Forum topic

 

 

POVERTY, CLASS STRUCTURE AND SOCIAL POLLUTION

 

Dr. Mirza Arshad Ali Beg

Former Director General PCSIR

136-C Rafahe Aam society, Malir Halt, Karachi-75210

 

ABSTRACT

 

The paper revolves around the following hypotheses

1. Social Pollution thrives in an exploitative environment, which leads to impoverishment of resources, and gives rise to extremes of poverty and affluence.

2. Social pollution is the root cause of environmental degradation, while degradation of physical environment is widespread in a socially degraded environment.

 

The above hypotheses are based on the physico-chemical approach to human behaviour and the concept of social pollution, which provide new dimensions to the understanding of processes of degradation of human and physical environment[1]^,2,3). The study has traced the root cause of social pollution in impoverishment of the resources by the powerful in the higher hierarchy of the society. Acute and perpetual poverty induces the have-nots to resort to unfair means for a better quality of life. The deprived members of the society find it hard to remain contented when they witness some members becoming prosperous by acts of social pollution.

What is of concern to the average Pakistani is that he has become poorer with the passage of time, since poverty doubled from 17.3% in 1987-88 to 32.6% in 1998-99, and trebled according to present estimates in 2008. The household income of the lowest quintile or 20% of the population remained static during the years at around 7%. The net income of the middle 60% dropped from 48.3% to 43.6% in the mean time. The share of the top quintile, however, rose from 45.3% to 51%, suggesting that the top quintile monopolized half the income, while the bottom quintile had to be content with a meagre 7% of the total income. The number of poor increased as the lower middle class was pushed to poverty.

 

The economic debacle of the 1970s, and initiation of cross breeding of socialists with capitalists, pushed   more and more people below the poverty line. The cost of living went up several times. Going by the price of bread, which cost one eighth of a rupee in the 1950s and now for five rupees, the cost of living has gone up by 40 times. This suggests that the 2250 calories that was affordable by a middle class family in the third quintile with an income of Rs 500 in the 1950s is now available to one with a monthly income of Rs 20,000. This is why families in the third and fourth quintile have to earn extra 10,000 rupees by other means, to remain above poverty line. Benefits of development instead of going to lower middle class and the poor were transferred to the upper quintiles, making the poor poorer and impoverishing the meager resources.

 

Exploiters have with passage of time specialized in getting-rich-quickly by the short cut methods⁽⁾. This class has caused impoverishment of resources, both intellectual and financial while reaching the corridors of power to become part of the governing hierarchy. The evils of social pollution are not only deep rooted but also causing irreparable damages to the fabric of the society.

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The subject of poverty and class structure has been discussed here in the light of hypotheses developed earlier that impoverishment of resources and not poverty per se is the issue to deal with in the attempts at alleviation of poverty at the grass root level. The argument necessarily implies that human activities particularly the acts and deeds of social pollution e.g. pollution of air, water and soil, and rising exploitation of natural and food resources, are contributing to changes in our atmosphere and climate, land use and vegetative cover, and to desertification, rapid loss of our biological and cultural diversity, and shifting patterns of human diseases. The ecological resources are being deliberately impoverished by acts that are not sustainable and perpetuated to remain in firm control of availability of the product of labour.

 

Poverty has been examined here as the material form of introducing pollution in a society or social pollution and thus creating economic imbalance. Those who govern the system wish to continue with a plan that creates imbalances by practicing double standards instead of equitable distribution of resources and remaining contented with whatever they have.  This has led to stratification of the social structure by assigning power to and accumulation of wealth at the top of the hierarchy and serious deficiencies in the lower down strata of the society.

 

Enunciation of Hypotheses

 

1. Social Pollution thrives in an exploitative environment, which leads to impoverishment of resources, and gives rise to extremes of poverty and affluence. It is inferred that exploitative forces create situations of extremes of poverty and affluence by acts and deeds of social pollution.

2. Social pollution is the root cause of environmental degradation, while degradation of ecological resources is widespread in a socially degraded environment.

 

The two hypotheses suggest that:

(1)     There is a direct relationship between social pollution, and impoverishment of resources

(2)     Existence of extremes of poverty and affluence leads to stratification of the society into those (a) having too much and still looking for more, (b) having as much as desired for good quality of life, (c) the haves and (d) the have-nots.

 

The author has developed the above hypotheses^(1,[2],3) while introducing the physico-chemical approach to human behaviour⁽¹⁾ and developing the concept of social pollution^(2,3) to provide new dimensions to elucidate the process of degradation of human and physical environment and to explain the anomalies in human behaviour.

