our defence is impregnable; that our defence is in safe hands; that we are fully capable of defending ourselves. You could not do anything in Abbotabad citing technological mismatch. Accepted. And what latest technology Taliban have got?

I am unqualified, unfit and incompetent to fight the war, but at least I am telling you the truth and not giving you false hopes that I am perfectly capable of fixing those guys.

I salute all those who have been dying, but does that make rest of their colleagues safer? I don't think so.

Our Naval Chief says it wasn't a security lapse. Tell me under oath it wasn't a security lapse and I will instantly join your camp.

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Re: Why the pessimism?

This is something the government needs to be held liable for.. they continue to lie to their own people. Why are the people accepting this government that has provided them with nothing but disrespect in the world? military cannot funcution unless you provide them with enough supplies that they can protect and fight. They do however know with their limited resources how to protect their nation and that's what they did but giving their own lives away. If you demand change than step up and hold your government responsible.

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Re: Why the pessimism?

I had referred to a statement of the Naval Chief and not the civilian government. My question remains unanswered.

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Re: Why the pessimism?

Yeah.. this is worse, but then Pakistan isnt USA by any stretch of the imagination. Agree there is a bit of complacency about the army in terms of its defences.

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Re: Why the pessimism?

Why Pessimism? i would ask what is there to be optimistic!!!

Yes i agree that nations have been through worse but those nations fought their way with total dedication, determination and sincerity, today situation is that none of the defense forces installations are safe, terrorist local or foreign are having an evening walk in these installations, killing at least a dozen ( if not more) and then managing escape... the army officer of Pakistan cannot move freely in Pakistan, the common man is just waiting to be shot-down or blown away, cantonment, defense housing societies are considered extremely risky, moving in and out of cantonment is difficult then passing through the gates of White House... even in this environment we can try to survive but when we look at our leadership, that is civil and armed forces, we don't see any movement any action and reaction and determination to get us out of this mess.... all they do is fill in the blank by issuing a condemnation note... and rest of the chiefs start making joke of themselves... let me know how can we be optimistic in this... our armed forces have utterly failed us and have not given a hint of striking back... it seems like they have lost the will and courage to fight or may be they have got enough dollars in their foreign accounts to not to bother about these things and let the enemy destroy the country...

There need a motivation, a encouraging move ( not words) something which shows that our huge army is just not sitting ducks, it is not just a corporation who only does best real-estate deals... there is lots of things to done, let try to live in real world, let us try to put as much pressure on civil and armed forces to react to US and other forces determined to kill us.. can they do it ??? that is the question of the hour...

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Re: Why the pessimism?

Even though I agree with the spirit of the thread, I have to say that being merely better than the worst countries is not enough. For comparison's sake, compare Pakistan with Bangladesh. East Pakistan was in terrible shape compared to West Pakistan but these days, Bangladesh is set to overtake Pakistan in terms of living standards in the near future.

In addition, the general pessimism stems from the bleaker future outlook, not the already bleak present condition. Pakistan is set to surpass Indonesia as the world's largest Muslim country, along with other countries such as Brazil. Needless to say, rapid population growth in a poor country is highly undesirable. In terms of social indicators, Pakistan seems to have stalled, if not regressed. Land reform seems unlikely with such a strong feudal political influence. True emancipation of women is a pipe dream, which has a tremendously negative impact on the general well being of the country. Pakistan was blessed with lower poverty and less income disparity compared to India but Pakistan is on the wrong track where as India is making rapid progress. In addition, fractilization amongst ethnic and sectarian lines seem to be growing at a faster rate than the growth rate of income, which usually helps to alleviate such issues.

With all of this said, I do have to say that it is important that we do not forget all the positive progress that you have mentioned. Quite clearly multiple individuals somewhere are doing the right things where as bombastic neanderthals are on the television sets hogging all the attention. The country needs to be reminded of positive progress but it needs to be used as a source of hope and encouragement, not complacency and a false sense of achievement.