Kaniza, Salam. There has to be some type of self control and people have to be educated based on simple ethics and morals. There is no universal and relative ethical code, but the Koran provides a beautiful way to live, despite the misinterpretationsns of "man." Ignoring the beauty of our book, they choose to implement a new constitution, which is a slap in the face. My question to America is: Why must Islamic countries have a constitution, while Israel does not have one since they utilize their book (the Torah)?

Kaniza, the sad thing is many Afghans think that being civilized comes from your appearance, while in reality, it solely depends on your mind. I know it is a complex situation, and at times since I feel that the wrong people are involved in the rebuilding process. For example, I've seen people get rich for doing nothing, while the money was solely intended for the rebuilding process. Meanwhile, they use it for bogus trips that are really vacations.

Once again Kaniza, thanks for the excellent entry. Dr. Riq, and you pretty much nailed it on the bullseye. Take care sister, I have to head home from a long day of work. Salam :oP

Salam WPS, it was really my fault - Sometimes, I expect people to read my mind. :)

Salam Joyful. My fault :oP Salam.

Wanaperfectsoul, I wasn't clear. that's not what I meant actually. I meant that business people who have a cultural tie to the country are more likely to leave part of their profits in Afghanistan (helping the poor & etc), rather than a foreign investor who would take the money out of the country completely. For example, the Afghan American translators for the US army spent a considerable amount of their money helping local schools and orphanages, whereas that isn't the case with non-Afghan expats.

I think your point is correct (about people working out of their actual professions) but I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. As we build capacity w/in the country, that will change.

Joyful, yes, people with connections get jobs that function to help our homeland. I noticed it too since people from certain professions left for Afghanistan and are now doing something totally different from their actual professions. Salam.

it's actually the rich and the poor asking for bribes. it's just worse when it's the rich b/c they have no reason to ask for a bribe.

afghanistan has always had a small middle class, unfortunately, it has almost all but vanished during the 30 years of war. Inshallah it will get better, but I agree with Dr. Riq, investment, especially by afghans from the west, is key. foreign investment is always welcome in Afg but I have found that the people with a connection to Afg end up actually helping the people there.

Thanks to all for your comments. Once again, it is comforting to know that their are Afghan youth out there who really care about what is going on in the homeland. So in the end, you guys are the hope for everyone, who never had the chance to reach their potential in regards to prosperity.

Salam to all,

Rudy/Peroze

Wow, what an interesing link!.

And by the way...it's not the poor who are asking for bribes in Afghanistan..it's the rich.

Interesting link, Dr. Riq. Salam!

Indeed the term 'cultural baggage' seems to take a new meaning altogether in the Afghan context; being more akin to lead weights on a society as another obstacle preventing it from proper progress. Afghanistan needs its women more than ever before, a lot of the men have either been killed fighting in the wars. But how to remove the social stigmatisation of a female workforce, that so prevents our women from healing the country's wounds? Role models (excuse the pun)? Education? Nationalism? A mixture of everything? Certainly foreign investment could help here; money & teachers to better the education, Afghan nationals brought up in the west to help & inspire the next generation, etc instead of being spent on combating the drug trade there.

As well as the female taboo, However, the reality is that the majority of the people there are extremely poor and thus will, understandably, try to make the money out of (almost) any way possible. Bribery will (should) only go away when the people dont need the money to live. Hence the problem of corruption, although a huge problem in itself, is no worse than the cultivation of poppies, also seen as a big trade over there, and a bigger problem for the rest of the world. One cannot blame the farmers for doing this - poverty inspires desperation, which inspires more poverty. A vicious circle, if there was ever one.

Eliminate the source - poverty - and inshallah the side effects should slowly cease to be, as they have done for the West and other rich nations.

One more thing, you guys can check out my journal which does cover the subject of placing money over human lives. I think you guys will like it. Salam!

Brokenramz, Salam. I think I remember speaking with you on this site before. Getting to the point, your post reinforced the truth even further since you have visited the homeland. These are issues I wanted to discuss on this site. I am very pleased to see that there are many young Afghans out there that are concerned about the well being of our country. Dr. Riq, BabyJ, and you have made strong posts that act on rational, logic, and most importantly, compassion. Salam :o)