The Physicochemical Approach

 

In physicochemical terms a reaction between A and B is in equilibrium when just as many ABs are formed as are dissociated into A and B as given by equation (1):

 

                                                A +  B  = AB                          (1)

 

Energies are involved in all such interactions and processes whether chemical or biological for the reaction to proceed to completion while equilib­rium is struck between the rate of forward reaction to form AB and that of backward reaction or dissociation into A and B. The reaction goes forward to form AB when the latter dominates over the reverse process. In general, however, the reaction does not go to completion in the above simple and ideal form and the following state is found at the end:

 

                        A + B = AB + BB + BA + ABB + AAB + …..        (2)

 

This shows that the formation of more species i.e. AB, BB, BA etc. than desired in case of ideal completion of reaction i.e. formation of AB, is at the cost of useful energy put into the system. The useful energy is described in physicochemical terms as DF, free energy or the driving force of a reaction. DF is composed of two terms: DH, the heat of reaction and T DS the increase in entropy or randomness times the tempera­ture. As given by equation (3)

 

DF       = -DH     +       T DS ……….(3)

 

Equation (3) suggests that the greater the heat generated within the system, the larger is the randomness. This results in lowering of available energy and the driving force besides slowing down the reaction. Contrarily the lower the heat generated, the lower is the randomness and the higher the free energy or driving force.

 

Equation (2) and (3) taken together suggest that the larger the amount of species other than AB the desired product, the larger is the wastage. This implies that generation of wastes constitutes decrease in free energy and amounts to increase in entropy. This in turn suggests that formation of wastes is tantamount to production of disorder leading to abnormalities in production of useful products.

 

Application of Physicochemical Principles to Process of Social Pollution

 

Applying the principles involved in equation (2) and (3) would lead to the conclusion that wastes are unwanted species or are impurities. Introduction of impurities in the product is pollution; likewise introduction of groups that deviate from the norms of the society are social pollutants and the process of inducing pollution in the social environment is to be called social pollution.

 

The above equations can also be used to describe the interaction between two individuals or groups of a society and also its orderly structure. The order of reaction is described by the specific reaction rate which in chemistry is the amount of matter transformed per unit time per unit volume. Specific reaction rate of a system would be high for an ordered society and low for one lacking driving force. Specific reaction rate for the ordered society is indeed found to be very high as can be estimated from the tremendous increase in their power to subjugate the number of countries included in their network of followers, collaborators and also from the increase in area under their influence.

 

Application of the principles just stated finds that development of technology and superiority in weapons achieved by countries with high specific reaction rates was used by the industrialized countries where global power is currently concentrated, to prevail upon the stagnant equilibrium conditions in the yet-to-develop countries. This shifted the equilibrium from one with diminishing driving force towards and in favour of a highly energized society to subjugate the former.

 

The societies that have undergone decadence had, at a certain point of time remained in an enviable position e.g. the Muslims who had dominated the world order for well over 800 years. Cracks appeared hereafter and instead of the forward reaction remaining dominant the backward reaction processes set in. Different factions started identifying themselves and were exerting their own influence for power. This is equivalent to the develop­ment of dissociative or dis-associative forces, as in equation (2). This leads to disintegration of the society with formation of too many products. Such a system has high entropy as in equation (3) and is deficient in driving force. The social infrastructure having high entropy and low driving force is dominated and prevailed upon by components of social pollution. Thus socially polluted environment is characterized by high entropy and low free energy as well as driving force. Conversely low entropy factor in societies is accompanied by large free energy and low randomness and greater order.

 

The advanced societies of the past e.g. Islamic societies and industrialized countries of the present obtained control over the others mainly because their free energy was high and their entropy factor that indicates disorder or randomness was low. Now that the different factions in the Islamic societies are in conflict with one another, the order in their society has decreased to disorder and chaos leading to what appears as going into decadence.

 

It is only in a small group that the probability of finding order is high. In larger groups the forces required to bring order have to be adequately strengthened. The forces that bring order are cohesive in nature and have to be inherent in the system otherwise individuals present in it respond to the natural urge for greater randomness and dissociation or disintegration.

 

All spontaneous changes have a large driving force to their credit. They bring in order by using the free energy for homogenizing the reaction and interaction. However, the reverse reaction sets in if the free energy is not utilized for homogenizing the forces of cohesion of different components, and ultimately results in large entropy changes or random­ness. Thus, it is difficult to have an ordered state in an environment that encourages dissociation or separation of species.

