Making Ourselves Accountable and BBC appearance
Click here to listen to my appearance on BBC in relation to the article below
“Making Ourselves Accountable”-a piece written for “CHUP”- a blog about Pakistan.
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Brain Drain from Pakistan, But All is not Lost
WASHINGTON, 14 April 2008 — Faisal Raza is well on his way to achieving the American dream that drives thousands of immigrants to America’s shores every year.
“This country has allowed me to easily make it from being a broke college student to holding a stake in my own company in five years,” says Faisal. Faisal moved to the United States with his parents after a year of college in Pakistan. After transferring to Kent State University in Ohio, Faisal did everything from working in the cafeteria, to being a fitness instructor, to becoming a web designer, and then became the assistant to the Dean of the School of Technology and finished up his last two years as a software engineer.
After college he moved to Washington D.C., started his own company, sold his stake, and now works for MyPublicInfo.com, a web startup company which has won two Red Herring awards for the 100 most innovative products of 2006.
“I initially came to the US with the intent of working in a large corporate firm and pursue a position which would help me work internationally. Soon I realized that I was more fascinated by the thought of having my own business from the start of my career. If there was any country where a young entrepreneur can make it in the mainstream market, it’s the US,” says Faisal.
Many Pakistanis go to the US to earn a higher education or professional experience to put to use in their own country, but many don’t make it back. More than two out of every three adults in Pakistan want to go abroad to work; compared to an earlier Gallup-Pakistan survey from 1984 that had the number at seventeen percent. The latest survey also points out that it is not only skilled workers, but semi-skilled and unskilled workers who also want to leave the country for a better life elsewhere. The term “brain drain” is commonly used to explain the transfer of resources in the form of human capital from developing countries to developed countries.
The Developing-8, a group that pursues economic cooperation between developing countries, reported that Pakistani migrant workers sent home well over five billion dollars in remittances during the last fiscal year. That is higher than any other member of the organization and the highest in Pakistan’s history. Some experts question if this reliance on foreign-earned money is helping Pakistan in the long run. Is Pakistan on the losing end of the deal or can these remittances take the place of an actual human being working within the country?
Dr. Marvin Weinbaum from the Middle East Institute states that the “brain drain” phenomena in Pakistan is balance-positive.
“The opportunities for those with marketable skills is limited in Pakistan and those going abroad do at least provide remittances that bolster the overall economy as well as individual households,” says Weinbaum. He also says that the “drain” serves as safety valve, absorbing individuals who might otherwise be unemployed, frustrated and liable to engage in political activism.
Some believe that Pakistan still has something to offer in terms of education and employment opportunities. Moe Khakwani who graduated from high school in Pakistan, started his undergraduate career in California, but shortly after September 11th moved back to Lahore, where he remains today.
“If I had stayed I don’t know maybe I would have tried to get into pharmacy because doing medicine for eight years is not plausible in the States when you can do it in five in Pakistan and give your boards and start your residency,” Khakwani said in an e-mail.
Khakwani saw a lot of people he knew getting laid off after September 11th and felt that he would be more secure in Pakistan. Khakwani has a Pakistani degree which will allow him to work as a dentist, but plans on going to New York University for a higher degree in dentistry. The US has a large demand for workers in the fields of science, technology and engineering, but not all Pakistanis fit the stereotype of the South Asian doctor or software engineer.
Misha Lakhani works as a producer for the 24-hour television news channel Express News in Karachi. She said she didn’t have any post-graduation plans after finishing at Northeastern University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish.
In an e-mail Lakhani said, “I was interested in TV so I returned to Pakistan given the media landscape had transformed as a result of the governments liberalization. Plus, it was a hot place in terms of broadcast journalism.”
Before Pervez Musharraf’s rule, private television and radio channels were virtually non-existent. Despite Musharraf’s turbulent tenure, under his rule poverty has been reduced, foreign investment has started to trickle back into the country and the foreign debt has been cut, but the majority of Pakistani’s who leave Pakistan would rather stay in the US.
Lakhani says, “People want to stay in the US because of a more plush life, better pay. It’s also more liberal. Pakistan tends to be conservative, suffocating, and insecure and so that in itself acts as a deterrent.”
Nonetheless, the social fabric of Pakistani society hasn’t deterred Lakhani from pursuing opportunities in Pakistan.
