PARTLY FACETIOUS: Difference between perception and reality

“Hmmmm…”

“Really? That’s it?”

“All I can say is that theories are dated, they can be right one decade and wrong the next…”

“Really?”

“Will you stop saying that! Take an example — privatisation was regarded as the solution to all problems way back when Margaret Thatcher was the British Prime Minister – now decades later after empirical evidence became available privatization maybe a solution to some of the problems some of the time…”

“Reminds me what The Khan said about fools – that you can fool some of the people some of the times but not all the people all the time…”

“And in the political milieu that he operates within these days that divides people into Khanzadehs defined as those who can be fooled, Nawalas and Zardis who will not accept The Khan’s version of truth — and…and wait I reckon neither the Nawalas nor the Zardis took as big a bite as the Khanzadehs…”

“I can bet you anything that if these two return to power the size of the nawala they would expect would be far larger than in the pre-2018 era.”

“Well, I would just like to present an alternative rationale for Pakistan slipping in the recent Transparency report from 124 position to 140 now…”

“You are not going to argue that the survey reflects a perception and not reality?”

“No I am not going to say that.”

“And I also hope you are not going to say that those who contributed to the survey and the surveyors both had it in for The Khan?”

“No, though that’s not a bad defense.”

“So what are you going to say?”

“Well, I am amazed that The Khan’s large media team didn’t come up with the most obvious explanation. Let me give you a hint: inflation is very high not because of any government policy, and the media team has been instructed to focus on Ehsaas, Panagahs, Sehat card…”

“But because of the global economy!”

“Viola so Pakistan’s poor performance in the Transparency corruption perception index is because some other dratted countries, 16 in all, began to manipulate the surveys and the surveyed and…”

“So the fault dear Brutus is not ours but Caesar’s.”

“The correct quote is the fault dear Brutus is not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings.”

“Doesn’t apply here – the fault is Caesar’s, read the US, and The Khan has already told them absolutely not…”

“I give up.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022