ANOTHER INTERESTING THREAD
Dear friends, we look at people like alama iqbal and jinnah sahib and feel proud. Let us see what kind of pakistan was in their mind. Please read, understand, discuss and share widely so that problems in pakistan could be solved.
No doubt iqbal was a great thinker but it would be interesting to see what was behind all this thinking. The circumstances and environment at the time shapes a person into what one may ultimately become.
Iqbal like any other thinking people kept on changing his views as he learned more and more ie life is for learning attitude. One needs to look at oneself, how one changes one's views as one grows up from the day one is born.
A person is born ignorant of all things and over life time one only knows what one experiences in one's life. None is born all knowing this is why we learn from each other and knowledge is our heritage that we must not lose or play hide and seek with. People who learn from the past generations and build on that are really entitled to be called human beings, all others are like animals ie no sense nor interested in having sense. Being born ignorant is no one's fault but staying ignorant despite having an opportunity for learning is nothing less than being utterly stupid and useless.
From people like alaama iqbal, m ali johr, abul kalam azad, m ali jinnah etc we should learn how despite our differences we can work together for the greater good of humanity.
Today pakistan is in big trouble thanks to leadership of such people who lacked vision for the nation after its founder.
If we want to solve problems in pakistan, we need to become thinking, active and realist people ie lively. Brain dead, lazy and superstitious people are useless whoever they may be and wherever they may be.
If we want to build pakistan into a great country, we must unite. The only way we can unite is by helping each other in thoughts and actions. Beside helping each other for basic survival our objective should be education for all.
How to achieve unity in main thoughts and actions?
By analysing differences and looking for mechanisms that help unite. In case of leadership, religious or political we need to know who we follow and why or how far.
Let me try and explain reasoning first. A human only has a brain and five senses and the rest is all information one gets to the brain which is a logical processing unit that makes decisions based on reasons.
So no matter whatever the information, it is impossible for the human brain not to process it the same way it does under its normal functionality. It is therefore bound to make decision on the decisions or information that it receives from some one else on the same matter. You are doing that right now ie you are judging whether what I am saying is right or wrong from your stand point. In short you are going to have an opinion on this writing that you are reading and you are going to use your own reason to say it is good or bad. My reasons are not therefore upon which you make your decisions rather you reason things for yourself for your own decisions, accepting or rejecting things as you see fit. Therefore though we call it blind following but in actual fact it is not.
Likewise when we read the quran and all that which others tell us about it we ourselves become the judge to see whether it makes sense or not. If we think that it is ok we accept it otherwise we reject it. So ultimately you will agree that it is our own very reasoning that we follow not what others say no matter how qualified persons they may be in any discipline or field. We only use information by other to see whether they make sense or not. So when we try to see they make sense or not we are actually using our own brains and reasoning.
So personal reasoning cannot be disputed nor can be over ridden no matter what. So ultimately we believe and do what we ourselves think is right not what others tell us is right. So as far as the brain is concerned no matter what all is mere information waiting for our decisions.
So whether we make our own decision from start to finish about something or gather information about decisions made by others, it is all just information on which we base our own decision by our own reasoning. So if we ultimately rest only and only on our own reasoning to base our decision on then how can anyone say thatpersonal decision making is wrong? It is only wrong if it could be proven wrong by evidence not because it is reasoned by oneself.
So if we take a point of discussion on the quran and interpret the quran ourselves then why will it be wrong just because we are reasoning it ourselves? The only reason is other better reasons against our reasoning of which we may not be aware at the time of decision making. But then no human being is all perfect, we all fall well short of knowing a lot of things in life and therefore can make mistakes.
So one can see, it is not wrong to offer personal opinions but to hold on to wrong opinion if you become aware of better reason. So long as there is no better reason than what you think is right then holding on to that is fine even if you happen to be wrong in actual fact.
As children people are told things like tooth fairy etc and children keep believing that till they find out that it was all a joke and not really true. So it is ok to believe and do what suits one till one has opportunity to knows better. So knowing better is important, not, not knowing or holding onto wrong things despite knowing otherwise.