 

Social Pollution & Concentration of Power

 

In the social environment the attempts at reversal of equilibrium are acts of social pollution. Like all natural processes the forces creating disorder tend to dominate over those which bring in order. A careful study of the social environment of the industrialized countries (Group A) during the early years of the past century shows that it was just as randomized and disordered as were the present developing countries (Group B) that had been subdued or conquered and liberated after the Second World War, with some of them continuing to remain in that state even after. This shows that the social factors governing the processes of development including industrialization, urbanization and exploitation of resources are related to the same form of behaviour as the molecules A and B in equilibrium with their products.

 

The countries that were the citadels of civilization e.g. India and the Middle East, became the focus for exploitation by countries that used their means including trade and commerce as well as military capability to utilize the resource potential of weaker economies. In doing so the present industrialized countries did not care for sustainable use of their own natural resources and with their economic and technical superiority they made use of the resources of the developing countries without caring to adopt sustainable development processes. That has set the process of indiscriminate use of resources and degradation of the environment in the latter set of countries. Their activities were acts of social pollution in that the rising exploitation of natural and food resources contributed to irreversible changes in land use and vegetative cover, desertification, rapid loss of biological and cultural diversity, and shifting patterns of human diseases. Their deliberate and haphazard exploitation of ecological resources and continuing to remain in firm control of availability of the product of labour by acts that are not sustainable has impoverished the natural and social environment.

 

Industrialization proceeded with exploitation of coal reserves in the mining areas located far from the industrial area. The miners employed were the poor persons in the remote mining areas. The steel industry or a powerhouse that used the coal was located near an urban center. The urban centers thus became the exploiters of the resources of the resourceful yet impoverished areas away from the urban centres. The miner never could become rich; contrarily he was always in debt. Exploitation of resources constitutes an irreversible change as well as impoverishment of the potential of the coal reserve and as such amounts to an act of social pollution unless the impoverishment is compensated for by mitigation measures.

 

Class Structure

 

Exploitation of resources requires three distinct hierarchies: The entrepreneur, facilitator and the follower. Accordingly there have been three classes from the very inception of human activity: the tribal chief or head or the leader, the facilitator, and the follower. The need for protection of resources and their security was assigned to a class split from the facilitators who formed the warriors. The followers were split further into two classes: the operators and the subjugated. The heads and leaders as the mastermind have generally been and continue to remain small in number. They operate through the facilitators who maneuver and function for the leader and help him in remaining in control over his followers and the subjugated, thereby concentrating all powers into the chief.

 

With growing tendency to have an organized governance system the above role of leader and facilitator as well as the follower was transformed into a hierarchical system with different tiers. The leader became the governing hierarchy; the facilitator became a network of managers, defenders/warriors and operators, while the followers became the supporting staff and/or field workers while the subjugated remained a deprived class at the grass root level and have remained at the receiving end as slaves, bonded labour, or the humiliated service providers.

 

Thus there are five distinct classes in the social structure in Pakistan. The village chief or the urban elite is at the top of the hierarchy and is the decision maker; the network of managers, defenders, and bureaucrats form the upper middle class, the facilitators including the operators form the lower middle class, the followers form the lower middle class while the poor and subjugated form the lowest stratum in the society. With the incidence of forces of social pollution and increasing impoverishment of resources the lower middle class and the poor are hardly identifiable since rising prices has transferred much of the potential resources from the lower two quintiles to the upper strata of the society. This transfer of resource potential from the lower to higher strata is how the poor has become poorer and the rich richer.

 

The class structure in Pakistan has evolved in the backdrop of feudal landholding system. In Punjab, tenancies are split more evenly between share and fixed rent contracts. Landlords in Punjab are much smaller than those in Sindh, with a median holding of only seven acres of land, and more likely resident in the same village as the tenants. In Sindh, about 40 per cent of the land is tenanted and about 60 per cent is under sharecropping, a form of farming where output is shared between the landowner and tenant.

 

Sharecropping is the predominant form of tenancy in Sindh where the land ownership distribution is particularly skewed. According to a study, a medium landlord in Sindh owns 28 acres of land, whereas nearly 80 per cent of the share-tenants are landless farmers. The hierarchy of the governance system at the rural level comprises the village chief as the head of a mechanical aggregation of goths and villages, which are inhabited by extended families. Members of such feudal system form the governing hierarcy at the top level to operate through the intermediaries or middlemen or facilitators often employing patharedars and kamdars to manage their land and the tenants. The latter have continued to be counted among the notables of their area. They have, since the times of the Iranian and Afghan invasions, been serving as the provider, protector, a patron of dacoits, criminals, cattle lifters, kidnappers, smugglers, and to keep the landlord safe from the reach of the law and revenue administrators. The landowner operates through his network of operators to enlist the services of the poor to perform the labor of the land. Almost half of the poor tenants owe money to the landlords⁽⁴⁾. Position of the landlord as the elite allows him to exploit all the resources of the poor including his services. The fruits of labour of the direct producer i.e. tiller of the soil in the rural areas in this part of the world is not controlled by the direct producer himself i.e. the farmer, but by the landowner, the dominant landlord as a class. There is no middle class while the share-croppers form the upper stratum of the lower stratum and the landless form the lowest.

