Cynicism and the Theory of Lesser Evil

[Here is the part 4 of the article: "Cynicism and Pakistan."]

The Theory of Lesser Evil (TLE) is a manifestation of cynicism. As cynicism finds its meaning mainly in negativity and faultfinding, TLE too believes that everything is Evil; there is no Good. If everything is Evil, and there exists no Good, then what we are free to do is make a choice between all the Evil things. Nonetheless, TLE makes room for things which are more Evil and which are less Evil. This seems to be a ploy to carve out a niche for human choice; otherwise, if everything is Evil, then there is no question of making any choice. In that case, we are all condemned and doomed to live with Evil. But the choice between the things more Evil and the things less Evil allows for us to live with things which are less Evil. Herein lie the roots of the Theory of Lesser Evil.

So the first thing which requires to be explained is: the TLE as a manifestation of cynicism holds no water. Cynicism itself, which believes in all-pervasive negativity, is inconsistent. Even if it is not rejected on its own view that “everything is negative” as negative, it may be challenged by its self-defeating argument: it views everything as negative. It is this view about things which helped man improve upon and evolve the things. In another sense, by declaring negativity as over-riding, it may have exhorted and appealed people to think and act about changing them. That means at least in one of its outcomes, cynicism appeared not as negative, and thus helped man move forward. In addition, it may be noted that in its total or not-so-total rejection of everything as negative and faulty, cynicism by implication seeks to align with an all pure perfectionism.

Also, cynicism is a view about things and not a statement of fact about things which it tries to feign. In that sense, as one view among so many others, it mirrors merely one aspect of reality. Since as a philosophical view, cynicism may not be confined to personal considerations of men in case of whom it is based on negative experiences, and since all of their experiences could not have been negative, and it is certain other factors such as bent of mind, psychic perspectives, etc, which may have caused them to be cynical in their attitudes, their cynicism turns out to be a matter of attitude and not of their philosophical view. That clarifies the cynical position of Paki cynics as grounded in their personal attitudes, and not as a consistent view about the things prevailing in the country. That is most obvious in the realm of politics, where due to their cynical attitudes, intellectuals and commentators have miserably failed to understand and analyze the nature of the polity of Pakistan; and thus their cynicism tries to justify the same polity which they declare as absolutely negative.

Let it be admitted that it’s not clear whether it was gradually increasing voter turnout in elections that forced cynics to propound the Theory of Lesser Evil so that the participation of comparatively overwhelming majority of the citizens in elections could be justified or it was the other way round, and though I find myself on the side of the former view, I think it requires detailed research to establish the temporal precedence of the fact of voter turnout over the TLE’s formulation and also to sort out when and how the TLE came to be formulated. However, be that as it may, there is this Theory of Lesser Evil which till now prevails as the dominant view about the things political in Pakistan.

It may also be noted here that although the Theory of Lesser Evil is a manifestation of cynicism, at the same time it needs to be realized that the TLE is inconsistent with an over-riding cynicism; that is, how it unravels the essence of cynicism and breaks out of the cynic shell to connect with the reality strikes at its own root. In that it creates space for two things. First, that not everything is negative and we may not succeed to find fault with everything. Second, that despite the fact that everything is negative and faulty, there are certainly such things which are not that negative and not that faulty as others are which may be said totally negative and totally faulty. That is, it is such things which are less negative and less faulty with which we can connect. That’s something verily positive; it accepts the negative reality and sees some parts of the reality or political reality as acceptable since they are less negative and less faulty.

In view of the above, it may be concluded that perfectionism as a cherished ideal aside, in reality things may both be evil and good; it means nothing is perfectly good or perfectly evil with an either-or choice. That amounts to saying that, for instance, in a situation all the things may appear evil, but in fact they are not; this or that or something/s may be good, and it is with such a thing that we need to connect not only to strengthen it but to increase the magnitude of good also. In the realm of politics, it translates to mean that not every political party is perfectly evil or perfectly good; not every idea and act of a political party is evil or perfectly good; it may be both, but this or that political party or this or that idea and act of it may in fact be good, and it is with this or that political party or this or that idea and act of it that we need to connect not only to strengthen it but to encourage and fight the evil also. That is absolutely essential to discourage, weaken and debunk cynicism in Pakistan in the field of politics and in general as well if we want to come out of the false spell of the Theory of Lesser Evil.

One last point: a cynic or not-a-cynic may raise the question: how to judge which political party or which of its idea and act is good or which evil. Simply, it’s the constitution which provides us with that yardstick that helps see and identify good and evil in the realm of politics especially. Another lesson: not only the “ends” of a party but its “means” also which it adopts to seek them need to be judged on the touchstone of the constitution. Finally, as the constitution is basically a moral document, we are bound to judge how far every political party and every idea and act of it is in accordance with the values of the constitution of the country, and also how far it accords with the moral values of humanity.

Link to the 1st part of this article: Cynicism in Pakistan 

Link to the 2nd part of this article: Cynicism and the politics in Pakistan 

Link to the 3rd part of this article: Cynicism and the political evolution of Pakistan

Note: This article was completed on October 24, 2014.