But George Washington University graduate Kalsoom Lakhani (no relation to Misha Lakhani) says, “I like how liberated I feel as a woman in the US. If I was to work in Pakistan I would face sexism on a daily basis which would constrict how easily I could move about in my work environment etc. In the US, sexism exists, but it is much less.” Kalsoom worked in the political/foreign affairs industry previously for the Lincoln Group, but now is maintaining a full time blog about Pakistani current affairs and consults at the Wilson Center’s Asia program.
Faisal Raza also says that the society, culture, economy, food and travel are some of the reasons that keep him in the US.
But again he sums it up quite simply, “One word: Opportunity.” Yet he says, “there are elements of uncertainty in Pakistan, but with a positive attitude and vigilance, I think the country has a lot to offer. Pakistan is a virgin market and open for development.”
Although, not in the majority, many Pakistani’s are moving back home or contemplating it as a viable option. Omar Mir who is pursuing his bachelor’s degree in Texas and is originally from Islamabad came to the US with the intent of moving back to Pakistan.
“Over the past few years, the trend has shifted to move back and work or start something of your own because of the high volume of businesses and developing infrastructure in Pakistan.” He says you still make more money working 70 hours in the states at a gas station in the US than you do as the manager of a bank (in Pakistan). He says, “the opportunity is there and the chance to make good money (in Pakistan) is only increasing.”
Some may choose to stay in the United States and some may choose to go back but more than 36,000 highly skilled doctors, teachers and engineers have migrated out of Pakistan in the last 30 years, according to official estimates by the Pakistan Overseas Employment Corporation. These numbers only reflect the number of registered workers and there are probably many more that aren’t registered or are in the process of gaining immigration documentation. That kind of “drain” on human capital can make a significant difference in a developing nation.
Sebastian Mallaby of the Council of Foreign Relations said over the phone that, “if you give AIDS medicine to a country in Africa with all the proper equipment, what good is that resource without doctors and nurses to administer the treatment?” That logic can be applied to Pakistan; all the money that is being sent back to Pakistan can only do so much, because the people sending the money are not in Pakistan to help develop the infrastructure and the economy. Pakistan needs more than money: Pakistan needs educated professionals to invest their time, money, and commitment to their home country. These educated professionals are required to lay the foundations for a sustainable and growing economy, and remittances can only partially make up for the worker not being in the country.
Omar Mir, Kalsoom Lakhani and Faisal Raza all say that being in touch with your roots, being near their families, and contributing to Pakistani society are the biggest incentives to go back to Pakistan. In the future Kalsoom can see herself working for a foreign company that allows her to work for the betterment of Pakistan and allows her to travel to Pakistan often. Omar would like to run his mother’s moving company in Pakistan and raise his kids within the Pakistani culture.
Economic opportunities may not be as abundant in Pakistan as they are in the US today, but cultural ties and patriotism are signs of hope for Pakistan.
Faisal Raza says, “I do believe that as a country Pakistan has made me who I am today so I do owe a lot to it.” He goes on to say that the priority for Pakistan is to build a larger educated class and the career opportunities will follow. In the next ten to fifteen years he would like to set up a base in Pakistan, open a business that employs locals but caters to a foreign base, if not live in Pakistan permanently.
Faisal has established the roots of his career in the US but says, “I think anyone can make anything happen anywhere.”
The Independent Record Store in the Heart of Washington D.C.
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The Independent Record Store and the Resurgence of Vinyl
The traditional music industry and major record labels have been overshadowed by online access to music (through both legal and illegal means) according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). CD sales have plummeted putting major CD retailers and franchises out of business, but Adams Morgan in Washington D.C. is swimming against the tide with the resilience of its independent music stores.
The changing scene in music required that owners of ‘mom & pop’ record stores also change their strategies for attracting customers, and this seems to be the recipe behind their survival. But innovation does not necessarily mean adopting new technologies and in the case of these stores it means reinventing older traditions.
An RIAA report states that in 1991 there were 9,500 chain music stores and that number had been cut down to 2,000 by last year. By 2005 the number of albums downloaded had gone up almost 200% resulting in the downfall of the CD. HMV closed down its last store in 2004, citing major losses, but Adams Morgan has seen the opening of two new ones in the past year.
On 18th Street lies Red Onion Records and Books and up the block is Smash Records and Crooked Beat Records just one door down. Smash Records just moved to Adams Morgan in April of 2007, prior to the shift Smash had been in Georgetown since 1984.
Red Onion Records and Books, which just celebrated its first anniversary is the youngest of the three record stores. Owner of Red Onion, Josh Harkavy, opened his store when all the big music stores were closing down in DC but wasn’t deterred by the trend. “I just figured they could not adapt with the changing scene in music,” says Harkavy whose record store is no bigger than the average studio apartment.
