For a country to become a great and prosperous, its people have to be passionately enthused and united for its success. The whole nation must be pulled in the same direction in its own individual way. This can only happen when the majority of the people are highly motivated and the morale is soaring.
In Pakistan, a very small, equal to nothing minority is nation building but we have not yet even tried to reach that critical mass. It is this low morale among the majority, which is a big hurdle to Pakistan's development and industrialisation.
We are a nation that has lost hope, where low morale is a life-sapping problem. Breath by breath creativity, energy, self-belief and even hope are gradually suffocating the nation. The most destructive element is that the good work by those that create wealth and prosperity is eroded by the hopelessness and lack of economic activity by the majority. Low morale makes people disloyal to their work that causes economic loss through loss in productivity, lower taxation revenues and lack of spending power by consumers. As they cannot participate in the national development they have become a political and economic burden, an impediment to growth.
Take any town or city in the country and talk to a common man in the street, you will find him de-motivated and distraught. It seems that these persons who should have been the engine of the nation, have actually lost the pilot. Where the only echo in the towns is "get me out of here, take me anywhere," as if it's some god-forsaken nation. Why is Pakistan in this predicament?
The building of a nation is not just the responsibly of the elite few, the majority must stir economic activity to propel its advancement through wealth-creating activities such as workshops, offices, factories and so on. For the nation to realise its potential and the government to meet its financial, political and economic targets, it must act now to redress the issue of low morale.
The nation needs a mission, a goal that each and every individual can identify with, at some level. A common aspiration, that is believable and achievable, arousing passion and loyalty in the hearts and minds of active Pakistanis. A collective goal is required to build the sprit and morale of this nation where negative thinking recedes to an insignificant level. People need to be inspired, to have self-belief and belief in the nation, and that can only come from raising the morale of the people to new heights. The nation needs a new paradigm and the quest for high morale is the key.
Lets set a goal, a goal that is realistic. Here is the challenge - Pakistan as "the most exciting investment opportunity in Asia." Let this be the brand value of Pakistan. Let us tell our people that we will become the investor's choice by 2012. This is not merely the goal of the government but the goal and responsibility of the people of Pakistan. Those that play a part in nation building such as educational intuitions, the media, businesses and politicians are the movers and shakers that hold the challenge. Goals must be set to achieve this at federal, provincial and local level with clearly measurable and visible targets. The whole nation needs to make an the effort, thus sharing the benefits in jobs and creating a better future for their children. The benefits must be articulated clearly and easily accessible to the people. Let us encourage the people that together we are bringing the prosperity of the west to Pakistan; bringing the world to Pakistan. It is now in Pakistan's grasp to become the most respected Muslim nation on the planet. What a brand that would be!
The media across its spectrum is a key player in this vision and they must be briefed of their duty to make this a reality. They must produce programmes, contents, events, narratives that inspire and motivate people. We must talk more about success at the foundation level rather than the haughty pomp of cabinet ministers meeting with the world's political elites.
The media has to follow the lead of the government in carefully considered non-partisan images of national success. We only have to look at the film industries of successful nations and how they use the media to promote patriotism, national pride and motivation.
The media must take more responsibility in producing high quality content, rather than brain-rotting soaps and other rubbish that the nation is sadly addicted to. The media moguls have so far been reckless, so you young creative Walla's get your act together.
Schools and other teaching institutions have a moral obligation to build hope in young people. Structured morale-building education needs to be built into the curriculum as a core subject where students are motivated by success stories of the heroes of today, rather than historical heroes, as we never seem to learn from history. The nation will feel more akin to today's business leaders, social workers, and other people that have positively impacted Pakistan.
Leaders and politicians should, for once exercise their responsibility to provide a duty for caring for the good of the nation. As a young and developing country, with the potential to become the most respected and powerful Muslim country in the world, only the politicians can kill the party. They now have to stop public and petty rows with the opposition and realise the nation is looking at them to set the compass and values of the nation. Come, let's think ahead, and let's give the nation a break.
Pakistan's morale can be kneaded further by acknowledging the success stories of successful Pakistanis around the world to enthuse the nation's drive for ambition. The talent and creativity of Pakistani people is well renowned across the globe. Just look at the number of Pakistani people that run multinationals across the world and the people that excel in the any field of human and business life, whether it is medicine, art or finance. It is not an exaggeration then, to say that Pakistan has some of the most creative, energetic, intellectual and hard working people in the world. We need people like these, the heroes of today and role models, whether they are entrepreneurs, doctors or writers. Lets talk and publicise more about the inward investment by overseas Pakistanis and multinationals.
Acknowledgement and reward is entitled, if not owed to those that are self-made, who, against all odds, succeeded with very little hope or support and have blossomed, now imprinting their positive energy onto society. The success is infectious, it is a morale-boosting pill. It is incredibly important to drip-feed success stories of every kind to the nation in every way possible, at every opportunity.
It is quite amazing that when a nation is at war, both the young and old are motivated to fight and are ready to die for the nation. And while the disease of poor morale in a form of malignant cancer curbing economic prosperity it is ignored and often goes undiagnosed. The government now needs to declare war on apathy. It needs to create the same climate of morale building as when it is at war. The same principles apply. So, what is the government waiting for? Kill apathy before it kills the nation. Build morale and build the nation.
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