Malala’s Peace Prize, cynics and ashraafists

The case of 2014 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Malala Yousafzai, which she shares with an Indian Kailash Satyarthi, who has devoted himself to the cause of child slavery, may be used as a litmus test should we want to know the bent of mind of any Pakistani fellow. This will help us know whether someone is a cynic or an ashraafist or both. Ask someone what he thinks about the Nobel Peace Prize for Malala; if he tells you, ‘Please, no joking!,’ be assured that he is both a cynic and an ashraafist. Some of the refined souls may be so artful that they would argue they are not this or that and are different from the lot; but their rhetoric reveals whether they are exclusively cynic or ashraafist only.

As cynics are souls in anguish who in their mysterious, unknown, and unknowable perfectionism find fault with everything and view everything from a standpoint of negativity, it seems with the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize for Malala they have been thrown out of the frying pan into the fire, i.e. into a world which may be dubbed perfectly imperfect. So how come in such a world an honor like that of Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Malala! The cynics will never be able to be in harmony with this fact; they cannot reconcile with this “strangest” thing. What the heck it has been given to a Pakistani, a girl, and a young girl, and a Pakhtun girl!

So much so that one friend who is thoroughly a cynic, and in his deepest perceptions maybe an ashraafist too, was so much outraged that he rang me and questioned me the same evening as if it was I who made this happen. He was completely puzzled, and quizzed me: “Why, but why she has been awarded this? Is it so? Why?” So the Paki cynics think, and they believe it too, that the young girl has done nothing. She has wrongly been awarded this prize; she doesn’t deserve that. Even if she has done something; it’s not such that she be given that award. They mean: It’s all politics behind this; they are capitalists, Americans, and such, who are behind her, and it is this politics because of which she has been awarded this Nobel Peace Prize. That’s a big conspiracy. She is not worth that honor; her work is far below the prestige of the Prize. Who the hell they are who make such decisions! The Paki cynics feel helpless in the face of that “injustice;” they would stop it by force if they could!

All that rhetoric that revolves not only around the opposition of Malala Yousafzai but has found an impetus, albeit negative, in the awarding of the Peace Prize permeates with another hidden tendency. That is Ashraafism (Urdu: Ashraafiyat, or Ashraaf-Pasandi). Let it be noted here that the English term “Elitism” may somewhat be nearer Ashraafism as far its meaning is concerned; however, it is far from conveying the full range of the meanings the Urdu term carries. The Urdu word Ashraaf has a history of its own; it has two connotations: one is its moral implications; and the other, its social, political and economic implications. It’s antonym in Urdu is Ajlaaf, which similarly has the same connotations.

In its moral sense, Ashraaf means persons who are considered with high moral standing in a society; whereas Ajlaaf are such persons whose moral standing is measured at a lower or the lowest level, or they are with no moral standing. In English, they may be translated as Noble and Ignoble people. However, the social, political and economic senses of both terms are of immense significance; and in some ways, it is in these senses that Ajlaaf or the ignoble persons were considered with low or lowest moral standing or with none at all, and the Ashraaf with high moral standing.

As a matter of fact, the Ashraaf were such persons who were placed at a higher level in a society, not only socially and economically, but politically also. They were the rulers and custodians of that society. Opposed to them were their subjects, the Ajlaaf, whom the fate has situated at a lower or the lowest level of that society, and they had no power over their lives and bodies. They were the ruled and the stuff of that society.

What is remarkable about the Ashraaf or Ashraafiya is that not only was the whole of its Ashrafi paraphernalia based on but survived also via the concept of racial superiority and racial purity. Most of Lughaats and dictionaries tell that Ashraaf are ‘the people of noble birth.’ That puts a lot of emphasis on the ways marriages and blood relations were seen and conducted in an Ashraafi society. That did help Ashraaf contain property and privileges within their families and classes. For them, women were part of their property.

As against this, the Ajlaaf were such unfortunate people who were of ignoble birth. They were racially inferior and impure; they were originally, i.e.by birth ignoble. Not surprising that labor and physical work came to the share of the Ajlaaf. Thus occupations created castes, and both symbolized the Ajlaafi classes. That shuts all the doors for the Ajlaaf to go and move right or left or upward. That’s a closed society. It’s mainly two movements, Humanism and Democratism, that transformed that closed society into a Karl Popper’s open society. But the remnants of that Ashraafi closed society still survive and thrive as well in Pakistan.

Hence the Ashraafists argue how a girl from a non-Ashraaf can be honored with such a Prize. Let it be won by a daughter or son of an Ashraafiya, and they would be all praise for him or her. Once a friend whose family lived in Gowalmandi, Lahore, denigrated Nawaz Sharif thus: “Trash him; he just used to play in the streets of Gowalmandi!” In the same vein, Paki cynics and Ashraafists feel denigrated by this Peace Prize as being awarded to an ordinary girl; they do not see and commend her courage and work; nor her fortune! In their cynicism and ashraafism, they represent a closed society as well as closed minds!

Note: This article was completed on October 11 and was originally posted in October 2014.