“To talk or not to talk, that is the question!”

“Much less of a dire narrative than Shakespeare’s to be or not to be, that is the question.”

“Indeed, but The Man Who Must Remain Nameless and Faceless has done a US-given pre-conditions for talks and…”

“And rightly so, I mean if you are the sole superpower you can do that and today The Man Who Must Remain Nameless and Faceless has a popularity that no one else in the country comes close to.”

“Right, but he isn’t the sole superpower if you know what I mean.”

“Indeed I do, but then the US isn’t the sole superpower in the world any more either – multipolarity rules the world today – China is competing financially with the US – Chinese economy is about 17 to 18 trillion dollars while the US is around 23 trillion dollars but with Chinese growth at 6 to 7 percent and the US at half the rate China is catching up, and I am not sure about China but Russia can take on the US militarily…”

“Are the US decision makers – outgoing and incoming, aware of that?”

“Well, not quite, though their academics/analysts/whistleblowers are ringing alarm bells…”

“Neither does The Man Who Must Remain Nameless and Faceless, and while the US power centres are refusing to see the writing on the world there are just blank prison walls for The Man Who Must Remain Nameless and Faceless, and he can imagine whatever he wants on those walls.”

“Right, so what do you reckon is the best way forward?”

“The range of failures is staggering. I reckon his subconscious is dictating actions that…”

“I think it’s the conscious, not the subconscious.”

“No I was referring to His Containership – he failed to negotiate on the twenty-sixth amendment, Bilawal had to step in to make that possible, he failed to set up a meaningful rival group of maulanas who in a press conference opposed The Maulana’s demand to implement the madrassa bill after it was approved by parliament, he gave the directive to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to block social media which is costing the general public millions of dollars of daily income and the country billions of dollars of foreign investment inflows and don’t forget the performance of our cricket team and…”

“But Brutus says he is honourable, and Brutus is an honourable man.”

“The correct quote is Brutus said he was ambitious, not honourable. Besides, two honourables don’t make a right.”

“Get your timing right – Brutus said that after he assassinated Caesar, not before.”

“Ahhhhhh.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024