 

The landlord aristocracy dominates the top of the pyramid in rural environment because of its control over land which is the principal and only means of production. Land ownership in Pakistan is highly concentrated in the rural elite. Land as a source of class power is particularly the case among the rural elites in Pakistan. Land gives its owner independence, and the greater the degree of independence of a household and its patriarch the greater the respect which accrues to the household and its patriarch. As a consequence of landlords retaining land, land is scarce for the peasant classes in Pakistan.

 

Resident and absentee landlords possess their holdings as a result of inheritance. Holdings have moreover been augmented by the seizure of parcels that were historically common property. At the same time, the power of landlords in the land market has been reinforced by activities in other markets. The most important of these has been the financial market. Landlords act as a primary source of credit for the members of the peasant classes, advancing cash against the future production from their tenants. The high implicit interest rates under value the output necessary to repay the loan. Debt has thus been a key mechanism perpetuating landlord power. This is why the majority of peasants remain under serious debt burden and every facet of their life is controlled and dictated by the rural elite. The feudal network comprising the intermediaries/facilitator system is so extensive that even independent cultivators and owner-peasants are not free from exploitation and oppression.

 

The long handle of social pollution operated by the landlords and the network of facilitators has also been active in manipulating the market forces. These forces allow the feudal landlord to have a firm hand on the use of capital equipment by investing in tractors, power-driven machinery and equipment, so that the same can be used on his land or rented out to cultivators. Indeed, in some villages landlords have been the only source of modern production technologies. The forces of social pollution have thus enabled its operatos to monopolise the main forces of production and transfer of benefits of production to their rank.

 

Despite concentration of power, wealth and production technology as well as investment by landlords rural productivity has not enhanced because agriculture is viewed as an inferior alternative when compared with non-agricultural non-industrial investment. The feudal system has had to find new avenues and other forms non-agricultural investment in property, particularly in urban land markets. Alternatively, resources were invested in industries and later on also in education, with the purpose of enhancement of capacity of the educated to migrate.

 

The operation of network of social pollution attracted them to invest in politics. It is true in Pakistan that politics is a costly business in which only the wealthy can meet the costs of entry. Once entry has been made however access to the state can ensure a flow of resources back to the politician and thus an enhancement of their resource capacities. Moreover, access to the state can legitimise the extra-judicial coercion which is so widely practised by landlords. Consequently it is not by accident that most Pakistani politicians are from the landlord class.

 

Operation of the network of social pollution has impacted almost every facet of infrastructure, be it democratic, industrial, agricultural, financial, or the life in rural and urban area. In each case it appears to be penetrating deep down into the social strata of the society including those from where the governing hierarchy is drawn. Whereas the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was created on the infrastructure of an ideology, to fulfill a religious obligation to protect the human rights, play the role of custodian of resources of the country, live a modest life, consume only as much as is actually needed and protect all that exceeds the rightful needs; the affluent top stratum including the governing hierarchy has behaved as masters and not as the servants of the masses. Their actions has impoverished the resources. The land has been rendered less productive, the industrial production system has been rendered uncompetitive,

 

The pseudo affluent class on the one hand does not share the burden of taxes and on the other hand the development strategies have failed to ensure the flow of benefits to all sections of the population. They have contrarily made the rich richer and the poor poorer. Furthermore, while making the poor poorer, they have taken toll of a large segment of the second lowest quintile and a fair share of the third quintile. These two strata of the society form the lower middle class, which on having been made poorer, have been squeezed out and forced into the ring of poverty. The benefits of development instead of going into the lower middle class and the poor have gone to the upper strata of the society, which is already rewarded by perquisites and windfall profits from the position it is in.

 

Heavy damage has been done to the economy by having the policy makers picked up from among the pseudo affluent class who are connected directly or indirectly with the feudal infrastructure. It is time that persons who are aware of ground realities are picked up by the process of consultation or mushawarat, and without sacrificing merit. This, however, can happen only when an environment of qa’na’at or contentedness prevails and munafaqat or dichotomy is denied any chance to govern the affairs of the country.

