Karachi’s growing parasitic rich

Privilege is a concept most (rich) Pakistanis don't want to talk about or deal with. Every year, Zakat commercials kick in during Ramazan to make people aware of the people below the poverty line - but despite them, trolleys and shopping markets are still bustling and consumerism is at its peak. Easily swept under the rug by Instagram posts or celebrity scandals, privilege isn't a concept that the more fortunate are too comfortable with. They don't want to hear it. Or know of it.

With an ever-increasing middle class and its drive to look better, feel better and live better, the already-rich feel they have won at life already. To notice the rich in Karachi, you need to be able to acknowledge privilege yourself. After moving from Canada two years ago, the trash, the load-shedding, and the crowds didn't bother me so much. If anything, they made me feel at peace with the reality of working in a developing country. What did bother me the most was the rich and privileged that would drink, party, and even run over people if need be, for their convenience. I realize this is a small percentage that exists in society, but is albeit a powerful one. The rich youth is actually more toxic than its older counterparts, that will soon not live, but their offspring will continue to exercise their privilege over others for their gain - that too, without realization. 

The same youth will drink alcohol within their limits when they travel abroad, but within the streets of DHA, it is okay for them to drive drunk. For them, it is also okay to shout or yell at a poor person begging for a few 10 rupees at the stoplight or for touching their precious BMWs and Mercedes in 40 degrees Celsius. They also don't want to share space with the poor at hospitals like Aga Khan University. They also fear their children will be kidnapped in a blink of an eye, if not held on too tightly in a bustling market or mall like Dolmen. They also don't mind the barbed wires, the high walls or the unnecessary need for security vehicles to jam roads near Marriott, Movenpick and Pearl Continental - right next to the financial hub of the city. For them, it is their safety and convenience over the inconvenience of others, because somehow they consider themselves to be more valuable than the rest of the country folk.

To them, buying a bridal dress worth 12 lakhs is alright, but to give 10 rupees to a "gang" of the poor beggars at Teen-Talwaar is “giving in” to evil. Don’t get me wrong – if you’re able to afford an elaborate wedding, birthday or bridal shower, kudos to you, but with a sense of empathy and a streak of philanthropy for the less fortunate would be much appreciated.

(Most of) the rich in Karachi are also obsessed with their ability to afford everything – (which defines privilege). They can buy water from tankers with no qualm. It doesn't bother them to use water wastefully through their yards. It also does not bother them if their wasteful habits have a direct impact on the slums that live near them. It also does not bother them to use a child under the age of 10 as a "slave" (pardon me, I mean a nanny) to take care of a child half her age. It also does not bother to ridicule these house helps that depend on every few 1000 rupees. But then again, it also does not bother them when they boast quite loudly, how they've supported the family by giving them a safe place to live in the boundaries of their home next to where their 80,000 rupees worth prize-winning Labrador also sleeps. "Hey, I've saved the child from prostitution", some say and indeed they must have. They must have also stolen their childhood from them, but how does it matter? Because privilege is a term not understood by them, though they live it every minute of every day. 

Enforcing mandatory volunteer hours into curriculum of private schools is a way to encourage a realization of privilege. NGOs across Pakistan require help beyond financial assistance every day. Indus Hospital, AKU, Edhi Home, SIUT, and Ayesha Chundrigar Foundation (ACF) are just some that can take in 100s of students every weekend to assist in the saving of lives. It will not just be a way to support the poor, but also to enforce a sense of empathy in the growing rich and upper middle class that are also the biggest brain drain in this country. 

Majority of graduates of good schools, such as Karachi Grammar School, and universities, such as Dow Medical University & AKU, strive to go abroad to work and settle - leaving behind only a few of the best brains to squander for jobs hardly relevant to their professions. Enforcing a sense of empathy can assist in retaining youth to stay back to improve the corrupt, broken systems that we are among. Further, mandatory volunteer hours can also be enacted within HR policies to make employees and companies cognizant of their impacts (both negative & positive) to the communities they work with and around.

While our city (and country) continues to maneuver through faulty infrastructure and developmental flaws, there is little to no resource focusing on the social paradigms of our diverse communities. If harnessed now, through schools, universities and businesses, we will be able to build an empathetic, more humane place for all. If not, the rich and their power will continue to grow parasitically, engulfing everything precious in barbed wires and high walls to keep away the less fortunate and the poor – even parks and beaches.