By  Mowahid Hussain Shah

August 14, 2009

Style without Substance

  

The obsession with keeping up appearances is behind many social problems. The façade often becomes more important than fact. There is over-concern that people will “talk” and less concern to “do” what is morally right.

This cultural trend also has invaded the political sphere. Just as a financially hard-pressed family feels socially compelled to spend beyond its means on symbolic occasions like weddings, so, too, do the dominant elites go over-board in propping up hollow men and foisting them on the nation, just to maintain the mask of democracy. It didn’t work then and it hasn’t worked now.

The prosperity of the few has cost the dignity of the many. While considerable lip service is given to the importance of learning, it is instructive to examine the low status society gives to teachers who impart learning. It is a cultural duality where there is “shock and awe” of big money. It sheds light on the brazen worship of raw wealth and power at the expense of common human decency.

Crimes and misdemeanors are not always viewed leniently. It has to do with the identity of the accused. A servant caught in petty pilferage could get more than his share of shoe-beating or worse. Many have been tortured or beaten to death in police custody because of allegation or mere suspicion of theft. In striking contrast, plunderers who rob the national treasury in broad daylight have gotten away with their loot and have even been rewarded by being handed the keys to the kingdom.

The fundamental structural flaw – the oligarchic monopoly over power and politics – remains unchallenged. Behind the moral decline is the culture of over-scheming that over-compromises state and society and feeds greed and bigotry. The unavoidable moment may be coming to show the mirror to the king and, perhaps, so too, to the king-makers.

Too often, the middle classes – supposedly at the vanguard of critical thinking – are misled by the mirage of democracy. Can a set-up based on shallow foundations give hope to a nation hungry for direction?

The gravity of the national challenge is matched only by the inability to grasp it.

When the need is to move forward, many remain stuck in the tradition of keeping up a false front. It is one explanation why hypocrisy is so prominent and prevalent.

While the average person struggles to survive, a dark elite continues to thrive. The path from obscurity to celebrity is occasionally paved with the gold of ill-gotten gains.

The fixation with the façade of outward show reflects a deep cultural weakness.

Albert Einstein’s message is as relevant today as it was years ago when he said: “If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies... It would be a sad situation if the wrapper were better than the meat wrapped inside it.”


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Clash or Coexistence?

The Radical Behind Reconstruction

POWs & Victors’ Justice

Islam on Campus

Community of Civilizations

Rule of Law or Rule of Men?

Unpredictable Times

The Quiet One

Turkish Model & Principled Resignations

Live and Let Live

Leadership & de Gaulle

Dark Side of Power

2002: The Year of Escalation

Whither US?

Politics, God, Cricket & Sex

The Company of Friends

Missing in Action : The Kofi Case

Accountability & Anger

Casualties of War

A Simple Living

The Nexus & Muslim Nationhood

The Kith and Kin Culture

It Is Spreading

Road to Nowhere

Misrepresenting Muslims

The value of curiosity

Revenge & Riches

The Media on Iraq

The Perils of Sycophancy

Legends of Punjab

Mind & Muscle

Islam & the West: Conflict or Co-Existence?

The Challenge of Disinformation

Britain on the Backfoot

Paisa, Power and Privilege

The Path to Peace

On Intervention

Countering Pressures on Pakistan

A World at War?

Raising the Game

The Argument of Force

Affluence withtout Influence

The Shawdow of Vietnam

Heroes of '54

The Imperative of Human Decency

Hollywood and Hate

Living in Lahore

Fatal Decisions

Singer or the Song

Arrogance

The Power of Moral Legitimacy

The Trouble with Kerry

Green Curtain

A Nation Divided

Election 2004: Decisive but Divisive

Muslim Youth & Kashmir in America

The Big Picture: Wealth without Vision

Oxygen to Global Unrest

Punishing the Punctual

Change without Change

Don’t Be Weak

Passionate Attachment

The Confidence of Youth

The Other Side of Democracy

Campaign of Defamation

Pakistani Women & the Legal Profession

A Pakistani Journey

Farewell to Fazal

Mukhtaran and Beyond

Revamping the OIC

7/7 & After

Nuclear Double-Standard

Return to Racism

Hollywood – The Unofficial Media

The Sole Superpower

The UN at 60

A Slow Motion World War?

Elite vs. Street

Iqbal Today

Macedonia to Multan

Defending our Own

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Error against Terror

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Aggressive at Home, Submissive Abroad

Global Storm

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Looking inward

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Close to Home

Flashpoint Kashmir

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The Illusion of International Law

Other Side of Extremism

Five Years after 9/11

The Educated Ignorant

The Decline of Humor

Icons

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The War Not Being Fought

Munir Niazi

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The Early Race

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Zealotry

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Hug with a Thug

Quest for Integrity

Unconquered

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Turmoil over Turkey

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Might Does Not Make Right

Kursi First

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Extremism and Change

Rosy Expectations

Short-Term Gain, Long-Term Pain

Not Winning

Beyond Baghdad: Five Years after

The Hijab of Democracy

Hate, Fear & Hope

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Yanking in the UN

Obama’s Breakthrough

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National Mood & Sports

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Duel for the White House

Zia to Zardari

Palestine: Avoiding the Unavoidable 

Not Working 

In the Ring 

Obama’s America

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Israel’s Washington Agenda

New Challenges

Cairo and Beyond

Re-fighting Old Battles

America ’s Super Villains

Activism in America


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