A Word to the Wise: Industrialize

Although industrialization is certainly a part of the solution, economic development alone does not guarantee social prosperity.

Perhaps, a more appropriate solution is to de-centralize, and rid ourselves of the increasingly intrusive body politic called the federal government. In order to flourish, we need local solutions to local problems, - what might work for Karachi, need not be the solution for Sargodha.

Part of the problem in Pakistan, is also the
psuedo-intelligensia trying to force down their ideas down everybody else`s throats,( myself included :-)) - economic solutions wrapped in the occidental kladiescope. Until yesterday Bangladesh was the Kissinger`s anecdotal economic basketcase. Today, thanks to institutions like Grameen bank, it seems it is not a lost cause after all. The ``gurus`` of the IMF would have suggested a multi-million dollar scheme to revitalize the emergency care infrastructure in Karachi, Edhi by sheer strength of character certainly proved them wrong. For over 40 years, Karachi had but two Engineering colleges ( originally private) , and we were depending on the Federal government dole to educate our youth. In the past couple of years several private engineering coleges have sprung up, thanks to the ingenuity and activisim of a few individuals.


The era of centrally planned economies is over, unleash the market economy and let the private sector and the local governments do the rest, after all, people educated or illiterate do have one thing in common - ``rational self interest``, much like the corrupt oligarchical institutions of Pakistan today.

Needless to reiterate, capital investment ( whether in the industrial , agricultural or social sectors) - whether indiginous or foreign is contingent upon economic and political stability. Unleash the forces of a market economy and regulate it to assure competitive environment, - and you have the seeds for a bountiful harvest, if only we could till the soil together.

Parochial thinking, rampant illiteracy, ethnocentric cultural divisions, lack of institutions, - all have a collectively cultivated our present economic perspective. It can be summed up in the following anecdote,

``The pie is fixed, let me grab the biggest piece, rather than baking a larger pie together``