Ticking time bombs

Well, I'm keeping at it. So far. When I was in the US for two weeks, Pakistan was big in the news. I see that has slowed considerably, but at the time, everyone was worried about me and my safety. Fear not, friends, my little corner of Pakistan is calm and peaceful. But there is a bomb on the horizon, a big one, and it is going to reverberate louder and longer than most.

Here's the story. Pakistan has about 165 million people. The child and infant mortality rate of Pakistan as a whole is 10% as reported in the Economist. This means that 10% of the children die before they reach the age of 5. I know several people who have had children die since I got here. Pakistan is a net emigrant country, supplying people not just to the traditional immigration countries of the US, Canada and Australia, but also to England due to colonial ties and places like the Persian Gulf states, (Pakistanis built Dubai, the UAE, and much of Saudi Arabia), Europe and, to a lesser extent, Central Asia. If you read my previous post, you understand why: Life in Pakistan is pretty much awful. In fact, when I had some contractors in from Turkey, they reported many requests for visas. People feel it would be better to be an illiterate, unattached itinerant worker in Turkey than at home in Pakistan? Makes you think.

Lastly, life expectancy is in the low 60s. So, children die, people leave, and everyone dies young. Yet with all these population pressures, you'd think the place was going to empty out. In fact, Pakistan's population is predicted to double in 25 years, to over 300 million people. Ka-boom!! The numbers are just scary. What are all these people going to do? How will they eat? And with the Himalayan glaciers melting, where will they get water? It is just too awful to think about. More tragedies on the way.

Have a great day.