 

The celebrities have with passage of time learnt to operate the handles of social pollution to get-rich-quickly by the short cut methods. They and their methods have caused impoverishment of resources, both material and financial and have reached the corridors of power to become part of the governing hierarchy. The evils of social pollution are thus deep rooted and are causing irreversible changes in the physical and social environment.

 

The pseudo-affluent class comprising the celebrities and the topmost quintile, which has attained its present status by virtue of belonging to the feudal infrastructure, is engaged in cut-throat competitions, adopting short-cut methods to get the maximum gains without deserving them. It is not the same as the elite in the industrialized countries, which is well educated and cultured. It forms part of the wealth producing system and is engaged in enjoying the richness. The elites in Pakistan, on the contrary largely comprise the tribal and feudal chiefs, their clans, new industrialists, civil and military bureaucrats and others forming the components of the feudal infrastructure mentioned above.

 

The celebrities themselves form a minority of five percent of the agricultural households and own 64 per cent of the farmland. The rest of the 95 per cent in rural areas are only their political vote-bank. The network through which they operate comprises the top 20% of the social stratum. Its consolidated structure has gained so much during the past that it is in a position to continue as part of the governing hierarchy.

 

State intervention has, instead of dealing with the concentration of power and wealth in the top quintile of the hierarchy, facilitated the emergence of this class of capitalists in both agriculture and industry. To that end the state policy in the mid-1960s sought to enhance the adoption of new forces of production designed to substantially enhance agrarian productivity and transfer of resources thereby causing further impoverishment. The new technology involved the precise application of well-timed water, the use of chemical fertilisers, and the introduction of higher-yielding modern seed varieties.

 

State intervention promoted the feudal system of governance by creating:

1) Substantial barriers to trade in plant genetic material, and

2) A licensing system for entry into and expansion within the agro-chemical sector.

3) seed delivery agencies by subsidising the purchase of modern seed varieties by peasant classes and landlords.

 

The combined effect of these interventions was further enhancement in the potential profitability of entry into the restricted home market for that capital which produced and sold seeds to the state. The state thus sought to use policy to attract transnational capital involved in the international agro-chemical industry.

 

Impoverishment of Physical & Social Environment

 

In an attempt to uncover the root cause or causes of Social Pollution, it has been noted with interest that there is a close relation between poverty and social pollution. The society, when stuck to acute and perpetual poverty, provides justification to some one to resort to unfair means for his livelihood. When such allowances perpetuate, it hurts the members of the society since as a natural corollary some of them become prosperous but others fall victims to social pollution.

The average Pakistani is becoming poorer with the passage of time, since poverty has doubled from 17.3% in 1987-88 to 32.6% in 1998-99, and trebled according to present estimates in 2008. The household income of the lowest quintile or 20% of the population has remained static during the years at around 7%. The income of the middle 60% dropped from 48.3% to 43.6% in the mean time. The share of the top quintile, however, rose from 45.3% to 51%, suggesting that the top quintile monopolized half the income, while the bottom quintile had to be content with a meagre 7% of the total income. The number of poor increased as the lower middle class was pushed to poverty.

 

The growth process comprises impoverishment of traditional norms and social structure besides the resources in being pro-rich if not anti-poor. If we go by the history 

 

An analysis of the sources of growth during the period 2000-01 to 2004-05 shows that the composition of growth during the period was pro-rich rather than pro-poor. It was fuelled mainly by the services sector, (particularly banking and communications) which contributed 60 per cent of GDP growth during the period and the manufacturing sector – primarily manufacture of automobiles, luxury consumer electronics, cement and textiles – which contributed 30.4 per cent of GDP growth during this period.

 

It is clear that GDP growth during the period was overwhelmingly pro-rich since none of the sectors which mainly constituted the growth were either producing goods for the poor or directly providing employment to them.

 

In fact the labour force survey data of the government shows that unemployment rates rose sharply from 6.1 per cent in 1999 to 8.3 per cent in 2004. Therefore the nature and composition of GDP growth during this period could not be expected to have substantially reduced poverty.

 

Thanks to the economic debacle of the 1970s, initiation of cross breeding of socialists with capitalists, more and more people have been pushed below the poverty line. The cost of living has gone up several times. If we go by the price of a bread, which was available for one eighth of a rupee in the 1950s and is now available for five rupees, the cost of living must have gone up by 40 times. This suggests that the 2250 calories that could be afforded for each person of the family with an income of Rs 500 in the 1950s is now available to it if it can afford Rs 8,000 per month. This is why every one of a five member family strives to earn at least 10,000 rupees otherwise it will have to live in poverty. But the average income of the lower 50% population is only six to eight thousand. The benefits of development instead of going into the lower middle class and the poor went to the upper strata of the society.

