Afghanistan - Caravans - and western 'Superiority'
printAfghanistan - Caravans - and western 'Superiority'
By accident, I found in a book shelf in the Northern Italy the book of James A. Michener with original title "Caravans", published in the year 1963.
The book describes the situation in Afghanistan, short after the Second World War. It describes the life at the Embassies of American bluffers, English colonialists, French fine tongues, Italian and German after-Mussolini and Hitler strength. The book describes the feelings of superiority by those western heroes, wanting to bring civilisation, democracy, freedom, human rights and good order into a land that couldn't have been more archaic.
And I realized during reading that nothing must have changed since 1946 to 2009 with nations like Afghanistan in view of habits, religion, philosophy, modernism and all the rest.
Let's go into more details:
Old and 'modern' Afghanistan
This land must have been beautiful: The winters around Kabul were very hard, snow, storms, wetness; even wolves would enter the town and be a danger. However, in other seasons that land must have been, before the climate collapse exploding, a real paradise.
It is shown how cultivated the Elite of Afghanistan was, how many languages they could speak and in fact they knew more about the west, after studies in USA, England, France, as the wise intellectuals coming from there with feelings of superiority.
On the other hand, the ever same Fanatics around all religions, not yet called TALIBAN, with their terrible and narrow-brained Mullahs. All was described, as if having been there in the year 2009:
- Women are stoned by men for crimes, men may have done any day. The same guys who went to whores, stones those girls if Mullahs decided so.
- If there was a crime, it was left to tribes or the father of a murderer, to cut the throat of the young man himself in front of a delirious crowd.
- If a woman would come without a Burka, she would be hit by the dark religious fanatics.
- There was no education for women, they just had to do what was ordered - except again for the Elites of that Country - who were not satisfied to live with stupid women and sent them the U.S. and European boarding-schools.
- And the best: Because of the lack of women in the streets, the Macho types dragged female chaps behind them, who behaved like girls and were disposable for sex. If it functions like this still today - where is the difference to the WEST?
I don't know if all this is still valid for Afghanistan and other Asian States today, but somehow not far apart. However, in this book, much more interesting was the
Western attitude of "Superiority"
At times after the Second World War, the English had lots of officials in Asia, in India, in Pakistan and of course in Afghanistan. They were not as respected as Germans, who apparently tried to build bridges that did not function, but lots of other technical matters that functioned. French and Italian were just there, to be there - and look what others do.
But the Americans showed already at those times that they were far above all others - and they feared that Russians would come and try to bring "progress" into this country, because they were afraid, things would get out of control with these tribes and the stronger becoming influence of an always more fanatical getting Islam.
Therefore, the U.S. Embassy seemed to have engaged specialists of CIA to study the situation around Kabul and Kandahar, as mine-field for later Chile and Argentina and Brazil.
Very interesting to read how fine heads of the Afghan elites studied on their side the medium intellect and the feelings for superiority, especially of the Americans, and how the describes their experiences during their studies at western Universities in USA and Europe.
They saw very well final results of modernistic life coming. However, they still adored life-style in the west, but they could not be kept stupid about the final results of the intentions of western countries and of Russia, whereas China seemed not yet to be regarded as a future problem of influence. The elite discussed with some brighter guys from Europe the hidden hypocrisy with western methods of keeping women low, of the great gap between the richest and powerful men in the USA, England, France, Italy, Germany, and the big working masses, having no rights at all, just being a vehicle for manoeuvres in the hands of those who controlled the big capital in companies and States.
And note well - These facts were said in 1946, long before the communist Russians really came, made war, wanted to "civilize" the country and went out of it like a Swine bitten from a Tiger. And now the stupid Americans, who made with billions of U.S. taxes of middle class, the Taliban inclusive Al-Qaeda, do copy the Russian behaviour to 100 percent and will be thrown out of Asia, like the English and the Russians made it before, beaten like scabby dogs. And rigid habits of Stonehenge humans of 10000 years ago, can go on and on with Taliban and the Mullahs and folks in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and all the rest down to Indonesia.
Not so true, perhaps a little bit exaggerated?
Wait and see - I was already right with predictions, not on Afghanistan, but about the world all together:
Describing western superiority after Michener:
While Michener described the situation in Afghanistan around 1946 and was able to predict correctly great part of what happened later on, I was writing books from 1975 to 1995 about the future collapses in ecology, heating up climate and spoiling the weather situation for ever - as well as about the breakdown of communism and capitalism. About the bubbles with Stock Exchanges, exploding in easy foreseeable ways, when Friedmanism and Shock doctrines were dictating "freedom of market" without State-controls and human Craze was established with all western nations. And this scrap should have been installed, with force of U.S. Army and secret services of Ronald and Margaret, in Santiago de Chile, Mechanic School in Buenos Aires and all towns in South and Central America. And because this idiocy was not enough, some finer tools of IMF and Worldbank were applied in Africa and Asia. This is just one other reason, why China is producing its own gigantic bubble these days - as others did copy-like before with ever same effects.
It was clear that the mass of information of the future would make western brains dull and eastern heads fanatic. It was clear, why the big heads in the White House of Washington would not know how to react. It was clear why big congresses with 100000 of idiotic Scientists, would bring less of results than one orderly brain in the head of a Universal Genius.
It is really astonishing how easy it can be, to see that there was never real democracy, real human rights, real intellect in religions, real fantasy about the reality in philosophies - not in 1946 in Afghanistan - and not 2009 in the western and eastern World.
Rene Delavy - Berlin and Bournemouth
Author of "CHAOS" / "Copenhagen - and the lies about Climategate" / "Roman Polanski and Swiss mendacity and U.S. hypocrisy in sex" / "Future of planet in suspicion of Decline" etc.