This week’s blog was conceived in April when I came across an interesting piece of trivia that Pakistan has never had a prime minister complete a full term. For circumstances beyond our control here at SirLushaba, we had to put these beautifully written articles on ice to allow for the mentioned circumstances to pass. And pass they did! This blog can finally see the light of day and it comes at a serendipitous time as this week Pakistanis celebrated 75 years of independence.
The Middle East is quite a peculiar domain to consider when you’re somebody like myself who has been brought up in a country where there’s only one million people of one race speaking one language and practising one religion under the rule of one family. When you grow up in this set of circumstances where there’s only one way of doing things, you seldom ponder on questions like, “Is there another, perhaps better, way of running a country?” Media introduced me to the Middle East in 2001 and it’s been a reality show that has captured my imagination on a sporadic basis throughout the years since. The Middle East is so different from my world that it may as well be on a different planet orbiting a different sun.
My latest fascination is Pakistan. In its 75 years of existence, none of the 22 democratically-elected prime ministers have ever served their full 5-year term. Not a single one! Pakistani prime ministers' terms are always cut short. They are deposed via anything from military coups, assassinations, presidential dismissals and arbitrary disqualifications. To claim that they have “turbulent politics” would be an understatement. The latest prime minister to be ousted under mysterious circumstances as if solely to remain true to the tradition is Imran Khan earlier this year. He did not take the dismissal too well. He offers his accusatory views about the whole fiasco gratuitously with the entire world almost daily.
Khan maintains that during his tenure, he manoeuvred Covid-19 better than most nations. He claims his government drove GDP growth to record highs and collected the highest level of taxes in Pakistan’s history. He is baffled as to how a competent leader like himself would deserve to meet such a fate as humiliating as being deposed from office. He feels his removal was unduly influenced by Western superpowers who are determined to impose a government of their own choosing on the people of Pakistan. Khan’s accusations are yet to stick, however. In the meantime, the newly elected incumbent, Shebaz Sharif, is steadying the ship. He is hoping to achieve what the 22 prime ministers before him could not; that is, remain on the hot seat for the duration of the full term. My guess is as good as yours on if he will be successful. If history is anything to go by, we should be starting our stop watches right about now.
Canadian Euthanasia
Euthanasia is a medical practice where a doctor administers drugs deliberately to kill their patient. It is an illegal procedure almost everywhere in the world. However, some countries such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, U.S. and several others permit assisted dying under strict guidelines.
The argument for allowing medical practitioners to administer death is to preserve the dignity of a patient who has a terminal illness or permanent condition that attaches a high level of suffering. In certain instances where a patient is in an irreversible coma, euthanasia is administered as a “mercy killing.”
Canada is to euthanasia legislation what the U.S. is to gun legislation. They operate a style of euthanasia laws that is the most permissive in the world. More and more Canadians are qualifying for euthanasia to a degree that can be described as worrying. If we revisit the submission made earlier that euthanasia is for relieving a patient of a serious condition that is deteriorating in an irreversible way; the type of medical situation that may only be treated under conditions that the patient may find unbearable. This is a legitimate context for euthanasia. Okay, now pass the mic to Canada: in Canada, one patient was euthanised over losing his hearing 🤦🏾♂️.
The man’s family is enraged and has asked for an investigation into why their kin was killed simply for admitting to having a hearing disability. In countries where euthanasia is legislated, the patient’s health condition must be such that death is foreseeable. It often requires approval from more than just one physician. You are not allowed to prescribe euthanasia to a patient; they have to request it of their own accord. These controls are applied sparingly there by Toronto. There are cases where nurses (problem 1), not doctors, have been found to have participated beyond their call of duty to have patients with disabilities euthanised; suggesting it casually in conversation (problem 2) as if to nudge a patient who may not have otherwise considered it.
The laws are not evolving for the better either. Canada is on course to legislate euthanasia for “mature minors”. What is a mature minor, even? The expansion of access to euthanasia will mean yet more Canadians will be eligible for assisted suicide even those under the age of 18. Critics are concerned that these regulations are crossing the line between helping patients die with dignity and devaluing the lives of the disabled. People with decades to live should not be made to feel like taking a lethal drug is the optimal next step.
Private Visit to ISS
Are you craving an out-of-this-world experience? Here’s an idea for you. Quite literally, a crew of ordinary civilians like you and I flew into the region of space known as the “low Earth orbit” to dock at the International Space Station (ISS) earlier this year. I say ordinary civilians, but I actually mean multi-millionaires. I think the cost of jet fuel alone would set most of us back a few decades on our respective budgets. Flying into space is definitely just for the big boys… for now. I'm just saying that the days of commercial flights to Space are getting ever so close. You may want to revise your bucket list... as have I.
What I’m Reading
I’m reading Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s award winning book titled Americanah which follows a young African woman’s journey emigrating from Nigeria into the United States to further her academics. She is called Ifemelu and I believe she is made in the image of Chimamanda herself. She’s intelligent and conducts herself with extreme confidence. She has a lot to say as well. I think it’s an okay book. Very easy to read. I am due an easy book after the disaster-class that was trying to read Nietzsche’s philosophy. I believe I was reading an English version of Mr. Nietzsche's ideas because I could recognise the words in isolation but they were stitched together in a manner that was incomprehensible to me. I did some Googling and it turns out, Philosophy is difficult to read and you cannot approach it like you would a novel. There’s my inexperience for you to bear witness. Before Nietszche, it was the Count of Monte Cristo; probably the longest book I’ve ever read. I found Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace quite long too but the Count seemed longer.
Anyway, Americanah is just fine. I’m not particularly blown away by it. It would not be the first book I recommend to anyone but I do strongly recommend Chimamanda herself. Watch her classic Ted Talk here. Beyonce fans will be fondly familiar with some of her words.
If anything else happened between April and now, I missed it. Till next Sunday 👋🏾.
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