A Culture of Violence

My wife is watching a multi-episode PBS documentary on Afghanistan. It covers Afghan history from the 1960s until today. I'm not very fond of the format, which I find overly sentimental and focused on individual experiences. However, it's not a bad documentary. It covers the most significant episodes, even if it misses the point I would've stressed; namely the importance of culture when it comes to understanding historic events. Instead, there's an implied message of victimhood, as if the history of Afghanistan is nothing but a series of unfortunate circumstances, with freedom being denied them whenever it comes into reach.

Another thing I find difficult to endure is the selection of interviewees. They are all either secular nationalists, or political hacks with ties to the CIA and similar organizations. There's little willingness to see things from the Taliban perspective, or the perspective of die hard Marxists. However, my main thesis when it comes to history can nevertheless be seen on full display. It's there for all to see even if it's not mentioned.

A striking feature of Afghan history is the sheer brutality of it. Whenever some faction gains the upper hand, it suppresses all opposition. It doesn't matter who's in power. They all do this. The king did this (1960s). The Marxists that followed did this (1970s). The secularist did this (1980s). The Taliban did this (1990s). The US supported government did this (2000s). Any attempt at forming some kind of unified government fails. Civil war is therefore permanent.

The root cause of this is a culture heavily influenced by the Muslim idea that no two things of different kinds can have equal value. A man is different from a woman. Hence, man is more worth than a woman. The man in power is different from the man without power. Hence, the man in power is more worth. Muslims are different from Buddhists. Hence, Muslims are more worth. The list is never-ending, and can be applied to all things.

Law and justice is infested with this kind of thinking. There is no equality before the law. The law is either arbitrary, or cast in stone. Monarchs and secular leaders rule by decree. The Taliban rule by Sharia, which is the very definition of law based on the notion that differences in kind equal differences in value.

This leads to confusion related to the idea of freedom. Everybody is out fighting the enemy for the sake of freedom. But when the enemy is defeated, there is immediate squabbling and hustle for power, because freedom is only afforded to those in power. Everybody else have to obey.

This explains in turn the strange mix of self pity and glorification of war that is so common in Muslim countries, and on full display in the PBS documentary about Afghanistan. We can also make the prediction that Afghanistan will never see peace unless it manages to root out the rot in its culture. Without a comprehensive golden rule that has everyone equal before the law, there will never be peace.

Wherever the golden rule is modified, or put aside, there will always be war.

Snipers

By davric - collection personnelle, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link