So it is clear that people who think it is wrong to try and make sense of the quran all by themselves are wrong on two basis a)because the human brain makes its own decisions based on its own reasons and b)because such a rule defeats the first principle of interpretation of the quran by the quran. If you use other things to interpret the quran than your own brain then you have mixed the quranic information with the other information so what is the point of having the quran? Mixing the clear information with something that may not be clear is wrong in my view because it will not let you see what the quran means by itself.
So education is of vital importance but we do not necessarily need to have paid teachers and fee paying students but each of us can be a teacher for whoever is near to us who is willing to learn. The problem is definition of education ie what are we going to learn and teach each other? This definition is so important that it has never been realised ever before by ourleadership religious or political.
The country whose education is divisive is never going to produce generations that will ever unite. Education is not about being able to read and write or get a job but to build minds of people, their personalities and characters that serve the country and all its people and beyond.
Our education system and what is taught as education has been failing us very badly because it is not what it should be and it is not done the way it should be.
We must have same schools for all, same colleges for all and same universities for all ie not a school for the muslims and a school for the hindus etc. Not a school for the secularists and a school for the religious etc etc.
In them we must teach all the subjects necessary for living in the world today as a nation state, taking aboard concerns of all sections of our community. We must not divide or exclude our people on basis of their religions or sects. We must not divide our people on basis of their languages or geographical locations. We must not divide our people on basis of tribalism and feudalism. It will also be a serious mistake to divide our people on basis of race and gender etc etc.
The idea is to create a society that is at ease within itself. This cannot happen unless people are educated enough to see the very fact that each of us must be willing to compromise and cooperate to such a degree that our unity is not only possible but guaranteed for common good and our progress as a people or a nation state.
So long as we do not learn to accommodate each other we are never going to be anything worth the name.
Education is all about knowing each other so that we are no longer suspicious of each other. Ignorance of each other breeds suspicions and mistrust and distrust of each other which ends us in animosity towards each other. To eliminate misinformation and disinformation or conspiracies between us we must get to know each other better so that we could trust each other and be able to work with each other for our common good.
If our future generations are educated this way they will know each other better and will be able to see problems between themselves and also be able to solve them as well without pointing guns at each other.
Today there is infighting between us because we have been brought up that way through brain washing divisive education system and subjects that turned our generations against each other.
In our country, tribal people have been instilling their tribal values in their future generations, religious minded have been instilling that in their generations and likewise secular minded people have been instilling that in their children's minds and so did the feudals etc etc. One can clearly see why we are fighting today. If all of us have been learning each and everyone of these things together and discussing things thoroughly to see what was good or bad with each of these things then things would never have come to this today. Instead we would have been better aware of things and united having some good common purpose to aim for.
Pakistan is a nuclear power but what is the point if we are only going to fight with each other? The more weapons we invent or have are only going to hasten our own destruction instead of playing the necessary role for defence against outsiders. We do not need weapons to kill each other or anyone else but to have them as deterrent to keep peace through balance of power. The role of army is not to go and attack other countries but to police our borders just as we need police inside our country to keep public safe from crime.
People who are building army to wage offensive jihad for conquest of infidels have no sense what religion is about or what jihad is about. Had they any sense they would not commit acts of terrorism in the name of islam. This has ruined our reputation around the world because every time such things happen in the world, fingers are pointed at us as pakistanis and muslim at that.
The people whose religious and political leadership has failed us should be kicked out of the power seats of religion and politics because they have not been able to provide the kind of leadership that is necessary for pakistan to become a great nation.
Pakistan needs leaders with vision who can lead people from the front as well as drive them forward from behind. Why? Because only educated people can be led from the front, but, uneducated can only be driven from behind in the same direction. It is necessary till we have all our voting population sufficiently educated. So far all so called leaders have been moving the public at large in circular motion so we have been ending up back to square one.
If we want to do better, we must know where we are and where we want to go as well as how we are going to get their. The question is, have we got what it will take to do so? If we have it we will get there but if we do not then first we must get that before anything else. This is what education should be all about.
I wanted to explain what is politics all about, what is islam about, what is secularism is about.
Politics is knowledge about managing affairs of a state for the good of its people. Our religious and political leaders lack this knowledge and it is much more true about our public at large.
