'The purpose of the State is always the same: to limit the individual,to tame him, to subordinate him, to subjugate him.'
Max Stirner The Ego and His Own (1845)
The state is an organization onto which we place our full trust onto. We trust it with everything, our homes, our schools and our offices. However the quote be Max Stirner above paints a more grim picture than what most of us think the state does.
In reality, the trust we place in the state in all aspects of our life, gives them the opportunity to control our every action. However to remove this power we give the state, puts our own life in a predicament. Therefore we always find ourselves in a Catch 22, but the question lies, is there no way out or will we endlessly live in such a cycle.
However in a country like Pakistan, we need the state to be less of a dominant entity and hence focus more on growth and development. The need of the hour is that the Pakistani state needs to embrace a more "developmental state" stance. This translates to investments in education, healthcare,etc. On the other hand, the ground reality here in Pakistan is that the state places the military in higher regard than anything else. It's going to take a very long time before the state here shifts its focus towards the common man rather than the "man in uniform". Till then, Max Stirner's theory will apply to Pakistan/
Max Stirner The Ego and His Own (1845)
The state is an organization onto which we place our full trust onto. We trust it with everything, our homes, our schools and our offices. However the quote be Max Stirner above paints a more grim picture than what most of us think the state does.
In reality, the trust we place in the state in all aspects of our life, gives them the opportunity to control our every action. However to remove this power we give the state, puts our own life in a predicament. Therefore we always find ourselves in a Catch 22, but the question lies, is there no way out or will we endlessly live in such a cycle.
However in a country like Pakistan, we need the state to be less of a dominant entity and hence focus more on growth and development. The need of the hour is that the Pakistani state needs to embrace a more "developmental state" stance. This translates to investments in education, healthcare,etc. On the other hand, the ground reality here in Pakistan is that the state places the military in higher regard than anything else. It's going to take a very long time before the state here shifts its focus towards the common man rather than the "man in uniform". Till then, Max Stirner's theory will apply to Pakistan/
3 comments:
In my opinion the main problem with the state in Pakistan is not that it needs to embrace a more developmental stance, as that has already been put into practice by some of the governments in power in Pakistan in the past. The main problem is that in Pakistan instead of the state itself being a leviathan as believed by Thomas Hobbes, we have the emergence of personalities who have themselves become leviathans. Therefore, even though state power can be controlled and restricted to its use for good, such tremendous power in the hands of man can seldom be controlled and leads to many of the issues that we face in Pakistan today.
Two points.
First, I'm not sure if the developmental state model is the best fit for Pakistan. Of course, the state should increase funding on education, healthcare, etc., but where will the funds for these come? Sure you could cut back on spending for the military, but you'd still need to increase taxes. How are you going to create an effective taxation method that will actually benefit the state and not lead to more corruption?
My second point is a follow up to Adam's comment. I agree that personality driven politics has corrupted the ability of the state to wield power in a beneficial way, as these personalities dominate governments that then utilize the state for their own interests. Although some benefits trickle down into the public sphere, most benefits go to the big personalities at the top of the political system. How can this issue be resolved in Pakistan?
Even though I agree with you that Pakistan needs to embrace a more developmental stance, this is certainly not the need of the hour. In a country that is playing a lead role in the war against terrorism, I don't believe cutting back on military spending is the answer to our problems.
You have mentioned how the state needs to shift its focus from the 'man in uniform' to the average citizen. I don't think your facts are updated, as of 2015, a mere 16.27% of the national budget is allocated to the Army, Navy and the Air Force combined, this value of defense spending is one of the lowest in the region, despite the fact that Pakistan has one of the largest armies and is currently carrying out massive military operations against terrorist organisations.
This same budget also allocates 27.3% to the Public Sector Development Programme, which is far more than the budget allocated to the 'men in uniform'. So I do not believe the state needs to shift its focus from the man in uniform, what it needs to do is maintain a check and balance to ensure the budget is actually being used for the purpose that it is allocated. As I think the problem in Pakistan is not the absence of funds, it is the misuse of them.
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