“Unfortunate is the country,” Brecht says, “that needs heroes.” People make history; hence they are the heroes. “They are their own leaders,” Rosa Luxemburg suggests, “dialectically creating their own developmental process.” However, capitalist ideology and its prevalent “mass culture” give a paradoxical meaning to heroism. They applaud the conformists and ardent loyalists of the status quo, projecting them as great citizens, patriots and heroes. Even in their demise, they are glorified with obituaries, wrapped in national flags that fail to cover the crimes committed during war and peace.The IMF, a predatory financial institution, has finally decided to bail out Pakistan, a country that has been dancing at the edge of its grave facing default. It has saved the blushes of the ruling class for now, but the future remains bleak. Just like the 2018 bailout to Argentina under Marcio Mauricio, this one will likely leave the people and economy worse off. The recent resuscitation of the economy does not rule out debt restructuring in the longer run, leading to the sale of public assets and an apocalyptical end for the people.Nevertheless, history follows its own dialectics. It transcends individuals to bury the cadaver of a state that continues to fail its people. A ruling class that maintains its hegemony through sheer coercion not only to follow the diktats of peripheral capitalism but to maintain the domination of its parasitic superstructure invites such a burial. Regardless of the deceptive measures employed, such as promising the country to be turned into a mythological religious state or to be made into an “Asian tiger” by embracing neoliberalism, capitalist anarchy rocks its economic base culminating in bankruptcy. The majority suffers from hunger and scarcity, waiting in queues and getting debased for the basic necessities, while the ruling class precariously hangs onto the rope of political power until it coils around its neck, replacing it with another of its kind.The situation is more traumatic for those whose previous generations experienced the horrors of partition. People who had coexisted for centuries were forcefully exiled based on a fabricated two-nation theory supported by the Muslim petty bourgeoisie, British imperialism and the Hindu bourgeoisie.Even the founding father of the new state was not sanguine about his achievement: a verdict imposed by the colonial powers. In his famous speech delivered to the constituent assembly, his enthusiasm was mellowed as he stated, “Any idea of a united India could never have worked, and in my judgment, it would have led us to terrific disaster. Maybe that view is correct; maybe it is not; that remains to be seen.” His apprehensions were not incorrect, but his inference of the future was wrong. “We are starting in the days,” he said, “where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another.”However, his words ignored the tragic events occurring globally, such as the partition of Ireland and Palestine, and the imposition of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Even he himself became instrumental in alienating his eastern wing by imposing Urdu as the state’s national language.With the Ukrainian war, the geopolitical landscape is changing at a faster pace. With the rise of China, the formation of new alliances by passing US hegemony, the latter’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the failure of the repressive ideology of political Islam in containing the outrage of the restive masses have forced even Saudi Arabia, its architect, and US stooge to replace it with a milder version. The flouting of the Doha Accord in Afghanistan further deteriorated Pakistan’s economy, as it jeopardised its relationship with the US, hence the IMF. The deep polarisation within Pakistan affects not only the people to whom the system cannot develop further but also the army and judiciary, as the ruling class struggles to maintain its unity.If the present trend of living upon a rentier economy continues, the country is likely to meet the fate of Argentina or perhaps Greece under Syriza. Alternatively, it may end up as a Balkanised state or linger on as a banana republic run by an army with a pistol at people’s temples. Not a good omen for its neighbours and the world at large unless the people of Pakistan decide to take their future in their own hands.Saulat Nagi is an Australian-Pakistani writer.