from Hacker News

Eric Schmidt's thoughts about Pakistan

by irfan on 6/22/12, 7:05 AM with 118 comments

  • by omarqureshi on 6/22/12, 11:01 AM

    British Pakistani here.

    Schmidt has not seen Pakistan for what it really is - a cesspool of corruption and poorly educated people.

    Pakistan has two major problems. Primarily, education of the people ... what good is a democracy if people cannot understand the democratic system - nor see past the public visage and look deeply into what kind of person a political candidate is.

    This poor education leads Zardari (a corrupt politician who has ties to the murder of Murtaza Bhutto) only coming to power due to a three way effect of a sympathy vote (assassination of Benazir Bhutto), bribery and threats to people who work on his land (he is one of the largest land owners in Sindh). Nowhere else in the world would a criminal become the president of a nation.

    The secondary problem is ALL the corruption from the upper levels of politics, to the police itself. If you're caught speeding in Pakistan, simply apologise to the officer who has caught you and slip him a few hundred rupees.

    Want to get out of the airport faster by not having your bags security checked? Slip 500 rupees to the security officer.

    Are you the prime minister of the country being investigated for money laundering? Make the lives hell for judges and lawyers.

    Fix the education problem and everything else will fall into place and this is something that I truly hope that PTI will do, should they on the unlikely chance get into power (I say unlikely as I envisage that the PPP will somehow manage to bullshit their way through another election).

  • by asto on 6/22/12, 10:21 AM

    Eric Shmidt's opinion on this topic has no value. People like him are treated way better than ordinary people in Muslim countries. People like me can be arrested/executed for the silliest of reasons [1][2][3]

    I wouldn't ever go to a Muslim country because some rich dude said it's quite alright. What works for them needn't work for me.

    [1]http://articles.cnn.com/2012-03-13/asia/world_asia_pakistan-... [2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamza_Kashgari [3]http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/iran-must-halt-execution-web-...

  • by pknerd on 6/22/12, 11:23 AM

    A Pakistani from Karachi here.

    What actually amaze me most of the time that people consider Pakistan similar to Afghanistan and they believe that Pakistan == FATA region. The reality is that Fata is not even 5% of Pakistan and the region is disturbed because of invasion in Afghanistan and closed cultural ties between FATA and Afghans.

    Totally agree about Mobile penetration in Pakistan. It is something similar to Africa. The difference that in Pakistan there is no wider acceptance of mobile usage other than sending useless SMS and Spams. There are only 2 companies offer mobile payments and that are also not TRUE mobile payments.

    The technology is quite enjoyed by Pakistanis both in rural and urban areas. The biggest obstacle is corruption and politicians itself who don't let people to get educated.

  • by zack12 on 6/22/12, 10:22 AM

    I live in Lahore which is one of the three major cities in Pakistan. Trust me, what he says about electricity is absolutely true. Right now I am sitting which out any electricity. My internet modem is on UPS so that I can have uninterrupted internet. As far as computer is concerned, I have to religiously charge my laptop whenever there is electricity so that I can use the laptop during the load shedding times.. Since its so hot( I am sweating right now no fan, and the temperature is 50 C), my laptop heats up which usually causes my graphics card to burn out. Just bought my third laptop in last 12 months. Desktop computers are out of question.

  • by raheemm on 6/22/12, 9:41 AM

    I spent a few days in Pakistan last week, specifically in Karachi. I found the people to be very polite, the city vibrant and modern (much more so than I expected), and in spite of their enormous challenges, there are pockets of growth and development (telecom, islamic banking). Like much of South Asia, these developments are in spite of the government.

    There also seemed to be an air of optimism about the prospects of Imran Khan becoming the next Prime Minister. I asked my taxi driver what might cause Imran Khan to lose and he mentioned if America does not want him, he wont become PM.

    Here is an interview of Imran Khan with Julian Assange - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WacS98ATtIM

  • by jorahmormont on 6/22/12, 8:42 AM

    The following article by a Pakistani-Indian is a good read and explains the fundamental problem that Pakistan faces. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230491110457644...

  • by draggnar on 6/22/12, 11:47 AM

    Vice magazine recently went to karachi and made a fascinating documentary. The situation on the ground is pretty bad.

    http://www.vice.com/the-vice-guide-to-travel/the-vice-guide-...

  • by kamakazizuru on 6/22/12, 8:37 AM

    great read - but in the process of painting a peachy picture for the future, he glosses over a huge core problem that pakistan has. The fact that a significant part of its identity is based on being the anti-india.

  • by ern on 6/22/12, 12:25 PM

    the rest of Pakistan for the average citizen, much larger than the first and which is reasonably misunderstood and relatively safe;

    I'm not an expert on the topic, but if Karachi[1] can be regarded as "relatively safe", the Pakistan has bigger problems that I imagined.

    [1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/30/karachi-ethnic-f...

  • by pknerd on 6/22/12, 11:36 AM

    Interview of Imran Khan, the budding politicians and ex successful cricket Captain, you will learn more and have more authentic view about Pakistan.

    Julian Assange interviews Imran Assange

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an-AJIqN_r4

  • by DanielBMarkham on 6/22/12, 12:38 PM

    The emergent middle class of Pakistan won’t settle for a corrupt system with constant terrorism and will push for reforms in a burgeoning democracy. Here’s to the new civil society of Pakistan, who will use connectivity, information and the Internet, to drive a peaceful revolution that brings Pakistan up to its true potential.

    Gosh, I sure hope so. Maybe Eric should talk to some of the Green Revolution folks.

    I don't mean to be cynical, but the desires of the emerging middle class are going to have to compete -- perhaps with great violence -- with the desires of the established interests. That's what happens when political systems aren't able to auto-correct and run for many decades.

    The question I would have like Schmidt to answer is this: is Pakistan a country? That is, does it control its borders, is the government the sole user of force against the population, is there a place where international partners can go and ask for and receive redress when wronged by citizens of Pakistan?

    I don't think it is. Or if it is, it's a close call.

    Having said all of that negative stuff, I wish the people living in Pakistan the best. An emerging middle class, along with a decent education and unfettered internet access, is their best shot at a happier tomorrow.

  • by capex on 6/22/12, 10:39 AM

    In terms of startups, Pakistan is being let down by the banking bureaucracy. Paypal doesn't work in Pakistan, and there is no official explanation of why it is so. Lacking a mode of easy/ secure online payments, startups are kind of dead in Pakistan at this time.

  • by siculars on 6/22/12, 1:27 PM

    The only thing that will save Pakistan is a complete disassociation with radical Islam. That, more education and less corruption. Godspeed.

  • by nodata on 6/22/12, 8:19 AM

    Is this really Eric Schmidt? How do we verify a Plus account?