Rudy Jaan,

Salaam. I have a few thoughts on my mind...hopefully I can help give you a little bit of insight on the situation in Afghanistan. I went to Afghanistan on end of May and came back end of July. During my two month stay there, I too noticed the lack of a middle class. Everyone was either extremely rich....or extremely poor. There is no simple, sigle reason for this situation. It is a combination of many cultural mindsets that we Afghans have as well physical limitations set on society. One of the main issues we have is the problem the Afghans have about letting women work. The majority of the Afghan population within Afghanistan now is female. However, I would estimate that 98% of them do not work. The ones that do work are ONLY allowed to work as teachers. A teacher's wage is typically $95-$120 per month. There are other jobs available to these women, with much better salaries. But because of cultural restrictions, they are either simply forbidden by their familes to take the jobs or they are too scared of the labels that society will put on them. I saw my cousins, who all went through school and even college, but were staying at home because of fear. When they graduated college, they mentioned to friends that they were offered jobs to work in business offices, development companies, engineering companies, etc. Within a few days, the entire town was buzzing about how much of a 'bad girl' they would become. They started saying, 'Oh she must have some sort of sexual relations with one of the foreigners who worked in the office" for them to have offered these jobs to tmy cousins. For fear of 'badnami' my cousins decided to stay home. And this isn't an isolated case....it happens everyday, all over the country.

Another issue we have is that of bribery. No matter who you are, or what you want to do, you have to pay a bribe to someone or other. People who are poor simply cannot afford to pay 'rishwat' in order to get a job or to start a small business. For example, my father went back home to redevelop some of the land he has in the country. The law in Afghanistan currently says that if you are coming back from a foreing country to redevelop your own land, then the government, local or national, will not charge you and development taxes and all permits will be granted free of charge. However, when he started out, he was aske d to pay extra in order to get his permits. They tried to charge him double what the local ordinance said as well as asking him for 'gift money' aka rishwat.

My brother has been sent as a liason from Turkey to Afghanistan to help with the recontruction effort. His team builds hospitals and schools, using Turkish funds. Yet he is asked by officials to not only pay rishwat, but to also pay for the wages of the people who will work in those hospitals. Is it not enough to get a free handout of hospitals that you also ask Turkey to pay for your wages??

These are just a few o the problems I saw. If I keep going, I probably won't be finished for another couple of weeks. Anyways, my point is we first need to wake up and realize that Afghanistan is not stuck inthe 13th century. We need to get rid of our greedy, selfish ways. We need to be thankful to the countries/people who are helping us, rather than to gouge them for even more free handouts. We need to freely allow our entire able and willing workforce to work without all the derogatory treatment of them. Until these things are taken care of, the gap between rich and poor will increase, and our country will once again be at the mercy of some lunatic like Bin Laden...who will take advantage of our poor and buy off our rich.

Jazaks brother for your comments. Yeah, our lot do seem to prefer thinking with their AK's then the logic which Islam advocated and rose with.

The first word of the revelation was "Read", after all.

Salaams.

Dr. Riq, Salam. Excellent post, bro. I give you lots of respect in regards to your writing style and viewpoints. I have not come across that many "deep thinking" and logical Afghans. I guess that is why I joined this village, so I could meet Afghans that speak their minds. Salam.

Wanaperfectsoul, yes, you're right, its a matter of providing opportunities rather than taking them away. You cannot advocate a successful society on the grounds of equality when that equality is achieved by making everyone suffer! Yes, everyone may be equal, but everyone is also poor!? Thats where the commies got wrong, perhaps. Forced economic equality doesn't do justice to those who really want to prosper.

But whats important is that we dont leave the suffering to suffer further, like these extreme capitalist societies do.

So lets think about this for a second. Encouraging trade is good, for it is a reflection on one's ambitions, and does not repress him, it being considerate of his efforts. But on the other hand, the whole society is, at least in part, responsible for the wellbeing of each of its members. So? Well, the poor should be allowed to be poor, if they so wish, but not to suffer bone-biting poverty. This can be done through a relatively-measured social tax paid by all members of a society.

Turns out Islam carries the exact same message. Allah loves the trader, as is said through times of old. But we also pay a 'forced charity' (i.e. a social tax), Zakat, which is relative to everyone's earnings. Hence, both non-suffering from poverty, and economic growth via trade is promoted; theoretically also the best societical solution.

Islam had the right answer all along!

Salaams!

Dr. Riq, one more thing. Unlike socialists, we believe that you cannot make the poor richer by making the rich poorer. Rather, it is a matter of providing opportunities to the poor, and giving them a chance to prosper. After all, in Islam charity is mandatory, but charity can be a good deed as well. Salam!

Dr. Riq, Salam. Well said. Salam.

I think what we're advocating here is somewhat islamic-socialist in terms of helping everyone get on equal terms, and then once everyone is healthy, allow competition to drive. I had a thought today when I woke up - and thats that according to evolution, animals adhere to the 'survival of the fittest'. Capitalism advocates the same driving force, and hence is it safe to say that capitalism as a system lowers humanity to the stage of animals? That it advocates that the main driving force for one's existence should be increasing profits; not the betterment of one's self & society? Something inherently wrong with this idea..

Although Afghanistan has had some very bad encounters with the left in the past...