 

The increase in prices during the ten months from October 1999 to August 2000 further eroded the savings of the middle class and the lower three quintiles of social stratification. The 80% population remained stunned thereafter since it had to spend a substantial portion of its income on food. Further increase during the next six months due to the fourth increase in petroleum prices in one year added to the miseries of the poor and to inflation. This has eroded their purchasing power further and squeezed them to impoverishment to the core.

 

VIP culture is a major manifestation of social pollution. Its prevalence in the upper strata of the society is responsible for the transfer of the household income into the top two quintiles and a redistribution of income of the lower strata due to inflationary pressure. Accordingly, it is the VIP culture that has inflated the share of the former by 5 to 10% and has proportionately deflated that of the lower quintiles. The second quintile from the top enjoys access to  facilities,  perks  and fringe benefits and hence capitalizes on the benefits more  than others.

 

VIP culture is responsible for infiltrating social pollution into the various strata of the society.  It has done so by starting to demand and enjoy the entitlement on a wide range of fringe benefits while in service. It keeps looking for these benefits even after retirement from active service. Dishonesty, a characteristic feature of social  pollution,  is only lamented and politicized, and hence it remains unpunished in this country. A fair share of the household income is taken away by corrupt practices, the lavish living  of  the  civil  and military   bureaucrats,   the   landlords, traders and the industrialists. They together constitute the top 10% population of Pakistan. No one pays for the lavish living of this top 10% except the salaried tax payer, while the  process  unfortunately remains unarrested. The corruption at various levels in different departments, as well as the exuberance appearing as VIP culture, according to statement of Nawaz Sharif in 1997, costs the nation a daily loss of Rs 2 billion. The loss has since increased by a factor of 5 since the topmost quintile has been maintaining the VIP culture; it will continue to be dominated by the bureaucracy, while Rs 10 billion per day, the cost of social pollution, are being borne by the  tax payer.

 

The feudal infrastructure and VIP culture, instead of getting smashed and forming part of history, has consolidated its gains during the last decade and is seen operating at each tier of the hierarchy. It will have to be the destruction of this infrastructure and culture that will reverse the process of impoverishment and it will only be after the demolition of the fortress of social pollution that poverty will be eradicated.

 

Impact of Social Pollution on Physical & Social Environment

 

Deviation of national polity from its course of development which is to secure the maximum good for the well being of the maximum people, shows the governing hierarchy of the country are not keeping the greater good of the people in mind and hence are indulging in dichotomy. When this deviation is compounded by various components of social pollution, viz. VIP culture, cronyism, patronage intrigue, manipulation, dishonesty, and incompetence, one gets the feeling that the society is getting degenerated and is sinking into the disordered system characterized by high entropy of the society. When the daily perception and experience is indicative of escalating inefficiency in administration and when people can not get their jobs done without giving a bribe in public dealing government offices, ministries and divisions, and also when dishonest and inefficient managers of the economy or the governance system escape with booty amassed during their tenure in office, it shows widespread corruption and social pollution.

 

Impact of social pollution is directly on the economy. Informal economy swells in the polluted social environment since business deals involving corrupt officials cannot be enforced in state courts and are only occasionally subjected to official rate of taxation. Business people rely on corrupt practices to pay fewer taxes, break legal rules and procedures and deal in informal economy. Since people pay fewer taxes, the state is not able to provide the services and public goods, which are necessary for economic growth. The informal economy in Russia and Ukraine had in 1995 grown far larger than in Poland and was estimated at 42%, 49%, and 13% respectively. In Pakistan it is yet to be ascertained whether the informal economy has a share of 50% or above.

 

Social pollution is induced by the top of the stratum into the lower strata, and also by the rich countries of the north to use the competing commercial interests among the poor and developing countries of the south against one another. The multinational agencies and corporations, in collusion with their governments exploit the poor countries and their masses and the governing hierarchy of the countries aid this process of exploitation. Such groups are blinded by promises of luxuries and siphoning of dirty money, and have by promoting collaboration between the governing hierarchy and multinational corporations, MNCs done irreversible damages to their country. The collaboration helps the former in gaining control by keeping the masses economically, politically and socially impoverished and the latter in perpetuating their economic and political dominance.

 

The promised gains of investment have nowhere been realized unless the recipients of capital and technology were grounded in the masses at the grass root level. The capital and technology invested in the south by the rich countries of the north after World War II, have hardly made any difference anywhere unless the country had a system that was vigilant about the evil forces of social pollution. Only a few countries belong to the latter group and that is why only a tiny minority has now been able to make its way to the economic and industrial level of the times at the end of World War II.  It might have made a difference if such countries were in a majority, since they would have been dictating terms.

