Two lovers of a poor country

It sounds mighty irrational that the rulers of poor countries should be far more expensive than the rulers of the richest countries. Ethically, the prices of the rulers of a poor country should be determined by the financial conditions prevailing in the country. But the rulers of poor countries have declared themselves immune from all sorts of ethical obligations. The ancient kings firmly believed that they had a divine right to kill anyone for preserving their kingship. Inspired by the ancient kings, the elected rulers of poor countries more firmly believe that they also have a divine right to monopolise the countrys available resources for preserving their rulership. Majestic palaces, luxury aeroplanes, astonishingly expensive vehicles, voluptuous cuisines, etc, constitute the lifestyle of the elected rulers of a poor country. Starvation, diseases, rags, slums, etc, constitute the lifestyle of the masses. The rulers of a poor country are proud of the misery enduring capabilities of the masses. The rulers regard it as their patriotic obligation to ensure that the misery of the masses goes on enhancing and enhancing non-stop. Ever since its birth, Pakistan has had a wide variety of governments. We have had military generals as rulers. We have had landed-barons as rulers. We have had industrial barons as rulers. We have had bureaucrats as rulers. All these governments had one excellence in common. Under all these governments, the common mans misery went on thriving and thriving uninterruptedly. We have had more than enough of various brands of government. We desperately need a revolutionary change. Now let the common Pakistani be his own Governor. Let there be no parliaments, no presidents, no prime ministers, no ministers, etc. Of course, the professional politicians would denounce this project as mid-summer night madness. But it is an open secret that the political madness of the professional politicians has been the root cause of our national tribulations. A government-less Pakistan is the yelling need of the hour. The old order must be crucified. The new order should proclaim: Let every common Pakistani be his own ruler. A poor country has two kinds of lovers: The rulers and the masses, but there is a fundamental difference between the love-modality of the rulers and the love-modality of the masses. The rulers extort an exorbitant price from their beloved for their love. On the contrary, the masses sacrifice themselves gratis for the love of their beloved. A government-less Pakistan would be absolutely free from the tyrannical love of the extortionist rulers. It takes all sorts to make the world. But it takes only two sorts to make a poor country: The selfless masses and the self-drunk rulers. The richness or the poverty of a country does not depend on the richness or the poverty of its resources. It depends entirely on the system of distribution of the available resources. If the resources are meagre but they are justly distributed, then every one must be happy with a modest living. But if the resources are plentiful but they are monopolised by the rulers, then the masses must be miserable. Thus, a poor country is a country where ethics is subjugated to politics and a country is a rich country where politics is subjugated to ethics. The usurpers of the national resources of a poor country well know that their wealth-passion is terribly damaging to the masses. One wonders, why the usurpers dont control their madness for wealth. The reason is very simple. The politician in power knows that any moment of his power could turn out to be the last moment of his power. He feels extremely nervous. But he is determined to have as luxurious a lifestyle when he is no longer in power as he enjoyed when he was in power. It is this ambition, which forces him to amass as much wealth as possible. The money-grabbing madness of the rulers can be killed only by killing the governmental system. When there is no governmental system, there will be no politicians. And when there are no politicians, there will be no rulers. And when there are no rulers, there will be no national exploitation. Ethically, no ruler should be allowed to eat butter unless every citizen has got bread. But unfortunately, the affairs of a poor country are run by the professional politicians and not by morality. The common citizen of a poor country must know that the countrys resources are hardly sufficient for the princely needs of the rulers. Since the rulers can spare nothing for the common man, the common man has only two options. He can solve his problems either by embracing self-extinction or by fleeing the country for a refuge in his ancestral home - the jungle. The writer retired as professor of the Department of English, Government College University, Lahore.