The panic felt by the Syndicate managers was put on display at their spokesperson’s press conference a few days ago. The angst was further accentuated by the disbelief that the public no longer buys the fraudulent narratives they successfully sold for so long. (That day, even the system’s “domesticated” journalists were asking probing questions … how dare!)

The word “panic” is derived from the Greek “panikos,” which refers to the fear aroused by the presence of Greek god Pan.

[A post in the near future will discuss the state of Islamic values in the “Islamic Republic.” Today’s topic is Greek thought.]

While the Greek and the Pakistani mythologies are similar in the abundance of gods of all kinds, the Greek mythology is different in that it is accompanied by a full portfolio of civic and moral philosophy — there existed many such schools of philosophy. Let’s see what our Geniuses can learn from the most well-known of them called the Stoics, founded by the philosopher Zeno.

Promoting virtue as the supreme value, Stoic thought holds that character is our only true belonging. Now who is going to explain that to the Geniuses — a class that worships its own god of illegally usurped state power, and wealth stolen from the nation?

Stoic philosophy also contends that if something upsets you, it is usually the result of one’s own lousy or mistaken values. Therein lies the problem since the Syndicate itself is a god whose altar exists in a moral and ethical vacuum.

Stoic philosopher Seneca proposed that our suffering is more “in imagination than in reality.” For decades, the Syndicate’s concept of “suffering” was built around dishing it out to other Pakistanis. Torture chambers and assassination squads were created to achieve this “national security” imperative. Now that the panicked system managers are suffering sleepless nights because of public resistance, perhaps they’d understand Seneca’s drift.

Marcus Aurelius was another prominent Stoic. He taught that men are born for the sake of each other: “So either teach or tolerate.” Obviously, Marcus didn’t know that this nation now deems the myth-making gods in Pakistan to be quite unteachable and entirely intolerable.

Marcus also said that one didn’t need much intelligence to live out Stoic values. Well, understanding this requires a kind of intelligence not encouraged within the Genius clan!

So far, the fear of local gods has kept the Pakistani public afraid. But for how long? As the gods become even more panicky, expect them to display further sanctimony, exasperation, and hiding their selves even more behind the memory of our Shaheeds.

One thing is sure. While the Greek gods and mythology lasted millennia, the elaborate mythology created by the Pakistani gods seems to have flamed out within decades.