Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Are we loosers because of our parents?



In any society (civilized or uncivilized), Systems prevail to coach the younger about ways to behave or survive .These systems are run by the elders and are adopted by the youngs as effectiveness of such systems is time proven and it continues to be so till the time some change is observed in the society or environment and the elders make modifications in the systems to adopt or reject such change and progression of the society continues. Civilization keeps on following the path to progress but its focus remains at the basics like Food, Shelter and clothing even though time keeps on redefining and reshaping our hunger and need for protection.

Such systems also prevail in our society where elders guide in the light of religion, culture and traditions but apparently our elders are not convinced about any single system(If fundamental guidance should come from Nationalism? Islam? Economic interests?).Whatever they teach is restricted to sustaining or improving family’s socio economic status. They emphasize on education as it brings greater job security (but that is all that it does!). They also tell us to behave like a Muslim (to the extent practices don’t displace us from our comfort zone and we can help the needy and perform Pilgrimage through the money earned by bribery and other unfair means!).


Being children our evaluation is on the basis of our obedience and ability to earn. Assuming that it is not an over simplification of the issue but at times I feel that the reason we are not growing as a Nation is that we missed parents like Jews have who made sure that their younger ones stick to their roots without loosing focus on their objective of controlling power centers of the world. Proof of Jews being better parents is the success which they have achieved in Economic, Media and Research related fields (probably three more blog posts can be uploaded just to list down Jewish Nobel Prize winners, Media enterprises, Financial Hubs and achievers).

Too much obedience kills spirit of free thinkers who can challenge the system and ill traditions. Our elders always look happy while telling us that how beautiful the past was (when they were young!) and how pathetic the present is and they almost always never realize that actually its because of mentally living in "The Past" which keeps them from preparing the young for "The Future!" Our society still has not learned that it’s the combination of wisdom by the elders and energy of the Youth which makes a nation progress and not by raising a breed which is just trained to follow the rules rather than challenging them!

Please participate in the discussion by adding comments for/against the following opinions and do mention your name at the end.

Should Economic prosperity be considered as a criterion to judge paternal abilities prevailing in a society?

Are Japanese, Jews and Americans better parents than us?

We the Pakistanis loose at every front (Sports, economy and system development etc) not because we are unfamiliar with struggle but because we don’t work hard and our elders have nothing to do with it?

6 comments:

  1. u knw what to sme extent it is right but no!!we muslims are what we should be!!dont just take muslims of pakistan!!see the muslims in arab countries!!so it cant be said about that others are better!!besides in pakistan!!parents give alot of choice n freedom to there children!!its just this that in times of our parents education n things were not meant so important!!n that is what making a differnce is!!!our new generation is coming way to ahead!!n v can never ever blame our parents!!infact dey are the ones who teach us how to live!!n they teach us our religion!!the most spreading religion in world!!n when d point comes to obedience!!that is what our religion is!!n one day muslims are goin to rule over this world.no jews no americans onlY muslims!!our parents are always right and whatever they do is right!!
    awais sharif

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  2. In my opinion, people mostly do what they are taught regardless if it is right or wrong BUT as a person grows he can make decisions on his own and its foolish to believe a person cannot see the difference between that because everyone is born with that ability, to differenciate right and wrong! If his parents are bad/good then he must use his own logic, define the right and wrong here with his own ability and lead his life according to that! So no way can you blame the parents for making their kids losers because even if the parents were bad then it has to be up to the kid to take a stand and show that he can live like a winner! So if we have to blame someone here, then blame the kid for giving up too easily or for not following what his ability of right and wrong tells him!
    ~Ali Anwer

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  3. Thanks Ali and Awais!

    What you guys have said is valid but I feel that effective parenting is very similar to having a good coach at the start of a sportsman's career as a good coach develops the reflexes and teaches the player how to continue with the learning process. Theoretically anyone can become a good player as apparently sports are all about acting quick but practically coaching plays the pivotal role.


    Regards,
    Inam Arif Qasmi

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  4. I am myself a parent, and i believe that parents can only influence the decision of their children to some degree. They can help a child realise their full potential, but it is essentially the child that decides what ever he wants to do in his life. I do not believe that children are so blind that they are not able to decide when a parent is right or wrong, but until a certain age they are powerless to do so.

    There are many kinds of parents, the powerfully influential kind or the the quietly influential ones, for starters. The powerfully influential ones will force their comments, likes and dislikes on their child, so much so that the child will eventually have no opinion of his own, and will do whatever he is taught to do. The other kind, just show or point he way, and let the child decide on what they choose for themselves. But oh yes, there are the self obsessive kind too. When children are mere objects, surrounded by material wealth, who grow up to be spoilt brats.

    Advice of parents are also dependent on finaces...

    So on the whole I CAN GO ON FOREVER...

    but as u commented that we pakistanis loosing on every front has nothing at all to do with parents, it is our moral fibre as an individual or a society...that has fashioned us as we are today. Had our rulers done something good for us,we might not have been so disillusioned and would have been better citizens...and so individuals n this society today

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  5. well i think the fathers who r not at all in open with their children do usually make life of their children worse as the child does not get the knowledge of those things that we need to understand for example our personal life well the first basic things that are needed to be told by our father are never told and one has to understand himself what is the alternative ,well what if hair grow in the pubic region and a young child knows that prayers are not acceptable until one has cleared them off and does not get it by his father even that what should he act to clean them off i think and atlast can surely conclude that we are kind of losers because of our parents

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  6. A topic of great concern for our generation and a genuine question… are we losers because of our parents??? Sir, think again … Are we???

    I understand that parents have an extremely important ‘coach’ role in a child’s upbringing and at times it is hard to change the status quo and bend the rules but then we are not by practice and by the word’s true meaning ‘free spirited’ and ‘revolutionaries’.

    Our parents have done their job most diligently… education, knowledge, etiquettes, and public relations… not to mention roti, kapra and makkan. But there are some things in life that we have to do ourselves. Everything cannot be spoon-fed.

    That said… I do agree with your last sentence… beautifully phrased ‘elderly wisdom and young energy’. In my opinion too this is the perfect combo which is lacking in our society and probably the reason for our downfall. Still I would like to emphasize here that each party is equally at fault. Where our parents are still in the past and haven’t trusted the youth much… we haven’t exactly made an attempt to use their wisdom either.

    I agree that I have also heard the grown ups say: “how beautiful the past was” hmmm ... Unfortunately what parents do not understand is that they are the ones who have created the present (which regrettably is not that beautiful). Now, what we have to be careful about is that, in years to come, we should not end up saying this same sentence. Instead what about “our past was great… but our present rocKs!!!

    Hence I would like to conclude by saying that we are not losers because of our parents… but just because we do not have the drive to be winners!

    Cheers to all those who STRIVE to be winners! :)
    Hira Mobeen

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