“Power without morality is a dehumanising weapon. Freedom without morality is dangerous to human development.” This quote from Dr Chia Thye Poh, the political prisoner from Singapore known for his socialist leanings, is most relevant in the contemporary Pakistani politics where morality has mostly been banished in lieu of power and pelf.

Today morality and ethics are treated by many as mere clichés when it comes to the pursuit and exercise of power. Pakistan offers the starkest of illustrations of individual interests being unabashedly prioritised over national or collective interests.

To many Pakistani politicians, morality and freedom of the country are mere abstractions having little significance. It is disgusting to see so many people acting like puppets in our political circus. Are we really living in the 21^st Century, in which according to Francis Fukuyama, history was supposed to come to an end?

Perhaps not; perhaps we, Pakistanis, live in some other temporality. Loyalties are allegedly being traded at the behest of an imperialist power so that here freedom is just an illusion. The awareness that freedom is the most cherished human value that must be guarded at any cost, is missing. Any viable moral system is predicated on freedom. For all intents and purposes, we are a slave society, wary of freedom because being free requires facing the truth. Facing the truth is no easy task.

Talking recently to a few youngsters about freedom, I asserted that Pakistan will be free in the real sense only once we start producing our own knowledge (which means self-representation), formulate a foreign policy suited to our national interests and our leaders stop buying property in the developed world.

Many of the youngsters reckoned that it was far too much to ask for. But the fact remains that until that moment, we are merely nursing an illusion of freedom. We are not friends but lackeys of the superpower based far away whose interests in our region are best described as neo-imperialist.

A superpower’s condemnation of our elected prime minister amply testifies to this. Simply put, that superpower treats us like a lackey that is obligated to do its bidding.

Freedom means being responsible for every act, for whatever you do and don’t do. Freedom and responsibility go together.

The next government should consider giving up this illusion of freedom altogether. That will absolve us of the price that the nations are supposed to pay for acting as free entities.

Freedom is no manna; it has to be earned. This point needs to be comprehended by the opinion makers operating mostly through the idiot box. These people are a big part of the problem. Let us accept the truth that we are not worthy of being free. When I started reading about freedom and the processes it involves, it dawned on me that many of our legislators are probably ignorant of what freedom is all about. Many would be all at sea with respect to its connection to morality.

Ffreedom is sine qua non for the optimal realisation of human potential. Therefore, it is imperative for the students of history and politics to be clear about freedom and its connection to morality and ethics. It is the most important value for the individuals as well communities and nations.

Freedom means being responsible for every act, for whatever you do or don’t do. Hence, freedom and responsibility go together. The idea of freedom is inseparably connected to that of autonomy and the idea of a universal moral law.

Immanuel Kant says, “freedom is independence of the compulsory will of another and in so far as it can co-exist with the freedom of all, according to universal law, it is the one sole original right, inborn right belonging to every man in virtue of its humanity.” At least this much ought to be made a part of necessary instruction for those who represent us.

Ideally, the moral law is the foundation for all rational activity, just as the laws of nature serve as the foundation for all that we see. Freedom is the ability to set one’s schedule, to decide on the work one does and to make independent decisions. Responsibility is being held accountable for your actions. It might involve figuring out how to get paid for your work, owning your mistakes and having others count on you.

There is a long-standing position in philosophy, law and theology that a person can be held morally responsible for an action only if they had the freedom to choose and act otherwise. Thus, many philosophers consider freedom a necessary condition for moral responsibility.

John Stuart Mill claimed that “the only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs or impede their efforts to obtain it.” Thus, freedom is our right. Sovereignty of our nation is sacrosanct. The superpower must be told this in no uncertain terms. The question is: is there any person among us having the spine to do that besides the prime minister against whom a no-confidence resolution has been moved? I see none.

The writer is Professor in the faculty of Liberal Arts at the Beaconhouse National University, Lahore