Why is the middle class youth moving abroad?

We as humans have a right to move where ever we want, whenever we want. But it takes a great deal of courage and sacrifices to move out of your home and seek for a different life elsewhere. Many reading this article would believe that moving somewhere else is fun and adventurous, and I would say yes it may be for some but ask those who had to move on from their homeland and leave their families behind for the sake of a new life.

For middle to lower class people, living in Pakistan is cumbersome. There are so many hindrances to overcome to live the “dream”. I as a person belonging to a lower middle class family had to go through numerous challenges. The challenges are not limited to economics only , yes economics is integral as it distinguishes between classes but to be treated as inferior because of not been able to engage or socialize with the elite keeps you frustrated all your life. The sense of being nothing or of little value prevails largely in our middle class people.

Thus the idea to become “indispensable” has grown over the years amongst the middle class particularly. Our ideals have been the elite of the country, we look to become them because it fills the unfulfilled desires that we have acquired all over the years. Being super rich is our fantasy, why it shouldn’t be our fantasy? After all we are a nation particularly attached with materialism in the most extreme manner. Whereas the foreign nations have advanced in every field of life we look for the best stuff to buy. Look, for example in our homes we like to decorate and bring the best furniture, artifacts, carpets, Televisions, etc. or for that matter look at how we spend at weddings just for the sake of showing off however in Foreign nations especially in Europe these things are of little concern, even a rich guy would live in a very normal manner, he would rather avoid wasting money to show off. The rich guy’s child would be going to the same state school as a middle class guy’s child.

Hence to achieve the “ideal” state we middle class Pakistanis strive for it with what all we have. The opportunities for middle to lower class Pakistanis are very limited, as they say you need either “Pawaa” or “Paisa” to succeed. All our lives we are told that education is the ultimate rule to success yet I see a very frustrated youth with great grades wandering tirelessly for jobs, are they less talented? Nope! They just simply don’t have the means to get into the corporate world. University degree in Pakistan doesn’t guarantee anything, it’s just a piece of paper telling what subjects we have passed and that’s about it! Seeing that all why shouldn’t the middle class youth move abroad?

To make things worse, terrorism, political instability, unemployment and inflation has caused much disarray to the youth. I for one don’t care who remains in power as long as I have a stable job to provide the comforts of life to my family, I mean who cares if Imran or Nawaz becomes Prime Minister, none of them had to go through economic crunches nor did any of them have ever felt frustrated over not having the comforts of life. What sort of change are they looking to bring in? Doesn’t this picture look unfair to you? It looks very much unfair to me and to a lot of young middle class people out there who are just looking for some peace and comfort in their lives.