Despair or Hope
By Dan Tow • Sep 23rd, 2007 • Category: Politics • 15 Commentsby Dan Tow
…the only thing we have to fear is fear itself
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
I read and appreciated the many thoughtful comments to my recent article below, and I hope TPS does not object to a general response on the main page. In some comments, I sensed an undercurrent of despair, with remarks along the lines of (I’m paraphrasing, not quoting), “sure, that’s well and good for the US, but in Pakistan the military has government in a stranglehold,” or on the other hand, “sure, democracy is great for the US, but not enough Pakistanis have enough education to support a successful democracy, so we need government by the military elite, who are at least competent.” (Please see my remarks in my earlier article, Democracy versus Government by an Elite for remarks relevant to that last question, though.)No government has arrived at the height of perfection. All governments are instead on a journey without end, a journey that sometimes trends upward, sometimes downward. When climbing steep and dangerous paths, a popular saying is, “Don’t look down!” This does not mean that we should climb these paths carelessly, as if there were no danger of falling! Awareness of the dangers, alertness, and appropriate precautions are all important climbing skills. To climb, though, we must be steady, and we must face mainly up the mountain, and we must believe that the climb is achievable.
The US government (and people) have a long way to climb to overcome serious remaining problems, and we’ve recently slipped some ways down the mountainside, with terrible mistakes, internationally, and losses to our own freedom. We have, however, put slavery behind, ended genocidal policies against the Native Americans, granted the vote to all races, and to women, ended openly racist laws, and provided for universal free public education through the twelfth grade. This part of our journey took over 200 years and we have a long, long ways still to go. (I could give a much longer list of remaining challenges!) Is democracy impractical without high rates of education? The US may have pretty fair education, today (still behind depressingly many countries, though!), but how do you suppose education in Pakistan, today, compares with earlier rates of education in the US? My father’s father was fairly typical of his day, with about an eighth-grade education. In the 1860s, US voters were wise enough to elect Abraham Lincoln twice, in spite of enjoying frequently little more formal education than Lincoln himself had, about 18 months. (Of course, Lincoln himself was superbly well self-educated, but this was not typical!) Did this prevent the deeply flawed and challenged US democracy from progressing up the mountain, under Lincoln? On the contrary, no US president has accomplished more upward progress, before or since!
Americans are sometimes seen as crazy, naïve optimists, and perhaps I appear typical in this regard. I see vigorous free exchange of thoughtful opinion and fact in Pakistan, probably the most vital single tool for upward progress, whatever the other challenges you face. I also see the high values placed on education and hard work in Pakistan, also vitally useful tools. There is some danger in attempts to complete the journey in a single dramatic step – some easily-summarized, simple-sounding solution that promises perfection all at once – these never work, and usually lead to slides downward. When I was a teenager reading George Orwell’s 1984, reform of undemocratic governments looked almost impossible, something only achieved with horribly bloody rebellion at best. Since then, I’ve seen astonishing upward progress in bloodless or nearly bloodless movements overcoming undemocratic or imperfectly democratic governments in Spain, the Philippines, much of the old Soviet Union, South Africa, much of South America, and most of Eastern Europe. I expect to see Pakistan on this list, soon. All these movements have long, long climbs ahead, as we do, still, in the US, but with hope in our hearts, and perseverance in the face of the slides downward we’ll sometimes have to overcome, our journeys will trend steadily, in the long run, to higher peaks than we can imagine today! Hope is stronger than despair!
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I loved your last line
Hope is stronger than despair
Yes Dan is doing a great service to both nations. I havent read anything like this before on web.
Keep the ball rolling dudes. This ball will flatten the hawks on both sides.
Yes, this is a rising Pakistan. It’s good to see that atleast one US brother now knows that Pakistanis are not barbarians and they are not out there killing each other and anybody in sight.
We abhor terrorism and ignorance as much as others do.
I idealize Lincoln too, infact every true American does,
Pakistanis should avoid the following to excel in the world:
1. Wealth without work
2. Pleasure without conscience
3. Knowledge without character
4. Commerce without morality
5. Science without humanity
6. Worship without sacrifice
7. Politics without principle
Dan, I dont think Americans are simple or naive. It’s just that they are being misled by CNN, Fox News and other mainstream old and new media.
