The brain drain is a tough nut to crack for developing countries because it creates intellectual scarcity by depriving the country of its bright people. These geniuses use their energies and talents to serve the interests of the country to which they immigrate to fulfill their personal ambitions and lifelong aspirations. Burdened industrialized countries have more job opportunities than cash-strapped non-industrialized ones that lure their miserable inhabitants to leave their homeland with a glimmer of hope for a bright future. Well-established states make room for these intellectuals to absorb the talents of fledgling nations already facing many complex situations. Urbanized countries in the past plundered the wealth of fragile nations under the guise of monstrous colonialism and have now framed the WTO for plundering their resources in elegant fashion. But more important than economic exploitation and political marginalization is the continued stripping of these unfortunate countries of the assets of their talented people through Machiavellian techniques of tinsel and gold foiling. This one-way flow of progress has nurtured the fat countries by making the intellectual field of emerging nations bleak and barren. It is crystal clear that only bright lights and the salts of the earth can free their homelands from the quagmire of intricate national issues to advance in leaps and bounds.
Endless ambitions and unemployment force people to leave their homeland to settle where they can get jobs and well-paying wages. The volatile situation of law and order also results in the exodus of educated people. Authoritarian regimes that restrict free speech and suppress internal liberties in order to firmly grip the reins of power are also a major cause of brainpower sap. Favoritism, nepotism and sleaze shatter the people’s trust in institutions.
These bad practices frustrate competent members of the community by trampling on meritocracy. A country where merit is thrown to the sharks to nurture dishonesty cannot make any headway in the whirlwind of the contemporary melting pot. These unfair practices push gifted natives to try their luck elsewhere where they see a glimmer of anticipation for proper esteem and a distinguished career.
Thousands of skilled doctors, engineers, CPAs, teachers and other members of developing countries are working like beavers to sit for professional entrance exams in America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and European countries. These well-aligned countries select the bright candidates and push the rest back to their home countries while the sugarcane juice machine dumps the trash after squeezing the juice. Opportunity-brightened people spare no effort to settle permanently in the wealthy states. Some of them are left with no other option than to arrange a marriage on genuine or fake paper to obtain nationality. Dozens of them use unfair means to acquire false documents to escape the clutches of law enforcement agencies. Thus, the skinny countries from which these knowers are educated are left desolate and parched, continually adding to the melancholies of their citizens as a result of the vicious circle of brain drain. The nation-states to which they emigrate squeeze every last grain of energy to pay them dazzling dollars, pounds and euros. Thus, the brilliance and warmth of glowing coins permanently captivate overambitious individuals from plucked countries.
They never slipped out of the cocoon of this illusory trap that did not allow them to think about the miseries and agonies of their compatriots scrapping the bottom of the barrel. The illustrious poet Allama Iqbal appropriately attributed:
Nazar ko kheera karti hai chamak tehzib hazir ki
Ye sannai magar jhoote nigoon ki reza kari hai.
(The extravagance of contemporary civilization attracts the eyes, this craft is nothing more than the decoration of counterfeit pearls.)
In all developed countries the social status of specialists is very high. They are called men of the brain and the governments give them due respect and large salaries so that these geniuses serve the interests of their country with devotion, putting a firm footing. But in most developing countries, the social status of bureaucrats, politicians and brass hats is tremendously high. Several professionals sacrifice their line of work by joining authority related jobs or migrating to wealthy countries triggering a rampant ferocious phase of intelligence consumption. It is power-based social structures that force people to change their vocation. Some of the newly hired civil servants begin to calculate the money they can generate through dishonest means even before joining the position. Due to this bleak scenario, development in these countries is still stagnant.
The salaries of public officials who serve their vested interests rather than the public are no different from those of other government officials of the same rank. But all the regimes take it for granted that they would compensate through deceit and embezzlement because they have huge public funds at their disposal. Corruption of government officials in Pakistan is as common as water in the Amazon. The prerogatives and privileges enjoyed by the civil and military bureaucracy cannot be dreamed of by any other profession in the country. Since most bureaucrats marry into wealthy families, they need a huge amount of money to maintain their social status, and their salary is just the tip of the iceberg of their huge expenses. Therefore, they are left with no choice but to grease their palms.
The lack of self-sufficiency is the key factor in the perpetual miserable condition of developing countries. They have made a bad mistake to take advantage of the talent of their masses, which is essential to develop political and economic sovereignty. Therefore, they have been economically bullied and politically marginalized in the constellation of nations by the giant nations. Colossal nations practice democracy within their borders but outside they preach egalitarianism but carry out rigorous feudalism to deliberately keep Third World countries in a state of torpor so they cannot challenge their mandates and thwart hegemonic designs. in global affairs. They have deliberately created a global economic system based on interest and exploitation that does not allow growing countries to become self-sufficient. Most of the tough states are ruled by despotic rulers pampered by the alligators of the powerful states. Only brilliant people absorbed in patriotism can change the fate of a nation wrinkled by laziness and sleep, leading them to independence by smashing the alms bowl. The inhabitants of fledgling nations must hammer into their minds these radiant words:
When beggars hold out their bowl they don’t feel shy,
But they never enjoy the pleasures of independence;
They degrade themselves for a full meal,
Physically they live but morally they die;
The true spirits of life are self-sufficient,
Because the remedies in ourselves often lie.
There is a great institutional decay in developing countries. This wretched state of affairs is best suited to the cultivation of deceit, duplicity and double standards in the scam-plagued society. The dynamism of the institutions is mandatory to build public confidence in the functions of the State. But in dictatorial states their despotic rulers ruin the institutions to tighten their iron grip on the bristles of authority. These totalitarian potentates answer to no one. They crush nations for their lustful activities. The millions of these unfortunate countries are hoping against hope for a final recovery. Thus, autocratic regimes nullify the chances of success of competent people forcing them to settle in a country where their talent and style would be appreciated. Countries where personalities and pressure groups are more powerful than institutions cannot compete with nations where circumstances are 24 hours a day.
The emigration of intellectual people perpetually generates an intellectual deficit in emerging states that pushes them backwards. Only geniuses can free nations from intricate dilemmas. Therefore, to guard against the threat of brain drain, there is a pressing need to promote brain men rather than empower strong men, which can only worsen the already bleak picture. If the inhabitants of the weedy states are to make any progress in the present turmoil, then they must give due respect, gratuities and privileges to genuine intellectuals to gird up their loins to devotedly serve their destitute nations. In this way the danger of continuous loss of talent can be warned because it is rightly said that brains like hearts go where they are appreciated. It is obligatory for nations in progress to review all the institutions of their states. While appointing the heads of various institutions, meritocracy should be the ultimate criteria rather than focus and corruption because an honest boss can inject vitality into the organization by reducing the danger of rampant sleaze. An upright officer at the forefront of affairs can plug the gaps in the institution through sincere and pragmatic steps. A country suffers dangerously where rampant bribery is socially acceptable because it erodes the nation’s moral fabric. William Shakespeare (1564-1616), English poet and playwright, said precisely in his sonnet 94 (1609):
“For the sweetest things are made the bitterest by their actions:
Rotting lilies smell much worse than weeds.”
WRITTEN BY
Dr Tanvir Hussain Bhatti
Freelance columnist, poet and author of books“What plagues Pakistan?” and “Living Fireballs”
HOUSE NO.53, GHAZALI FLATS, GOR-IV, N-BLOCK, EXTENSION OF MODEL CITY, LAHORE. (Pakistan)