The point is that anyone who lacks general and specific knowledge about a field cannot carry out the task effectively. If one is has no knowledge about medical field, one cannot diagnose the illness nor prescribe useful or effective medicine or remedy.
Such lack of knowledge in public fails them bodily in understanding the problems the country is facing and also who they should select and trust to lead the way out of those troubles.
Pakistan cannot be taken in the right direction till we know the direction ourselves.
The country needs unity to start with and unity amongst people cannot occur unless they realise the importance of unity and its need. Once they do that then they need to set out goals for unity and devise mechanisms to achieve those goals that will help unity amongst all the members of the nation.
The basic points are education based upon wider fields of knowledge eg languages, maths, sciences, sociology and politics, economics, religions and belief systems, secularism, history, geography, arts, philosophy, design and technology etc etc. It should be free for all children up to matriculation at least.
The true pakistani is only and only that person who not only does not oppose education in the country for all male and female but also fully supports the idea by all means in one's power.
No corrupt religious leader or political leader will support this, because educatiuon is enemy of oppresion, injustice and unfairness. If education is allowed to take roots in the country the days of corrupt people are numbered. Why? Because educated people will become aware of things and it will not be easy for manipulators to use abuse them or to mislead them.
This means all wealth stolen by cheating public must be brought back if it has been taken out of the country by any corrupt person. Taxation must be progressive but fair for all. There should not only be income tax but also inheritance tax, capital gains tax and value added tax ie all income must be taxed appropriately regardless earned or unearned ie profit. Government must subsidise where necessary for the good of the country but things must be properly prioritised.
The other important point is land reform and wealth creation as well as wealth distribution. We must set limits not by making everyone same but ensuring that there is a definite minimum but reasonable living standard for all people in the country at least. There is no need for setting the ceiling because if things get better the best thing will be to raise the minimum living standard level instead. In other words bootstrap the economy by linking its top end to its bottom end, so that top pulls its bottom along with it. The capitalist or market economy is best for the country if it is linked to social responsibilities ie the idea is that people who profit from the society due to society providing them with peace and stability to do so must put something back into this community to keep it going. This will prevent boom and bust cycles.
For unity of people we must ensure they all have the necessities of life and fair chance of opportunities for progress and success based on merit not connections. If people at the top play their part right by keeping the people at the bottom happy there is little chance of trouble in the country.
To control terrorism in the country we must first find out whether it is internal or external. This we can do by talking to terrorists to find out why they are doing what they are doing. If people have taken up arms they must have some genuine reason for willing to die and killing others. Regardless public must be informed by political leadership of the country as to what terrorists want and they must be clearly explained whether their demands are reasonable or unreasonable. It is then up to the people to accept their demands or reject them. However if demands are reasonable then public must accept them without wasting a second. If they are unreasonable then they must reject them and be ready to get rid of these bad elements from within the society. People who love their country will not make unreasonable demands and will lay down their arms once their reasonable demands are met. Only externally based terrorists will try their best to continue their actions and if public in a country is united and sensible then outsiders cannot succeed.
The other important point is population control through effective planning. This is absolutely necessary because the land and the resources within the country depend totally and utterly upon ourselves to search out and explore resources, process things and distribute them. If we are not capable of looking after ten people in the family it will be stupid to produce ten more. So we must keep an eye on the population in our country and we must not allow it to increase faster than our means of sustaining it. We will need more resources of all kind to cope with more people eg we will need more land, more houses, more schools, more food, more clothing etc etc etc.
For nation building we need to plan things very sensibly this means government must control things directly or through regulatory measures so that market economic system does not destablise the country. Monitoring will be absolutely necessary so that goods reach public without delay or difficulty at reasonable price.
The country cannot be build without doing what a sensible family needs to do to start its own family business to make it a success. Think about it if you wanted to start a business of your own what you will need and will have to do. You will have to make up your mind, make a serious commitment to it and take all steps necessary from the start to its success. You will have to make a plan and take into account everything in the right order of priorities. To run the country successfully is much more harder than running one's own business. This shows what kind of mentality people need to develop so that they could shoulder the responsibility.