 

Corruption Perception Index & Social Pollution Criteria in Global Context

 

Good governance of democracy and democratic processes in a country is constrained by several components of social pollution, which raise the level of corruption. Transparency International has quantified the level of corruption by devising a scale of Corruption Perception Index, CPI, which has published for some 180 countries in the year 2008. The CPI scale has been developed with respect to the values attached by the society to democracy and trade. CPI Score, according to Transparency International, relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people, risk analysts and the general public and ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt). For arriving at the CPI it has used surveys to assess the performance of a country. At least 3 surveys are required for a country to be included in the CPI.

 

Analysis of CPI, used here as a pointer of social pollution criteria (SPC) shows that a lowering in the score causes deficiencies in democratic infrastructure. The governance system is the balance struck by the operation of the formal and informal organizations running parallel to one another. Good governance turns into poor when the driving force of social pollution causes the informal system to operate the vicious circle. Democratic processes have been instrumental in eradicating the evils of social pollution and reducing the disorderliness of the societies concerned. The process has been slow, however.

 

The driving force of social pollution is essentially the get-rich-quickly psyche, observed in developing countries as against enjoy-the-richness psyche operational in the industrialized countries. The level of corruption is different in the two cases, the former have the eyes of the corrupt set on accumulation of wealth while the psyche of those in the second group revolves around enjoying the richness and the amassed wealth is used for playing with it.

 

The industrialized world, in being dictated by its psyche i.e. enjoy the richness and resourcefulness, consumes twice as much in food, energy and other goods and services as it did 25 years ago. Those who have been left out in the developing countries pay the price of consumerism and the result has surfaced up in the form of degraded land; polluted rivers, air and the sea, and loss of biodiversity.

 

Such countries that have not attended to eradication of social pollution have a highly disordered governance system. Interestingly their 1998 to 2007 Corruption Perception Index, CPI score is low, suggesting that they are among the most socially polluted countries in the 1998 list of 85 and the 2001 list of 91 countries and 180 countries in the year 2007 compiled by Transparency International. Pakistan had a CPI score of 2.3 and ranked 80^th among the 91 countries in the 2001 CPI ranking and 138 in the list of 180 countries in 2007. In 1998 Pakistan’s score was 2.7 and it ranked 72^nd in the list of 85 countries, while in 2007 it had a CPI of 2.4 and ranked 138 among 180 countries, which shows that it has gone deeper in social pollution during the last ten years. Social pollution in Indonesia was at its highest in 2001 as indicated by the CPI score of 1.9 and ranking at 88^th position among the 91 countries. In 2007 Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Maynmar and Somalia are at the lowest level of CPI and SPC. This high level is borne by the dearth of public trust in the government and rise in frustration over the lack of change of economic fortunes and genuine political reforms.

 

CPI and SPC analysis also suggests that Pakistan is among the group of 50 countries which have a CPI score of less than 2.5 and where the level of social pollution is the highest. Brazil, India, and Saudi Arabia are slightly better with SPC at 3.5

 

A second group can also be identified from the list of countries published in 2007 by Transparency International. It comprises according to the present analysis, countries engaged in the exploitation of others resources, in dictating terms of trade and are the ones accused of globalizing social pollution, obvious examples being Japan, France, USA and Israel, all with a score of 7.5 to 6.0. CPI score of above 3.5 shows the capability to influence weaker economies  and as it rises above 6.5 it identifies countries which have the capability to dictate terms to exploit the resources of  weaker and emerging economies.

 

The group of countries whose CPI is above 6.0 has incidentally a large network of MNCs through which social pollution induced in their own system is imposed on weak economies. These countries have the capability to enhance market forces to open the economies of developing countries for their products. The Asian economies which have been in turmoil also fall in this group and they are known to have ascended the growth ladder by exploiting others resources e.g. the interest of Taiwan in making investments in setting up industries in developing countries around the world. With an increase in affluence, South Korea and Malaysia are placed 43^rd with a score of 5.1, and Taiwan at 34^th with 5.7.

 

Such countries which have duly attended to eradication of social pollution and have reduced the disorderliness in their governance system form a third group of 8 countries with CPI score ranging between 9.0 and 9.4, ranking among the top eight. On top are Denmark, Finland and New Zealand with SPC at 9.4. The high CPI/SPC score suggests that they are among the least socially polluted countries. They have the reputation of being unconcerned with pushing in democracy, and in enhancing market forces to open the economies of other countries for their products. They were not directly participating in the affairs of the cold war and they (Denmark and the Netherlands being exceptions) do not have a large network of MNCs nor are their corporations ambitious in getting their products in by any means. The secret of their success is honesty, commitment to quality control and non-interference in affairs of others.

