No Rapture Time for me!

This post tries to explain why I, a left leaning secular liberal humanist (liberal fascist to some), do not believe that Imran Khan (PTI) is the answer to our plaintive prayers. It is not an endorsement of the current political set up either, so please spare me that allegation.

Most of us, at least the people with half a brain, have some inkling as to what ails our country. If not, we are at least aware of the symptoms of the malady. Economically doomed, debt ridden, obsessed with nationalism and victim mentality, uneducated, with uncontrolled population growth with diminishing resources, etc. are from a long list of symptoms and problems that come to mind.

So one takes the symptoms and tries to find out the root cause. The most commonly arrived at answer is corruption, since that appears to be rampant among the people who are ruling us and have ruled us since Pakistan came into being. Its not a hard sell, since everyone perceives it and knows it is wrong.

I beg to differ. Corruption is a symptom, and not the cause. And I will try to explain why in this post.

So when someone like Imran Khan starts building a political movement based on "corruption" there is a basic issue of not even understanding the core problem. He is riding the wave of populist sentiments of being against the corrupt politicians of this country.

The intellectually bankrupt urban middle class, which has no inkling of critical thought, is more than ready to jump on the bandwagon of Imran Khan. Why? Because they can't see beyond IK's perceived integrity and charisma (which he has plenty of) that comes from being a celebrity who delivered beyond what was hoped for by being one of the brightest stars of cricket and subsequently his philanthropic mission of building a cancer hospital. So he hasn't disappointed them as yet, as far as they can tell.

So what is the problem here?

The problem is the establishment and the system that cultivates the establishment. The establishment stands for the status quo. The politicians come and go, they are a disposable lot, sure they are corrupt and get away with their corruption, but that's all part of the cost of doing business for the establishment.

For real change, someone has to stand up against the establishment and the system. And doing that is the challenge. IK is not anti-establishment, he is anti-politicians. Which will get him the following that he needs, like Musharraf was popular because he promised that he would rid us of the Bhuttos and the Sharifs. Look where he ended up. The establishment and the system got them all back into business.

And that is why I have not signed up for the revolution. I shall wait for Zarquon's second coming.