"And in the darkness, blind them .."

''One Ring to rule them all,

One Ring to find them,

One Ring to bring them all,

And in the darkness bind them.''

Tolkien

I used Tolkien in the title this abashedly because I wanted to begin the following with some allusion to lust for gold and glitter, the ignorance it brings and the danger this ignorance holds. 

I had a junior colleague once, a very intelligent and hard working girl. She had, to put it politely, some limitations when it came to ‘competitive’ wage demand. One, she was without a father. This may seem irrelevant, yet it puts unfathomable pressure on most households; especially true for the woman. A sad state of affairs, but true none the less. Her second limiting parameter was schooling. Mind you she had completed her Masters from a reputed University. None the less, another sad statement beckons, the general standard of ‘knowledge’ economics within Pakistan’s universities is deplorable at the very least, and unacceptable beyond argument.

Given her seeming limitations I felt she had tremendous potential. Now since I do hold her long-term prospects to heart (having worked with her and having always known her to have ability beyond her environment, which in this instance was a public sector organization, yet another unfortunate ‘boundary condition’) I imagine a scenario soon where she would make her way to an entry position in a private auditing firm, and make her way up from there. 

In so doing, provided she is able to make the transition happen for herself (and I know she will), she will not only overcome her family situation (financial security) she will also become a more entrenched member of the knowledge economy. Thus, my aims, if they be noble, would include helping her, and others like her (who I may meet in my personal or professional capacity) to make the transition happen. If all goes according to plan, she would have ideally increased her pay by 70% over the next 5 years.

If her income has increased by 70%, we have to assume that her contribution to taxes and general consumption will increase (going by general economic consensus, though I try and shirk consensus in economics wherever I can, the lack of an adequate alternate has forced me into this intellectual corner). My point here is this: By helping her, more importantly by concentrating my personal (charitable) efforts in society towards increasing general income scenarios, I am ensuring a small, but relevant contribution is made. 

One need not study economics too deeply to understand one simple precept that arises out of this simple analysis: The development of Human Capital for Pakistan is the fundamental cog for the social change machine.

Now we may return to the gold and glitter. This is a simile for consumption patterns. If my former colleague’s consumption is a controlled one, her spending sprees would be concentrated around provision of progressive goods and services. 

They lead, by a fraction whose multiplication is usually by the million, to an exponential level of growth. If this holds true for all of us, i.e. we learn to harness our consumption pattern (save, not spend. Non-durable goods carefully considered. Durable goods out of necessity, not avarice etc) than the entire economic paradigm of social change turns on its head.

Central to my idea is the opening up of our eyes and senses to the reality that surrounds us. All too long now there is a blind belief in the power of one-off, or marketable, charity. I once tweeted, perhaps all too early in the morning, that true calamity unfolds slowly. Crisis, when it comes, does not come without warning. Somewhat heartless at its surface, the claim I make is that floods, starvation, gang wars, earthquakes (and the like) are minor calamities. They pass with time. Pakistan is faced with a far worse evil: the menace of Human Capital degeneration. This, and not water, will drown our populace. 

This degeneration is accompanied by ignorance at a colossal scale. I say colossal because this ignorance has come to prevail universally; it now sits across us in our coffee houses and works along us in our offices. This will blind us; it has already done so partially. All of this is happening before our eyes, slowly but surely.

Helping out at disaster zones is good; relief to affectees of floods is great. But these are poor substitutes for the real work to be done. It is work we can do in our daily lives. A small, conscious yet game-changing decision we can all make: the time to stop consuming carelessly has come, and the era to promote universal knowledge propagation is upon us.  We need to empower people towards economic contribution. 

Our energy will now best be spent helping ‘Labour’ achieve efficiency and wages to incrementally become competitive. Charitable causes and relief effort based activities need to now, as a general principle, be given second priority to Human Capital development.

So, respectfully submitted to all you intent on social activism and change, I plead: do not let the darkness blind them. Help people, relevant and targeted people, achieve their true potential and it equals charity randomly handed out to hundreds. 

Allow the growth of real business areas by concentrating spending on those, and this equals spending a month at a relief camp. This shift in priorities is an important one. It is neither an excuse nor a reason to cease charity; it is a call to broaden your charitable outlook.

Karachi, May 4^th,

Shahbaz Ali-Khan