 

A close examination of the characteristics of the high CPI score and low ranking countries suggests that their system of governance is neither autocratic nor bureaucratic, but is merit-based i.e. their actions and inactions are weighed against merit. Their social structure is dynamic. High literacy rate and imparting education in the language of the people characterizes their society. There is no gender bias and women are an integral part of the work force.

 

The other characteristics are that they have evolved an exemplary public order through local government and judiciary. They were not colonized by a foreign government and hence do not have the parasitic social elites with feudal psychological frame of mind in contrast with the developing countries. They have all been through a civil war, which put their nationhood at stake; the war was among patriots. The system of governance was the issue during their civil wars. None of their citizens is dubbed a traitor nor dehumanized in like manner. Their armed services and nuclear weaponry are firmly in the hands of civil authorities.

 

There is no concept of the rural landowner being a dominant political force. Agricultural production accounts for 20% of the GDP but they are self sufficient in basic food grains. They have a set of highly developed political parties, governed by an internal electoral process. The parties function alongside the bureaucracy in all tiers of the government. They have a stable body politic and have the ability to implement the full authority of the state without exception. Russia and China may be different from the others but the two of them are also undergoing profound transformation of their societies without any kind of social mayhem which has, in Pakistan and other countries in Asia, snowballed from a neighbourhood street fight and traffic accident.

 

They are self-sufficient in agricultural production and also in practically all key natural resources. They are not vulnerable for their energy requirement, and have autarky in steel production, a large engineering industry and hence a comprehensive industrial base, which contributes to their superiority over all others in the developing countries. To utilize these capabilities, they have evolved such external trade patterns that do not make them vulnerable to financial or commodity blackmail. Above all they have a national goal and a commitment to achieve certain targets.

 

It may be seen therefore that it is by virtue of their inherent strengths characterized by low entropy factor and an orderly social structure that the top industrialized countries have been entitled to have the superior status, rather than the possession of immense resources of minerals, energy or nuclear capability.

 

Pakistan and the other 100 countries with a low CPI score have, in contrast high social pollution level, and a parasitic elite social class which governs their national psyche. Those in the governing hierarchy are internal colonists who have invariably sapped the energy and strength of their country and impoverished their resource potential thus retarding their progress at every stage. It has, however, been observed that it is neither the system nor the network but the psychological framework of an unorganized system or its psyche which governs the actions of the governing hierarchy, and and besides impoverishment of their own resources, is transferring the benefits from the lower strata to the top.

 

 

The qualifications of a manager of a unit of governance system in the countries with a low CPI/SPC level is not merit but contacts, patronage, cronyism; the capability to pillage, rob and loot public funds; proficiency to enter into all acts of breach of trust; capacity to misappropriate national funds, default bank loans, deposits with banks and to use them to gain favours or contesting elections. These countries, according to the analysis being presented here, have such people returning to the parliament who have been accused of misgovernance, abuse of power, corruption and removed for corruption, but they are returned because they belong to a network of elites, born to govern their country.

 

World trade has been a success for free economies because while democratizing capitalism globally, the trading partners in developed countries have demanded standardization of quality of products, environmental protection, human rights etc. and have constrained the developing countries to open their market. For this purpose all the countries of the world have had to lower their trade barriers so that goods and services could be sold across the borders without restriction. The credit for this success goes to the countries with medium level CPI, led by USA, which forced the developing countries to break their network.

 

Countries with medium level CPI working for democratizing capitalism provide the driving force for the enjoying-the-richness psyche. They are the ones who will have to change their psyche to sharing-the-resources in order to break the vicious circle which is responsible for corruption in developing countries where it has created a global network of facilitators and middlemen. The suggested change is possible since if globalizing of corruption has been achieved by intensifying the driving force of social pollution, its reversal is equally attainable by controlling the same forces. This can be achieved by pooling up the resources for sharing the richness in resources and technology by globalizing them.

 

With corruption rampant all over the world, international organizations, multinational firms, and donors have already invigorated their efforts in emphasizing on ways and means to fight corruption and to offer aid based on effective reform programs. Pakistan was once told that almost half of the development budget is siphoned away and even the so-called prestigious Social Action Programme (SAP) of $8 billion could not be saved from corrupt practices and gross misappropriation of funds. It is because of the above reasons that all the international donor agencies have asked the Government of Pakistan to effectively check corruption in government agencies through good governance.