A nation on delayed action fuse

IF individuals take too long to appreciate something, we taunt them for being “tube lights.” We compare thick-skinned people to rhinos, which supposedly react a long time after being tickled. These are but the lighter sides of what is known as delayed action mechanism, which works in cameras when shutters take time before being released, or explosive projectiles which detonate some time after striking targets. It also works in national life of which we're but an apt example. We don't wake up to our mistakes until the outcomes have hit us in the face.

The most recent example of that ludicrous contradiction is the controversy brewing over the quality of our education. After the GPA-5ers performed poorly in admission test at Dhaka University, this nation has got a rude awakening. We cheered our children all these years as an increasing number of them made the top score. Now we shudder at the possibility that, all that time, these Don Quixotes may have fought the windmills, not the giants.

The education minister defended himself instead of showing his genuine concern. He said the admission test at Dhaka University was faulty, and blamed its authorities for ruining the future of students! When he should have taken a critical look at the nightmare of his own creation, the minister got busy finding scapegoats.

It's not the fault of those children that we feel deflated. A faulty system has inflated their merit. Many of us didn't know the government was working overtime to better the best in our children. It not only made the exams a walk in the park, but also made the grading system a piece of cheesecake!

A 19th-century English poet named Philip James Bailey cautioned that the first and worst of all frauds is to cheat one's own self. And that's exactly what this nation is doing to itself. It lowers the bar instead of raising the game, giving itself a pat in the back for instant success.

In medical science, delayed action is called the incubation period. It's the time between exposure and onset of disease. For example, it may take 20 to 30 years before smoking habit can develop lung cancer.

British journalist Martin Wolf has written a book that identifies this concept in economics. In The Shifts and the Shocks, he argues that the 2008-2009 financial crisis in the United States wasn't created by greedy bankers, incompetent government regulators and naive home buyers. The culprit in his assessment was the massive trade imbalance that goes back a decade or two.

Wolf starts from the time when China, Germany and some oil-exporting countries ran big surpluses, and they couldn't spend all their export earnings. Those countries invested their surplus money in the United States, and this flood of cash reduced interest rates. Easy credit induced dubious lending, led by housing mortgages.

Inadvertent or purported mistakes repeatedly metastasised into serious conditions in this country. Political appointment of board members depleted the state-owned banks. The boycotted parliament is now haunted by unelected lawmakers and a subservient opposition. Partisan patronage lowered the standards of our professionals and public servants. At the micro level, indulgence given to an insane minister's mouth exploded last month in New York.

Famous illusionist and stunt performer Harry Houdini boasted that he made more money in Russia and Paris because the people of those countries were more willing to be entertained. Perhaps his followers in this country have all but joined politics, which is why our politicians are adept at performing tricks. They know our people are willing to be entertained and what they do in the name of running this country is sleight of hands.

In that sense, the politicians draw their strength from the weakness of people, everything else following as logical conclusion. And this phenomenon goes back in time in the reverse order of Wolf's hypothesis. If easy credit (in financial sense) started with easy money in the United States, easy money started with easy credit (in recognition or success sense) in this country. Easy freedom fighter's certificate led to easy licenses and permits which led to fake academic certificates, which eventually trivialised appointments, promotions, graduations, gradations, bank loans, electoral victories and acquittals from allegations. For 43 years we have allowed the termites to eat the timbers before lamenting over the crumbling house.  

This country is a daisy chain of delayed actions as one fuse ignites another in a chain reaction. We either fail or choose not to see the consequences of our actions, which opened up the floodgate of frivolity that has categorically undermined hard work and devotion. Obsessed with instant gratification, we've erected a house on the sinkhole.

Students want a second chance at the admission test. Will this nation get the same opportunity if, as a whole, it comes to that critical stage?

The writer is Editor, First News and an opinion writer for The Daily Star.
Email: [email protected]