The stores have found stability and a sense of security by targeting a niche market. Crooked Beat Records has been in this location since 2004, but was in Raleigh, NC., for eight years. Owner Bill Daly is a veteran in the industry and has been a musician, DJ, and worked in numerous record stores and now finally owns his own store.
Daly prides himself on never giving into the “music coalition” that would rent out wall space in big franchise music stores, and is one of the reasons why music lovers continue to come to his store. The store’s walls, like the walls in the two other stores, are plastered with vintage posters and album covers and mostly bands that will not be getting airtime on MTV or the radio waves anytime soon.
His store caters to indie rock, punk rock and some classic rock aficionados but the streamlining has not lost him customers. “I get people who are seriously into music who don’t find it on the radio or on TV, more like people who found out about a band at The Black Cat,” says Daly.
Crooked Beat also sells t-shirts to “diversify” the stores appeal, but the bulk of sales come from vinyl LPs. In fact, all three stores get the bulk of their sales from LPs and although all three stores are catering to a specific market, their bread and butter come from a resurgence in the demand for vinyl.
Both Smash and Crooked Beat cater to punk rock but Smash goes deeper into punk rock clothing and memorabilia whereas Crooked beat has a wider array of classic and contemporary indie and alternative rock. Matt Moffat of Smash Records cannot single out the sole reason why, but says, “I see different kinds of people coming in now to buy LPs, we had to find a way to pick up the slack [that the slump in CD sales left behind] and vinyl and clothing has picked that up for us.”
All three owners believe that the physical element that owning vinyl brings with it is responsible for a portion of its resurgence. “People want bigger artwork,” says Daly, “they want something they can put up on their wall.” All three believe that vinyl sounds better and has a fuller sound. “You can come and flip through records and something will catch your eye more than it will on a computer screen,” says Daly.
Harkavy of Red Onion echoes this and says that it is also the reason why the bigger record stores didn’t succeed. “People can come and flip through for a half hour and find what they want in a smaller space,” says Harkavy, “people get lost in the bigger stores.”
Red Onion’s strategy incorporates books with music and is furnished with two cushy chairs for those who want to enjoy the old vinyl LPs playing as they read one of the books on offer at Red Onion. “Books and music go together…someone can come in and not even care about the music and read on the chair while their friend flips through records,” says Harkavy.
Bill Daly says that the online music revolution, when it got started with Napster, actually helped his record sales. “People would download one or two songs and then come into my store to buy the whole album,” says Daly. Moffat also says, “online avenues have helped kids find music they like.” That trend has also led people to invest in a vinyl LP of something they really like, but Daly says he’s not under the illusion that, “vinyl will once again set the world on fire.”
The demand for vinyl has gone up for the time being, but the stores will have to keep reinventing themselves to survive but Moffat sees it as a possible recurring trend. He alludes to the time when CD’s were rising and people were getting rid of old records and cassette tapes, and says it could be the same with CDs. He hints that people are selling their CDs for less and then the stores can buy them cheaper than ever and mark them up enough to break even or make a profit, and then people will be willing to buy those CDs at cheaper prices.
The three stores have catered to certain markets and have stayed afloat and at times made a profit. They are by no means the most successful businesses in town, but have managed to do well in trying times. Smash and Crooked beat cater to the indie, alternative and punk rock niche while Red Onion has a mix of folk, classic rock and also alternative and indie rock. One can find hip hop and other types of music in a limited amount in all stores but the loyalty of their niche market is what drives business.
All three owners keep music that they personally have an interest in and therefore they know what customers with similar taste will be looking for, be it rare or popular within its genre.
The three record stores situated in such close proximity hasn’t made a tangible negative impact on their businesses and all three owners see it as a collusion of sorts. Daly says, “certain streets are packed with bars and restaurants and you may not get what you want at one, but the next one might have it.” He says that although his neighbor Smash records also deals in punk, his record store may have something the other doesn’t and vice-a-versa. Moffat explains that, “common products may have taken a hit, but there are more benefits then disadvantages in the competition.” The three owners feel that they are all in this together and the competition is healthy.
Although vinyl is cheap, with quality artwork and sound, not everyone owns a turntable or even knows what one looks like. Daly sells turntables for just under $200 and the turntables come with a USB cable to hook up to your computer and with software that can even take out the “crackles and pops” out of the LP. He says, “when vinyl LPs start coming with free music download offers it will increase vinyl sales and that will be big for us.” He never thought two years ago that today he would be selling turntables and at the time would have thought the idea to be ridiculous.
