Slavery disguised as freedom

Express Tribune

28-05-2025

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Growing up in Pakistan has its own benefits. One is devoid of a democratic society but is also free from the needs of a democratic society that has to obey lobbies inside the country and at the same time lie about people representative.
We indulged in rote learning inside Pakistan but once exposed to books authored by foreign authors, it didn't take a long time to understand the truth as it was. In fact, it is quite acceptable, rather fashionable, to value foreign everything in Pakistan. Imported stuff is good stuff.
In the United States, however, kids grow up with the mindset that anything American is the best. And it is not much different than kids growing up in Pakistan but as mentioned above, the Pakistani kids get to be exposed to foreign sources and realities. The American kids never get to learn that perhaps other countries make better cars, are better mathematicians, make better tools, speak multiple languages, and above all know the truth much better than them.
Freedom inside the minds of Pakistani teenagers and older youth is tantamount to experiencing realities other than the ones taught to them by their society. Freedom is not to memorise the lessons in the textbook or watch Jeeto Pakistan but rather to read Tom Clancy and to watch Breaking Bad.
Freedom inside the minds of the American kids is to read Tom Clancy and watch Breaking Bad. Similar consumption yet very opposite reasons. Freedom to the Americans is to continue to do what they have been doing since that is something people in other societies do not have access to.
The inability to experience outside sources of information and the treatment of domestic sources as the ultimate truth has created a society where men and women grow up with the fictitious notion that as Christians they must protect Israel. That idea has somehow become an American idea, more specifically, a Christian American idea.
The protection of Israel has been made to be a part of the American Christian life, a life that can only enrich itself from the sources of knowledge present at home, a life that not only is not much exposed to foreign sources but also refuses to value or acknowledge foreign sources. That recalcitrance is also part of the American belief system.
The protection of Israel has been made an important part of Jewish and Christian American lives. Kids grow up with this belief system without the ability or chance of venturing into other sources of knowledge that might question this idea. Americans are so deeply entrenched into the idea of theirs as the best knowledge that even educated people who come from other countries are told how their degrees are worthless from an American standpoint.
A Harvard student who strongly believes that Israel must be protected is treated above compared to an Australian, Pakistani or Indian student who knows the truth as it is instead of as it has been tailored for the American mindset.
Enter Israeli lobbies inside the United States. Their work has been tremendously criticised and rightfully so. However, what many miss is the fact that the work of the lobbies in coercing politicians to be eagerly pro-Israel is made easy by having a population that while growing up in America was trained to subscribe to this idea very aggressively.
It is not always the case that these lobbies coerce the politicians to go against their constituencies but rather their coercion is more about reminding the politicians about how the lobbies can stir up the sentiments among their constituencies as well as the general public, if the politicians show signs of having funny ideas such as criticising Israel for killing children or uttering words such as genocide and forgetting to utter words such as Holocaust.
For Palestine to be free, the Israeli lobbies inside the United States sure must be defeated but more important is the undoing of decades of mind control to which the American people were subjected. The work must start from there.