Dan, tell me one thing, and I am asking you this with full respect as I have found your writings here pretty much honest and matter-of-the-fact.
It’s a prevailing and established notion here that Jews controls the America. Jews have all the wealth and they have the ultimate clout and they are the ones which influence the US policies.
What is exactly the role of Jews in US?
Is that true? Please an honest opinion.
Whenever Pakistan tries to break the shackles, US with the help of some its puppet ruler cut the wings of Pakistan.
I dont think Pakistan needs a bloodless revolution, it needs a thorough surgery.
R u implying that we should shed the fear of US?
Like American Dream, we need a Pakistani Dream. Like Lincoln, we need a dynamic and honest leader in Pakistan.
I have found Pakistanis and Americans so similar in hardwork, knowledge and liveliness, the only difference is in the leadership and the sense of direction.
Dan, I thank you from Pakistanis for these awesome words.
Ayaz Hussain,
Regarding your question about the notion that Jews control America: I am saddened to hear that this may be a common belief in Pakistan. I will answer frankly and very honestly. I have all my life known a larger than average number of Jewish men and women. They are (and have been) my good friends, colleagues, and classmates, and I hold them in high regard. They have represented a wide variety of political points of view, agreeing with each other no more than any other large group, so if they “controlled America,” I’d have to ask “Which ones!?” One of the few generalizations about “Jewish politics” in the US that actually holds true is that they tend to vote for the Democratic Party much more than average Americans – has the Democratic Party done well, in the last 40 years? (No, Democrats have served in 3 out of the 10 presidential terms since 1969, usually while battling with Republican-controlled Congresses!)
I remarked at some length about conspiracy theories in general (how they are usually wrong, and why) in my comments to the blog posted on September 11 regarding a supposed conspiracy behind 9/11. (I disagreed vehemently with that blog!) The key remarks that apply to supposed Jewish control of America are that we’re terrible at keeping secrets in America (actually this probably applies to secrets kept by large groups anywhere in the world – they always get out!), and that any conspiracy theory must explain more mysteries than it creates. The notion of a successful Jewish conspiracy to control America utterly fails both these tests – the secret would never be kept, and it makes no sense at all – no group of Jewish people (even assuming they agreed with each other!) in America holds any set of “levers” that would give them even the remotest possibility of controlling (openly or secretly) our huge, diverse government or nation, with all its competing interests!
If I were to make an argument for a group “controlling America,” presently, it would be farmers, not Jewish people! Our under-populated “farm states” each get the same two senators that the heavily populated industrial states get in the Senate, so the Senate favors farmers out of proportion with their numbers. These same farm states also control a somewhat disproportionate share of the power to elect our president, for obscure constitutional reasons I won’t go into, here. Farmers vote overwhelmingly Republican, so they have done very well in the last 40 years! This does not of course imply an evil, vast, secret “farmer conspiracy!” They’re just voting for what they see as their own best interests and beliefs, like most of us, and given a fairly close match between the two parties, those votes matter, considerably.
Now that’s interesting. I am amused. As Americans get surprised when they actually listen and meet to Pakistanis, and come to realize that , ‘Oh, these Pakistanis dudes are just normal, they arent really that bloody and terrorist’
Just like that, I am surprised to hear that Jews are not the mastermind of everything happening in US, after all. I would love more commentory on this from the TPS readers, if they please.
Mr. Farid Masood Where are you? Sir, please write something for us, we are thirsty.
Rahim Shah Sahib,
I just cannot say thanks for your love. I am busy a bit but shall write espacially for your sir soon.
I don’t miss visiting TPS daily, and believe me if the following persons and many others (if i can name all) are missing from TPS i feel fever in my body:
1. Rahim Shah,
2. Ramta Jogi,
3. Qaiser Kamran,
4. Jessica Martin
5. Saba Ali
6. Salim Badayuni
7.
8.
9.
many more
Love you sir
[...] against it! If you despair of victory, the battle is half-lost! See my almost two-year-old post Despair or Hope (which is mercifully short!) for some earlier thoughts that I had on the value of hope and optimism [...]