The three record stores pride themselves on their taste in music and their trust in serious music fans, who share a similar taste in music. They haven’t “sold out” and do not get involved in promotions, advertising or renting out wall space to record companies. Daly understands the need for stores to sell out, but wouldn’t do it himself. They feel that the love for music will keep people off their computers and in the record stores, with the added advantage of the record store being a social environment.
The sub-culture of punk and indie rock has also contributed to the loyalty of the fans according to both Moffat and Daly. There is an indirect link between the nature of punk rock being, “for the people and by the people,” and fans buying the music of punk rock bands who have always had cheap shows. Whereas the big selling artists have expensive shows and CDs and as a result their fans may download the music as opposed to keeping loyal to those high-profile artists.
Red Onion’s owner plans to expand into a larger space within the next three years and says that, “there is probably more stuff in the back room then there is out in the store. They say most businesses don’t see a profit until their second or third year but I have been doing something right.” Both Moffat and Daly believe that there stores have legs for some years to come but adapting and innovating to their target markets is the key to success, rather than targeting the larger trends in the music industry.
“Buying a record is like capturing a snapshot in time,” says Daly. The shelf life of vinyl and the bands that are available in vinyl is longer than the single-driven albums of today according to Daly.
The independent record stores of Adams Morgan can relish in the resurgence of vinyl and their patrons’ musical inclinations but their optimism remains cautious. All three owners cannot say with confidence what curveball the industry is going to throw at them next, but they are optimistic that their musical instincts will adapt to the changes and contribute to the survival of the independent record store.
Published Pieces on American Observer
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Pakistan in a State of Flux-News Playing for Salvation w/radio-Culture
The People’s Choice in Pakistan-Opinion
Healthcare in Need of Change
Report Filed- Oct.2, 2007
WASHINGTON – As President Bush vetoed a bipartisan health insurance bill, blocks away, experts and lobbyists alike agreed that the state of health care in the nation must change. While lobbyists and experts agreed that reform was necessary, all had conflicting strategies for on how to affect change.
“A record number of Americans don’t have health insurance,” and “it is so apparent we have to change health care,” declared Robin Cook, as he opened a forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center. Cook, a board member at the Center was moderating the forum, and went on to state that health care reform has been attempted four times in the past but health care is presently in the worst state it has ever been.
The first speaker introduced was James Morone, of Brown University, who has testified before congress many times before on health care issues. Morone was promoting a “single payer” theory which is universal health care paid through taxes and regulated by government.
Morone feels the system needs a complete overhaul and said,” We constantly run into these little cookie jars everywhere where people are trying to raise enough money to get some kid treatment that they can’t afford, it’s a sad thing, all these people without health insurance, but what’s worse is the patchy health insurance that people with insurance have.”
He then gave a short anecdote about how a health insurance company did not insure a child’s right leg because he had gotten an x-ray on it years back, to illustrate the point that people who have health risks cannot afford the right care, and insurance companies are looking mostly for customers with the least health risks. He said it was an “emblem of the craziness” that the private insurance companies have got the people into.
Costs and lack of insurance are seen as the biggest problems by Morone but he also quoted statistics about life expectancy in the US claiming that the outcomes of the nation’s health insurance are leaving the United States behind other industrialized nations in results of health care. Morone received generous laughter and applause for his enthusiastic and at times theatrical performance, which prompted Cook to say “that’s a hard act to follow,” when he introduced the next speaker.
Paul Seltman said that the single payer system relieves citizens of individual social responsibility and that that is one of its major downfalls. Seltman, who is counsel at Drinker Biddle & Reath, and was previously a legislative advisor and liaison with Congress on Medicare issues, says that the “employer mandate” theory is the middle ground between the single payer theory and that of the present free market system. The aim of this theory is to cover larger numbers of the uninsured but also reduce the cost that government has to cover.
Seltman said, “As the presidential campaign heats up and health care ideological warfare is in full swing, everything will seem more black and white. With the two extremes still firmly dug into position where they’ve been for quite some time now. One extreme argues everyone ought to be on their own to buy health insurance…it is unrealistic and has many drawbacks…not the least of which is that it lacks social responsibility…the other extreme argues that there should be a single national health insurer…while this has some advantages it is out of step with the American people…it abandons the free market almost entirely and demands little individual responsibility.” Seltman proposes that his theory brings together both the free market character of the American economy and the social responsibility that universal health insurance demands. He claims this theory to be the most politically viable and that mandates make markets better.