More later, meanwhile regards and all the best
Dear friends, we look at people like alama iqbal and jinnah sahib and feel proud. Let us see what kind of pakistan was in their mind. Please read, understand, discuss and share widely so that problems in pakistan could be solved.
No doubt iqbal was a great thinker but it would be interesting to see what was behind all this thinking. The circumstances and environment at the time shapes a person into what one may ultimately become.
Iqbal like any other thinking people kept on changing his views as he learned more and more ie life is for learning attitude. One needs to look at oneself, how one changes one's views as one grows up from the day one is born.
A person is born ignorant of all things and over life time one only knows what one experiences in one's life. None is born all knowing this is why we learn from each other and knowledge is our heritage that we must not lose or play hide and seek with. People who learn from the past generations and build on that are really entitled to be called human beings, all others are like animals ie no sense nor interested in having sense. Being born ignorant is no one's fault but staying ignorant despite having an opportunity for learning is nothing less than being utterly stupid and useless.
From people like alaama iqbal, m ali johr, abul kalam azad, m ali jinnah etc we should learn how despite our differences we can work together for the greater good of humanity.
Today pakistan is in big trouble thanks to leadership of such people who lacked vision for the nation after its founder.
If we want to solve problems in pakistan, we need to become thinking, active and realist people ie lively. Brain dead, lazy and superstitious people are useless whoever they may be and wherever they may be.
If we want to build pakistan into a great country, we must unite. The only way we can unite is by helping each other in thoughts and actions. Beside helping each other for basic survival our objective should be education for all.
How to achieve unity in main thoughts and actions?
By analysing differences and looking for mechanisms that help unite. In case of leadership, religious or political we need to know who we follow and why or how far.
Let me try and explain reasoning first. A human only has a brain and five senses and the rest is all information one gets to the brain which is a logical processing unit that makes decisions based on reasons.
So no matter whatever the information, it is impossible for the human brain not to process it the same way it does under its normal functionality. It is therefore bound to make decision on the decisions or information that it receives from some one else on the same matter. You are doing that right now ie you are judging whether what I am saying is right or wrong from your stand point. In short you are going to have an opinion on this writing that you are reading and you are going to use your own reason to say it is good or bad. My reasons are not therefore upon which you make your decisions rather you reason things for yourself for your own decisions, accepting or rejecting things as you see fit. Therefore though we call it blind following but in actual fact it is not.
Likewise when we read the quran and all that which others tell us about it we ourselves become the judge to see whether it makes sense or not. If we think that it is ok we accept it otherwise we reject it. So ultimately you will agree that it is our own very reasoning that we follow not what others say no matter how qualified persons they may be in any discipline or field. We only use information by other to see whether they make sense or not. So when we try to see they make sense or not we are actually using our own brains and reasoning.
So personal reasoning cannot be disputed nor can be over ridden no matter what. So ultimately we believe and do what we ourselves think is right not what others tell us is right. So as far as the brain is concerned no matter what all is mere information waiting for our decisions.
So whether we make our own decision from start to finish about something or gather information about decisions made by others, it is all just information on which we base our own decision by our own reasoning. So if we ultimately rest only and only on our own reasoning to base our decision on then how can anyone say thatpersonal decision making is wrong? It is only wrong if it could be proven wrong by evidence not because it is reasoned by oneself.
So if we take a point of discussion on the quran and interpret the quran ourselves then why will it be wrong just because we are reasoning it ourselves? The only reason is other better reasons against our reasoning of which we may not be aware at the time of decision making. But then no human being is all perfect, we all fall well short of knowing a lot of things in life and therefore can make mistakes.
So one can see, it is not wrong to offer personal opinions but to hold on to wrong opinion if you become aware of better reason. So long as there is no better reason than what you think is right then holding on to that is fine even if you happen to be wrong in actual fact.
As children people are told things like tooth fairy etc and children keep believing that till they find out that it was all a joke and not really true. So it is ok to believe and do what suits one till one has opportunity to knows better. So knowing better is important, not, not knowing or holding onto wrong things despite knowing otherwise.
