The terrible reality that some men, women, and children live in a country which is considered free, while others live in another country that is subjected to the insanity of despotic, patriarchal, and religious fanaticism.
This downfall reminds me that in America, we have our own version of the Taliban, certainly less retro-primitive than that of Afghanistan but a patriarchal class of businessmen who prey upon women wearing black suits and designer sunglasses. In Palace hotels these high-flying men abuse and exploit women exerting their positions of power in very much the same way as the Taliban men.
As much as I admire what Biden is doing for America, he seems to have stuffed up bigly. The Right-Wing crucifixion of him in the Media is comical, but also disingenuous and malevolent, an alternate reality. The truth is that no war ends well, it's never neatly tied up with a blue ribbon around it and a bow on top. It was always going to be a disaster, but it's true that they could have prevented at least some of the mayhem.
Trump never gave a s**t about the people of Afghanistan, and to pretend otherwise only adds to his list of lies and skullduggery.
And as we know, it is always the poor and the powerless who suffer the most. At the moment it is the Afghan people who are stuck between a sword and a hard rock. It is impossible for Westerners to know what the women of Afghanistan are feeling and thinking in these days. Is it back to wearing a Burkha? Can the year 2021 co-exist with the 12th century? And as many in contemporary America seem to have great difficulty at self-examination, they still have the luxury of that self-examination. In Afghanistan, the Taliban men have a license to hate women.
Like everyone else, I wait, and wait, watching the news, fearing the worst, but praying for some unrealistic outcome to somehow magically unfold.
Over the past twenty years art has not exactly flourished in Afghanistan but it has found a place in Graffiti on city walls everywhere. Below are some interesting examples. They will certainly disappear soon.
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