Political Immaturity and Social Media
Rameez Ali Jerov
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away my childish things.” 1 Corinthians 13:11
The above words from the Bible could be used to reflect the general state of mind between mature and immature leadership in a country or in a region. It is true that as children, we thought and reasoned as children, but when we grew up, we quit our childish ways. However, this is different here in the case of Pakistan we still bear the childish way in the way of thinking, perceiving things, judging and even in decision making. Leadership is corrupted enough that no one can accept them as a leader in international platforms. And people here are praising them since decades. In the age of reason, we are still indulged in the superstitious model of national settings, sometimes we take suggestions from astrologers because the people here believe and dumb enough to understand or study the science. In Pakistan, the graph of literacy rate is going rarely up in a snail’s move but thank you very much its moving upward. Despite having more than 60% of literate people the socio-political evolution has nothing changed but because of this education we are becoming more unfaithful, more unethical as ever, more corrupt and more invaluable in the arena of world. These are the blessings of our repeating same parties and leaders.
Politics in social sciences which unanimously defined as “Who gets What, When and How”. This is how politics works. This term is talking about the relative gain between the countries or between the regions of the world. The regions in Pakistan having more literacy rates are unfortunately unable to think and practice rationally. The technological advancement of the globe and ignorant people using social networks without studying, is accountable for this political unconsciousness or immaturity.
Social media and freedom of speech causes inversely over the legislation and development. Everyone including politicians, civil society, activists, young and adults, academicians and intellectuals remain their selves far more dependent over the social media instead of having strong constitution and institutions. Social media platform makes the ways easier to discuss the matters and also to spread the ideas to public. On the other hand, this demoralized the social values, secrecy remained vividly revealed to everyone uncertainly. Literate-ignorant from the civil society and also some of illiterate leaders abuse instead of using these media platforms by out bursting their ill-ideas which causes to sensationalize the public. Social media has become one of the most influential and biggest framework for our political debates for both better and worse. While the platforms like Facebook and Twitter give us new voices to speak out with they allow us to drown out opposing ideas with dangerous ease even within our own social circles, social media trends to benefit to extreme voices over the more moderate ones.
We have never raised any question about the liberal democracy over constitutional supremacy within state. Even we don’t know what type of government is working within the territory, semi capitalist, social democracy, the Islamic thought, indirect dictatorship or somehow authoritarian (by some parties’ single leadership). People can change this system but bad destiny always along with the Pakistan, living in 21ist century seems very unexpected, in the age of reason and technological upliftment the misconceptions overwhelmed in the minds of people, in which normal literate considering and even pretending as an educated which is in itself is a disaster. Country do not have any rational scholar in the highest authority or any of critical philosophers are contribute to it. We have irrational, deceitful and unethical people who are deciding the fortune of millions of people. Plato famously said in his book ‘The Republic’; “there will be no end to troubles of the state, or indeed of humanity itself, till philosophers become rulers of this world, or till those we call now kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus came into the same hands”
For 50 years, the former administrations were not only corrupt and vulgar, but it practiced a politics of puerility. Persons who disagreed with its policies and denounced its infantile behavior were labelled as unpatriotic. Today, this kind of malice is unleased against persons who criticized the administration. Our politicians must be matured to provide a better life for all. Political maturity is the key to development and prosperity.
By: Rameez Ali Jerov
Writer is a student of International Relations in Karakorum International University, Gilgit. Can be reached at rameez.jerov@gmail.com
