Quantitative analysis has taken over every discipline in the social sciences, and destroyed it.
Students of politics, psychology, even history, are asked to quantify their findings, by attaching some type of number to them (e.g., some inanity like '63% of women prefer men with a sense of humour').
It is made to look intelligent by calculating regression coefficients, plotting graphs, coming up with formulae using mutliple betas.
This has been deliberately - and successfully - pushed by American state-backed institutions - CCF, Ford Foundation, RAND, etc. [ref, Saunders (1999), Amadae (2003), Solovey (2013)] to counter theoretical social sciences, which were seen as dangers to capitalism and liberal democracy.
Imbecilic empiricism rules academia now.
Same people who are celebrating war were celebrating Taliban killing Afghan defence soldiers , they were making fun of them surrendering and dying and they were celebrating the same Taliban who are now butchering our soldiers, police , children , women and men daily. It’s a shame
Pakistan if export raw or low–value goods while importing high-value, tech-intensive products reproduces unequal exchange where rising export volumes do not translate into economic sovereignty. Export-led strategies often rely on exploitive cheap labor benefitting global capital
The most important economic indicator for a country like Pakistan is exports. Unfortunately despite tall claims over the last 3 and a half years, our exports today are less than what the number was when present government took over in April 2022. NO FAILURE is bigger than this.
Sakib Sherani: “I have been covering the economy for the past thirty years; I have never seen such distress before as I have seen in these three years.
- The growth rate of 1.7% is the lowest growth rate in Pakistan’s history.
Investment has reached its lowest level.
- The poverty rate has reached 45%; this is the highest level in thirty years.
- Unemployment has reached 22%.”
Listen to Sakib give the numbers - they don’t lie. Yup, such is the stability.
If you want to understand how big the ongoing economic crisis is, just know that it has wiped out 10 years of wage gains for an average worker. Real wages in Pakistan have declined by 13% since FY21 and 19% since FY19. In fact, these are back to where these were before 2015.
Read of the day, by Akbar Zaidi, Executive Director IBA.
How badly Pakistan's economy is actually doing, while the Prime Minister declares it to be "out of the woods."
https://t.co/hY0WfOZn3F
The @timesofindia interviewed me about what actually happened in Lyari, which is far from the violent fantasy portrayed in #Dhurandhar. Ironically, it was the marginalisation of Muslims in Delhi that led to my interest in Lyari. Also, I had nothing to do with this awful headline.
There are few women in this country who deserve our unequivocal support as much as @ImaanZHazir. She is perhaps the most deserving successor of Asma Jahangir’s legacy. There is no issue of conscience she has not put herself on the line for at great personal cost /1
Reports of a suicide bombing in Nok Kundi, District #Chagai. Chagai is the site of #RekoDiq and #Saindak projects. Reko Diq is one of the world's largest undeveloped copper & gold deposits.
7 bomb blasts happened in #Balochistan yesterday and one a while ago in Turbat.
What Quetta has lost in the past year is that rhythm. People no longer express outrage,They simply stay quiet. They move through life in silence and that silence is the city’s greatest tragedy.
https://t.co/edvt9tIe0d
Overpopulation is often framed as an economic problem. This is missing the point. The main issue is the harm this causes to women's autonomy & well-being as they bear the burden of both childbirth & child-rearing. I wrote about this for @dawn_com. https://t.co/4DGXz3lS3v
Pakistan is the world’s only democracy where political parties, run like family private limited companies, are busy amending the Constitution, not to strengthen democracy, of course, but to legally formalise Field Marshal Law.
Also the fact that Zohran’s wife in Pakistan would have been slut-shamed. Pakistanis only like to support “progressivism” abroad.. what Pakistanis do in their own backyard is what they hate in West when they witness themselves
If Zohran was running in Pakistan, right now he would be sitting outside the Returning Officer's office having his result changed...
Pakistan was also ready, before its people were robbed.
Heartiest congratulations to @ZohranKMamdani on his historic win as Mayor of New York City. His victory reaffirms that Roti, Kapra aur Makan remain universal rights, a manifesto of dignity shared by people from Karachi to New York. A proud moment for progressives everywhere. 🇵🇰🤝🇺🇸
Muslim brotherhood is a myth! When we study impact of imperialism, its important to dig deep into Arab Muslim countries buying weapons, and drones doing vast investment in African countries like what UAE is doing to Sudan, how Saudis played proxy in Yemen, Pakistan in Afghanistan
You might wonder why the UAE is so obsessed with Sudan, alongside its obsession with other Red Sea nations like Somalia, Djibouti, and Eritrea, and why it keeps crossing every line and fueling chaos in the country.
The answer is simple: the UAE wants to dominate global food security while tightening its grip on every port along the Red Sea coast and building a maritime network reminiscent of what was once called the Omani Empire. To achieve that, it needs Sudan’s vast agricultural lands, its immense mineral wealth, and its strategic coastline.
Emirati companies like International Holding Company and Jenaan Investment already control over 50,000 hectares of farmland in Sudan, while the massive Abu Hamed project covers another 162,000 hectares. These projects are designed to secure the UAE’s food supply, not to help the Sudanese people.
But controlling such vast resources requires influence on the ground, otherwise, they risk being expelled just like they were in Djibouti, when the government canceled their port deal after accusing DP World of exploiting national assets and undermining the country’s sovereignty. And that’s where the Rapid Support Forces come in. The UAE has turned them into its armed hand in Sudan, providing funding and weapons in exchange for loyalty and access to the country’s gold, land, and agricultural exports.
When the Sudanese government refused several UAE agricultural deals because of unfair terms, and when local communities resisted these exploitative projects, Abu Dhabi shifted tactics, from business deals to direct interference through proxy militias.
This desert state, whose oil reserves are running out, is obsessed with securing its own food supply, and even controlling global food chains, at the expense of African nations. Its greed for Sudan’s fertile land and vast mineral resources has pushed it to back destructive wars and destabilize the region.
What we are witnessing is modern-day colonialism, the same mindset of old imperial powers, but this time led by a tiny Gulf state that wants to reshape Africa in its own image. The UAE’s arrogance, ambition, and selfishness are beyond belief. It seeks to divide nations so that every country becomes as small and dependent as itself, all while the world watches in silence and complicity.