Phoenix, not Shaheen

The case for pragmatic nationalism

I want Pakistanis to become like Phoenix, not Shaheen. A Phoenix is a highly pragmatic bird that does not even shy away from burning in flames, if that means it will rise again from the ashes. But dying is a prerequisite for rebirth, as is true for Pakistan. A naysayer could claim that there is no guarantee that the Phoenix will rise again, while Shaheens are natural negotiators and pragmatic communicators, and they’d be right, so sue me!

A Phoenix is a mythological bird, while Shaheen is real. The naysayer could then say that after preaching pragmatism over idealism, you are telling us to become like an imaginary bird, and they’d still be right. But this an awesome title for a book, and I’m keeping it, so sue me again!

What I’m trying to impress with this mindless jibber-jabber is that useless de-bates like these are pointless. The ground reality is that the book will have the title above whether you like it or not, so your next best move is to hack the website where it’s posted (I keep backups mwahaha), or bring an even more vi-ral ideology that pushes my philosophy into oblivion.