So it is clear that people who think it is wrong to try and make sense of the quran all by themselves are wrong on two basis a)because the human brain makes its own decisions based on its own reasons and b)because such a rule defeats the first principle of interpretation of the quran by the quran. If you use other things to interpret the quran than your own brain then you have mixed the quranic information with the other information so what is the point of having the quran? Mixing the clear information with something that may not be clear is wrong in my view because it will not let you see what the quran means by itself.
So education is of vital importance but we do not necessarily need to have paid teachers and fee paying students but each of us can be a teacher for whoever is near to us who is willing to learn. The problem is definition of education ie what are we going to learn and teach each other? This definition is so important that it has never been realised ever before by ourleadership religious or political.
The country whose education is divisive is never going to produce generations that will ever unite. Education is not about being able to read and write or get a job but to build minds of people, their personalities and characters that serve the country and all its people and beyond.
Our education system and what is taught as education has been failing us very badly because it is not what it should be and it is not done the way it should be.
We must have same schools for all, same colleges for all and same universities for all ie not a school for the muslims and a school for the hindus etc. Not a school for the secularists and a school for the religious etc etc.
In them we must teach all the subjects necessary for living in the world today as a nation state, taking aboard concerns of all sections of our community. We must not divide or exclude our people on basis of their religions or sects. We must not divide our people on basis of their languages or geographical locations. We must not divide our people on basis of tribalism and feudalism. It will also be a serious mistake to divide our people on basis of race and gender etc etc.
The idea is to create a society that is at ease within itself. This cannot happen unless people are educated enough to see the very fact that each of us must be willing to compromise and cooperate to such a degree that our unity is not only possible but guaranteed for common good and our progress as a people or a nation state.
So long as we do not learn to accommodate each other we are never going to be anything worth the name.
Education is all about knowing each other so that we are no longer suspicious of each other. Ignorance of each other breeds suspicions and mistrust and distrust of each other which ends us in animosity towards each other. To eliminate misinformation and disinformation or conspiracies between us we must get to know each other better so that we could trust each other and be able to work with each other for our common good.
If our future generations are educated this way they will know each other better and will be able to see problems between themselves and also be able to solve them as well without pointing guns at each other.
Today there is infighting between us because we have been brought up that way through brain washing divisive education system and subjects that turned our generations against each other.
In our country, tribal people have been instilling their tribal values in their future generations, religious minded have been instilling that in their generations and likewise secular minded people have been instilling that in their children's minds and so did the feudals etc etc. One can clearly see why we are fighting today. If all of us have been learning each and everyone of these things together and discussing things thoroughly to see what was good or bad with each of these things then things would never have come to this today. Instead we would have been better aware of things and united having some good common purpose to aim for.
Pakistan is a nuclear power but what is the point if we are only going to fight with each other? The more weapons we invent or have are only going to hasten our own destruction instead of playing the necessary role for defence against outsiders. We do not need weapons to kill each other or anyone else but to have them as deterrent to keep peace through balance of power. The role of army is not to go and attack other countries but to police our borders just as we need police inside our country to keep public safe from crime.
People who are building army to wage offensive jihad for conquest of infidels have no sense what religion is about or what jihad is about. Had they any sense they would not commit acts of terrorism in the name of islam. This has ruined our reputation around the world because every time such things happen in the world, fingers are pointed at us as pakistanis and muslim at that.
The people whose religious and political leadership has failed us should be kicked out of the power seats of religion and politics because they have not been able to provide the kind of leadership that is necessary for pakistan to become a great nation.
Pakistan needs leaders with vision who can lead people from the front as well as drive them forward from behind. Why? Because only educated people can be led from the front, but, uneducated can only be driven from behind in the same direction. It is necessary till we have all our voting population sufficiently educated. So far all so called leaders have been moving the public at large in circular motion so we have been ending up back to square one.
If we want to do better, we must know where we are and where we want to go as well as how we are going to get their. The question is, have we got what it will take to do so? If we have it we will get there but if we do not then first we must get that before anything else. This is what education should be all about.
I wanted to explain what is politics all about, what is islam about, what is secularism is about.
Politics is knowledge about managing affairs of a state for the good of its people. Our religious and political leaders lack this knowledge and it is much more true about our public at large.