“I don’t see the employer mandate as being sort of a middle ground…the reason, the key being…because the employer has to spend a part of your wages on health insurance…and that gives the government control over the workers earnings in another way…what’s the difference between that and a tax saying the government is going to take the money and spend it on health insurance for a citizen?” Michael Cannon, the Cato Institute’s director of health policy studies, disputed claims by Seltman that employer mandate was a middle ground.
Cannon talked about the need for insurance to reduce in price and said that it was possible because other products and innovations over the years such as TV and cell phones etc. have reduced over time, thus, so should health insurance. Cannon examined the statistics that gives America’s healthcare system poor ratings and gave examples as to why certain statistics are not telling the whole story. Cannon said the life expectancy statistic could be disputed because, “it take things into account that have nothing to do with the health care system…like automobile accidents and homicides…we have high rates of these things…when you control just those two items…we have higher life expectancy rates than any other nation in that report.” Although he defended the current system he agrees that there is much room for improvement.
Cook stated in his introductory statement that people have been opposed to reforming health care seeing it as a left wing conspiracy or a right wing conspiracy depending on which strategy is being proposed and he went on to say, “I don’t know whether we will change welfare…it’s been a problem for a while now.” As a health insurance bill is vetoed by the president, and health care becomes an important issue in the campaign trail, experts and presidential hopefuls both agree that healthcare is a vital issue, and the health care system is one that is ready for a long overdue change.
Bleak Assesment on Iraq Irks Congress
Report Filed- 9/05/07
WASHINGTON – Comptroller General David Walker’s testimony before Congress gave a bleak assessment of the competency of the Iraqi government and its backers in Washington. But some members of Congress questioned the merits of the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) “benchmark system” and its adequacy as an appropriate measure to judge the Iraqi and US government’s achievements in Iraq.
The benchmarks the GAO used to judge the Iraqi government’s performance are derived from commitments made by the Iraqi government in June 2006 and are goals that the Iraqi government had set for themselves, with Washington’s support. The report to the House Armed Services Committee consisted of 18 benchmarks split up into legislative, security, and economic categories. The bottom line, according to the report, is that the Iraqi government failed at achieving the vast majority of these. Three of the benchmarks had been fully met, four had been “partially” met, and 11 had not been met at all. By most accounts this is widely perceived as a failure on the parts of the Iraqi government and the US government, although GAO Comptroller General David Walker stressed that this was not a measure of the government’s progress but rather a report card on whether or not the benchmarks were met. Walker said that the government report in two weeks would measure the overall progress. “It is not enough to look at readiness, but we also have to look at reliability, and whether progress is transferable and
sustainable,” he responded when questioned about Iraqi progress that wasn’t reflected in the GAO report.
Most members of Congress present were united in believing that the benchmarks for judging the Iraqi government were narrow and did not coincide with the United States’ overall strategic goals in the region, rendering the system behind the report fairly ineffectual in providing a bigger picture of the region as a whole. Representative Thornberry (R-TX) questioned whether certain benchmarks were given more weight than others, and Mr.Walker indicated that there was no system of weighing one benchmark’s importance against another. Representative Snyder (D-AR) added on to this comment stating that the benchmarks should be more representative of the United States’ strategic long term goals in the region.
Members of the Committee questioned the issue of violence stating that General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker’s assessments may fair different than the GAO’s. Petraeus and Crocker are expected to give their own assessment of progress in the next few days. Mr. Walker responded by saying that July’s decrease in violence does not mark a trend, and traditionally the month before Ramadan marks a decrease in violence followed by an increase during the month of Ramadan. He also stated that it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between ethno-centric violence and indiscriminate violence, and it would be beneficial to concentrate on violence as a whole rather than subsets of violence because no one can absolutely state what “type” of violence occurred.
Mr. Walker’s testimony highlighted the failures of the Iraqi government, its US backers, and the gaps in the GAO’s own system for measuring success and failure. The benchmarks in question were not set forward with deadlines, nor were they representative of the US government’s strategic goals, and some of the legislation was still in the process of being passed as a bill in the Iraqi Parliament. It did succeed in confusing people further as to how success can be measured in Iraq by any party involved. When Representative Thornberry asked Mr. Walker about legislation on Social Security, “If you were to give us a grade on how well we’ve done on that, it would be ‘not met’ right?” Mr. Walker replied, “it would be failure.” This exchange represented the stringent nature of the report, but the grading policies alone cannot be held responsible for such widespread failure. Walker suggested that Congress would probably be more pleased with the assessment that General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will give later in the week.
