If my daddy was a minister that was loaded up the wazoo (house staff! giant screens!), I'd put on some pretty hardcore parties too. But Moe is probably going to some pretty lame parties because even at the parties I attend, people are not married to their six-packs (they're more likely to bring bottles of wine or hard booze anyway) and have been known to set effigies on fire to liven things up. But wait, the latter's usually for the religious set...

The Pakistan party scene description sounds dead on. But where does this Pakistani-American guy get the idea that Pak is an "Islamic republic" anywhere near Iranian standards or that 95% of people are uber-religious or that the society was overwhelmingly illiterate and radicalised? In urban areas that's far from the case, and the Islamist parties have never got more than 15% or so of the vote except when military dictators like Zia needed them.

What your friend describes is more the result of extreme political and social inequality than anything else, with everyone throwing their weight around as "the big guy's son." You see some of that in Delhi circles too, actually. It's all about being from the 20 important families who are politically dominant and have the law in their pockets. That, and the Punjabi rich-kid male ego, which is one of the most despicable in the world, and leads aforementioned rich kids to shoot models who won't respond to their advances at a party (cf. Jessica Lall case in Delhi).

Refused to judge? Shaheen, you say they kill people and dump their bodies, and there's nothing to judge?

Pakistan has a lot of issues, and more people die regularly there without regard for human life, [ http://www.glumbert.com/media/gunmarket ] but if you're talking about government ministers and those entrusted with the justice and running of the nation, then not only those lawyers who were throwing bricks at police, but also the radicals boarding up brothels in Islamabad and Karachi, can be said to have a point in saying that this government is corrupt and illegitimate.

Dump their bodies? "And since they’re all sons of ministers and everything, if you’re dead, you’re lost, what can the police do? You just disappear, no investigation, nothing, they dump your body and that’s it”.

Nigeria under the generals, south American 'banana republic' dictatorships... horrible yes, but what about those who do deals with these people and realize that these criminals care less for the lives of the people who live 'under them' than they do about acquiring more weapons and nice homes?

'You refuse to judge' - err, yes, teenagers on a binge-drinking spree with their parents' alcohol, I can see where the parents should be held responsible. Where events like this are taking place, with the full consciousness and complicity of the authorities? Different story...

Frandroid, it's funny how the 'religious' set in Pakistan that does that is often so militantly against idol-worship and condemns the Hindus en masse as idol-worshippers - and yet the ritual burning of an effigy is such a very Hindu ritual, if you think of the dumping of Ganesh into the Ganges, the burning of the wealth of the deceased (along with 'Sati,' the burning alive of the wife of the dead husband) - etc.
'plus ca change, plus ca meme sa' would be apt to describe that, I think.

Frandroid, it's funny how the 'religious' set in Pakistan that does that is often so militantly against idol-worship and condemns the Hindus en masse as idol-worshippers - and yet the ritual burning of an effigy is such a very Hindu ritual, if you think of the dumping of Ganesh into the Ganges, the burning of the wealth of the deceased (along with 'Sati,' the burning alive of the wife of the dead husband) - etc.

'plus ca change, plus ca meme sa' would be apt to describe that, I think.

Or you could just say that along with frustrated leftists burning American flags, they feel the need to insult what others make 'holy' - in what is very much not a "Islamic" act: see Quran, Surah al-Anaam [the Livestock], 6:108:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/006.qmt.html#006.108
SHAKIR: And do not abuse those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest exceeding the limits they should abuse Allah out of ignorance. Thus have We made fair seeming to every people their deeds; then to their Lord shall be their return, so He will inform them of what they did.

Where's "here"?

Dawud,

There are very good reasons to judge it negatively, objectively, I'll grant you that, but it doesn't help grokking the mechanics of the situation.

Matthew,

some Western big city.

Frandroid,

re: lame parties, true; but they happen, especially among the strictly locals

I suspect that Moe swam in much much more elite circles in Pakistan than he does in the West as BYOB is not a standard procedure in the west.

Besides, in the US at least, house parties are for underaged college kids or buttoned-down rich white people, everyone else tends to go out to a bar or club for their partying. I'm not familiar with "the scene" in Pakistan, though I suspect going out isn't as much of an opportunity than it is in the west, hence the wild house parties put on by the sons of corrupt bastards.

BYOB is not a standard procedure in the west

Depends which part of "the west" you're talking about, and it depends which kind of people you're hanging out with. I've seen very different procedures in different western places I lived in.

everyone else tends to go out to a bar or club for their partying

You're overgeneralizing here too.

But I agree that he's probably been around more elite people in Pakistan.

The party scene in the US is either BYOB (or bring something to the party - otherwise the hosts won't have enough booze) or go out to a bar or restaurant. It's very rare to invite people over for a meal. This is changing somewhat among yuppies who've taken up cooking as a hobby and of course in elite circles the parties are catered. But even among middle and upper middle class folks who could well afford to entertain their friends, one is usually asked to bring a dish or something (and on occasion, to chip in cash - I'm not kidding, this has happened to me) and people don't really invite people "in return." Whereas in South Asia, throwing a party and hospitality are much more a part of the culture across social classes, and having a lot of food and booze is a way of showing your social status(similar to weddings - in American weddings, guests are expected to bring the gifts that the bridal couple want, even multiple gifts for showers etc, and their friends pay for their own hotels, while South Asian weddings are big splash-outs and you're supposed to house your guests) and people are very particular about "returning" an invitation. Different norms. You could see them as strategies in game theory too. Plus the fact that drinking is a lot more expensive outside the home than it is in the US, and even when people go out for dinner they tend to drink at home first.

Your friend is merely experiencing a disparity in purchasing power. In Pakistan he is rich and can hang out with politico heirs and general's son. In the West he is just a poor slob who Paris Hilton ain't never going to invite to party.

people don't really invite people "in return."

Heh, we do that in Québec. Or at least my parents did... Maybe it's out of fashion now? I wouldn't know.

It's funny how this entry generated a lot more comments about the partying than reflexions about Pakistani society and corruption.

I expected this latter topic to be more interesting for the Aqoul nerds, but hey, Eerie's probably got it right.

Don't you start complaining about comment quality too, Lounsbury's bad enough.

I'm frustrated over Pakistani corruption, but I don't think getting worked up here about it would do a d*** thing for the crisis in Pakistan:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6649089.stm

Musharraf has to get off his ass, and decide whether he really cares about a democracy and make his next referendum about something a little more serious than "Should I still wear this uniform?" - like, say, a Presidential democracy, a state of law, constitutional changes, and the inevitable forgoing of using nuclear weapons as a bargaining device over Kashmir - although I think a referendum on that wouldn't go at all well...