The point is that anyone who lacks general and specific knowledge about a field cannot carry out the task effectively. If one is has no knowledge about medical field, one cannot diagnose the illness nor prescribe useful or effective medicine or remedy.
Such lack of knowledge in public fails them bodily in understanding the problems the country is facing and also who they should select and trust to lead the way out of those troubles.
Pakistan cannot be taken in the right direction till we know the direction ourselves.
The country needs unity to start with and unity amongst people cannot occur unless they realise the importance of unity and its need. Once they do that then they need to set out goals for unity and devise mechanisms to achieve those goals that will help unity amongst all the members of the nation.
The basic points are education based upon wider fields of knowledge eg languages, maths, sciences, sociology and politics, economics, religions and belief systems, secularism, history, geography, arts, philosophy, design and technology etc etc. It should be free for all children up to matriculation at least.
The true pakistani is only and only that person who not only does not oppose education in the country for all male and female but also fully supports the idea by all means in one's power.
No corrupt religious leader or political leader will support this, because educatiuon is enemy of oppresion, injustice and unfairness. If education is allowed to take roots in the country the days of corrupt people are numbered. Why? Because educated people will become aware of things and it will not be easy for manipulators to use abuse them or to mislead them.
This means all wealth stolen by cheating public must be brought back if it has been taken out of the country by any corrupt person. Taxation must be progressive but fair for all. There should not only be income tax but also inheritance tax, capital gains tax and value added tax ie all income must be taxed appropriately regardless earned or unearned ie profit. Government must subsidise where necessary for the good of the country but things must be properly prioritised.
The other important point is land reform and wealth creation as well as wealth distribution. We must set limits not by making everyone same but ensuring that there is a definite minimum but reasonable living standard for all people in the country at least. There is no need for setting the ceiling because if things get better the best thing will be to raise the minimum living standard level instead. In other words bootstrap the economy by linking its top end to its bottom end, so that top pulls its bottom along with it. The capitalist or market economy is best for the country if it is linked to social responsibilities ie the idea is that people who profit from the society due to society providing them with peace and stability to do so must put something back into this community to keep it going. This will prevent boom and bust cycles.
For unity of people we must ensure they all have the necessities of life and fair chance of opportunities for progress and success based on merit not connections. If people at the top play their part right by keeping the people at the bottom happy there is little chance of trouble in the country.
To control terrorism in the country we must first find out whether it is internal or external. This we can do by talking to terrorists to find out why they are doing what they are doing. If people have taken up arms they must have some genuine reason for willing to die and killing others. Regardless public must be informed by political leadership of the country as to what terrorists want and they must be clearly explained whether their demands are reasonable or unreasonable. It is then up to the people to accept their demands or reject them. However if demands are reasonable then public must accept them without wasting a second. If they are unreasonable then they must reject them and be ready to get rid of these bad elements from within the society. People who love their country will not make unreasonable demands and will lay down their arms once their reasonable demands are met. Only externally based terrorists will try their best to continue their actions and if public in a country is united and sensible then outsiders cannot succeed.
The other important point is population control through effective planning. This is absolutely necessary because the land and the resources within the country depend totally and utterly upon ourselves to search out and explore resources, process things and distribute them. If we are not capable of looking after ten people in the family it will be stupid to produce ten more. So we must keep an eye on the population in our country and we must not allow it to increase faster than our means of sustaining it. We will need more resources of all kind to cope with more people eg we will need more land, more houses, more schools, more food, more clothing etc etc etc.
For nation building we need to plan things very sensibly this means government must control things directly or through regulatory measures so that market economic system does not destablise the country. Monitoring will be absolutely necessary so that goods reach public without delay or difficulty at reasonable price.
The country cannot be build without doing what a sensible family needs to do to start its own family business to make it a success. Think about it if you wanted to start a business of your own what you will need and will have to do. You will have to make up your mind, make a serious commitment to it and take all steps necessary from the start to its success. You will have to make a plan and take into account everything in the right order of priorities. To run the country successfully is much more harder than running one's own business. This shows what kind of mentality people need to develop so that they could shoulder the responsibility.
More later, meanwhile regards and all the best
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