A newer Open Thread is up: Open thread: Musk the sociopath? →
plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
The Indian Subcontinent Argues with Itself
Tuesday, 27 October 2026Since December 2010 · 4,165 posts · 93,734 comments
The Indian Subcontinent Argues with Itself
A newer Open Thread is up: Open thread: Musk the sociopath? →
plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
so there was an interesting ‘Off-BP’ discussion on the merits of the argument that the Pakistani Military is the biggest obstacle in the Pakistani nation state’s attempts at edging back from its multi-decade teetering on the edge of socioeconomic crisis.
It was pointed out that corruption and inefficiency wrack and wreck the workings of Pakistani governance, and the counter-assertion was that such issues plague nearly all governments and nations. The ‘elephant in the room’ as it were, is the breath-takingly disproportionate share of resources hoovered up by the Pakistani Military, both officially on the budget, and in non-budgetary allocations and extractions.
Given that the Pakistani Military is handsome rewarded and faces zero accountability for its failure to deliver better results – the blame is successfully re-directed to those damn civilians and the corrupt politicians – the probability for ‘hope and change’ looks slim in Pakistan in the near term. And with the 27th ‘constitutional amendment’ the military is looking to further institutionalize and entrench its parasitic grasp on governance.
How can Pakistan emerge from this and find a path towards improved governance, education and economy outcomes, and at least begin a path towards egalitarian modernity?