IT says something about American entrepreneurs and philanthropy that Bill Gates has donated 17 billion dollars to charity in the last two years.

Virtually every large charitable trust and foundation - and there are thousands of them in America - has been established and funded by successful businessmen. Their activities and endowments range from education and the arts to environmental concerns and poverty alleviation. Indeed, some of them support the finest universities, hospitals, research laboratories and art galleries in the world. Taken as a whole, they have played a pivotal role in making the United States the undisputed world leader in education, the arts and medicine.

The businessmen responsible for establishing these foundations and trusts recognize the need to give something back to the community. While many of them may have other than altruistic motives, the fact remains that every year billions of dollars other than taxes are invested in American society and this money has gone a long way in making the country the powerhouse it is today.

And what have their Pakistani counterparts done for their country in the meantime? Bled it white. Granted there are loan defaulters and tax evaders in every country, but in Pakistan these crimes have been transformed into a way of life by our leading business groups. Pampered by government policies, fattened by loans they don't repay and protected from inconveniences like taxes, this class has made hay under virtually every government. Forget about giving something back to society, these people have gutted the economy to the point where it is at death's door.

But they have not been alone. Our feudals have joined their urban cousins in milking the country dry. Throughout history, traders and industrialists have gained political power at the expense of the feudal class until the latter has been marginalized. Pakistan's experience has run counter to this global pattern. Here, we have witnessed a reverse process where feudal values and mindset have infected the entire society. Indeed, many landlords - enriched through huge land grants for collaborating with the British - have set up factories financed by loans obtained on the basis of their clout and connections. Feudal clans and business families have intermarried extensively and they send their children to the same schools. This nexus has led to a convergence of interests that has proved to be devastating for the country.

To a large extent, big business has been infected with the feudal style of management. Instead of being based on consensus and discussions with senior executives, decisions taken by local magnates are often whimsical and self-serving. The seth is convinced that he has all the answers and will usually not be guided by professional managers, contemptuously rejecting their advice as being too "theoretical". Largely as a result, Pakistani industry remains primitive and unable to compete in the global market without government subsidies and tariff protection. It will be interesting to see how we fare when all duties and quotas are abolished under the WTO agreements in the year 2005.

Similarly, these feudal attitudes have become a hallmark of our government functionaries. Narrow parochialism and provincialism as well as sycophancy and personal loyalty to the boss now determine promotions and postings instead of ability and merit. Independence is punished, so hardly any bureaucrats take a stand or give their political masters sound, objective advice. The result is financial disasters like the grossly under-utilized billion-dollar motorway and the Yellow Cab scam that has left nationalized banks holding nearly ten billion rupees in bad debts.

Looming before us is the mother of all scams in the shape of the "Mera Ghar" scheme that, under the guise of low-income housing, will cost Rs 650 per square foot despite the fact that state land is being grabbed gratis for the purpose. Banks that will be forced to give low-interest, long-term loans can see the writing on the wall in red numbers. One estimate puts the financing requirement for the entire scam at Rs 400 billion. The only thing that just might save us from disaster is that this kind of money simply isn't available. But I am curious to find out whether any bureaucrat in either the ministry of housing or the ministry of finance objected to the scheme.

An essential element of the feudal system is the very rigid hierarchy and a blind adherence to the peeking order. There is also a total commitment to the status quo. In developed societies or the ones that are aiming to modernize themselves, decentralization and flatter hierarchies are the desired models. In Pakistan, we have not only clung to rigid centralization, we have also given feudalism a new lease of life. By so doing we have ensured that this style of governance becomes the prevailing mode in virtually every aspect of our lives.

A powerful symbol of these macho values is the Pajero and the Land Cruiser. Most of the luxury four-wheel drive vehicles imported or smuggled into this country have never been off city roads, and yet are the transport of choice of feudals, businessmen and senior bureaucrats alike. Armed guards follow these characters like extras from a B movie. Mobile phones and starched white shalwar-kameez complete this caricature.

Other societies also harbour these vestiges from a bygone era. In India, bona fide aristocrats, shorn of titles and estates, dream of the good old days; some of the more sensible ones have converted their palaces into hotels. In Britain, although the House of Lords is largely ornamental, its members have done their bit for tourism by opening their country houses to visitors. It is only in Pakistan where this parasitic class has not only held its own, but has managed to infect other, supposedly more progressive, sections of society.

To be fair, certain local business groups have made substantial philanthropic gestures. The Dewan family has contributed unstintingly to Dr Adeeb Rizvi's Institute of Urolgoy. But such examples are few and far between. By and large, we have produced one of the most viciously rapacious elites the world has ever known. While looting the economy through massive subsidies, loan defaults and tax evasion, they have sent much of these ill gotten gains abroad instead of at least investing something in the country. According to one estimate, Pakistan have expatriated $90 billion abroad.

Clearly, our elites have learned only to take, not to give.