Every society wrestles with a fundamental question: how much should the state take care of its people, and how much should it leave to the market? Tilt too far toward an all-embracing welfare state and you risk breeding complacency — where some citizens, knowing their basic needs will be met regardless, lose the incentive to work, innovate or contribute. Swing to the other extreme — pure free-market capitalism — and you end up with a merciless system that rewards the already advantaged while trapping the structurally disadvantaged in a cycle of poverty.

Pakistan is no stranger to this dilemma. We have, over the decades, flirted with both instincts - populist slogans promising 'roti, kapra, makaan' on one side, and IMF-prescribed market reforms on the other. Yet we have rarely paused to ask: where exactly is the balance between dignity and productivity, compassion and enterprise?

The fear of "free riders" in a welfare system is real. In any society, there will be those who exploit subsidies, dodge work and game the system. But in Pakistan, the........

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