Arab World Poverty -- Whose Fault?

Capitalism Magazine ^ | 11/18/01 | Larry Elder

[Jean S]

"Muslims love to live in the U.S. but also love to hate it. Many openly claim that the U.S. is a terrorist state but they continue to live in it. Their decision to live here is testimony that they would rather live here than anywhere else. As an Indian Muslim, I know for sure that nowhere on earth, including India, will I get the same sense of dignity and respect that I have received in the U.S."

Arab World Poverty -- Whose Fault?
By Larry Elder (November 18, 2001)

[CAPITALISMMAGAZINE.COM] "I don't have the knowledge to blame a government," said Bakhtiar Khan, an Afghan man in his mid-twenties. "I don't know about politics, but for our problems I blame the world community. All humans should be equal, but we are not. You ask me who is to blame. You find out who is to blame."

Khan, according to a recent New York Times piece on the origins of Islamic extremism, earns a subsistence level income making bricks in a pit outside the city of Peshawar, an Afghan city of 2 million, nearly 50 percent refugees. When asked about his life, he says, "Life is cruel. You can see for yourself. You wear nice clothes and are healthy. But look at us. We have no clothes to wear and we are not healthy. Your question is amazing."

So, who is to blame?

A recent story on Afghan schools described a teacher who holds up a wealth pie chart. America, she shows her students, controls this huge slice of the pie, leaving a tiny sliver for us Afghans. The not-so-subtle point? Afghans suffer poverty because of America's disproportionate wealth.

But no, Khan lacks the "knowledge to blame a government." For, through knowledge, Khan would discover that his poverty stems from corrupt, dictatorial governments, the absence of capitalism and free trade, and the lack of individual rights and the rule of law. But who, in the Arab world, spreads this message?

Dr. Muqtedar Khan, director of International Studies at Adrian College in Michigan, challenges American Muslims to set the masses straight: "While we loudly and consistently condemn Israel for its ill treatment of Palestinians, we are silent when Muslim regimes abuse the rights of Muslims and slaughter thousands of them. Remember Saddam and his use of chemical weapons against Muslims (Kurds)? Remember Pakistani army's excesses against Muslims (Bengalis)? Remember the Mujahideen of Afghanistan and their mutual slaughter? Have we ever condemned them for their excesses? Have we demanded international intervention or retribution against them? Do you know how the Saudis treat their minority Shiis? Have we protested the violation of their rights? But we all are eager to condemn Israel; not because we care for rights and lives of the Palestinians, we don't. We condemn Israel because we hate 'them.'

"Muslims love to live in the U.S. but also love to hate it. Many openly claim that the U.S. is a terrorist state but they continue to live in it. Their decision to live here is testimony that they would rather live here than anywhere else. As an Indian Muslim, I know for sure that nowhere on earth, including India, will I get the same sense of dignity and respect that I have received in the U.S. No Muslim country will treat me as well as the U.S. has. If what happened on Sept. 11 had happened in India, the biggest democracy, thousands of Muslims would have been slaughtered in riots on mere suspicion and there would be another slaughter after confirmation. But in the U.S., bigotry and xenophobia has been kept in check by media and leaders ...

"It is time that we acknowledge that the freedoms we enjoy in the U.S. are more desirable to us than superficial solidarity with the Muslim World. If you disagree, then prove it by packing your bags and going to whichever Muslim country you identify with. If you do not leave and do not acknowledge that you would rather live here than anywhere else, know that you are being hypocritical.

"It is time that we faced these hypocritical practices and struggled to transcend them. It is time that American Muslim leaders fought to purify their own lot."

But only a few weeks ago, Arab leaders condemned Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for calling Western civilization "superior" because it "guarantees respect for human rights and religion." Harsh criticism forced him to recant his "racist" statement. But if we call Berlusconi's remarks "racist," in what category do we place the statement made by Abdulrahman Awadi, formerly a high-ranking official in Kuwait? When Kuwait learned that Sulaiman abu Ghaith, a Kuwaiti citizen, had become a top lieutenant with Osama bin Laden, Kuwait revoked abu Ghaith's citizenship. Awadi said, "This is a wake-up call that we have to be very careful with freedom. Democracy and freedom of choice may be good for Western cultures, but for the Gulf countries, those are dangerous things. These people are using freedom to achieve their ends."

Who is to blame?

Countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt suffer double-digit unemployment rates, estimated as high as 25 percent. Grinding poverty and religious zealotry, wrapped around a blanket of government-led scapegoating of Israel, the United States and the West -- all combine to form a dangerous and deadly Third World victicrat mindset. Blame triumphs over enlightenment, and anger defeats reason.

CREATORS SYNDICATE COPYRIGHT 2001 LAURENCE A. ELDER

 

[Capt. Tom]

Arab World Poverty -- Whose Fault?

Poverty is inherited worldwide, and not just in Arab countries.

Two poor people have 5 children. Now you have 7 poor people. Whose fault is that? Not mine ,not yours. It's the parents fault.

Poverty in the USA and the Arab world is not the result of well to do families losing their wealth. It is uncontrolled breeding among the poor. Many of whom have been imported into the USA by the socialists to guarantee more poverty, and therefore more Govt. assistance. The poor worldwide are encouraged to breed out of control by certain religious groups.

If your poor and you don't like it, blame mom and dad, and stop whining.

ps Don't try to out poor me since I came from a very poor family. Only in this country can you rise above poverty and make a go of it. -Tom

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[LibWhacker]

We condemn Israel because we hate 'them.'

They condemn Israel because it's non-muslim and close-by. If Israel never existed, it'd be somebody else.

[JCG]

There is no fault to be assigned to Arab world poverty.

Maybe.  But the $19 billion Saddam Hussein gets in oil revenues each year would save those starving children he's propagandizing about -- if he wasn't spending it on himself and weapons.

As long as Arab people believe the dictates of tyrants, royalty and clergy to be better than self determination and freedom, they will be poor.

America's Fifth Column ... watch PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
Download 8 Mb zip file here (50 minute video)

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Maybe. But the $19 billion Saddam Hussein gets in oil revenues each year would save those starving children he's propagandizing about -- if he wasn't spending it on himself and weapons

D I T T O !!!!!

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Maybe. But the $19 billion Saddam Hussein gets in oil revenues each year would save those starving children he's propagandizing about -- if he wasn't spending it on himself and weapons

D I T T O !!!!!

[freeforall]

The poor in the Middle East believe the same Marxist zero sum game crap that the anti globalist crowd in America believe.

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Yeah, and when you see those newclips of Arabs, it shows able bodied men NOT working, but just PEOPLE WATCHING in the town squares, whilst they smoke their crack, or whatever it is they smoke!!Their so called leaders need to put them to work building.factories (not bomb or germ warfare factories!), hospitals, sewage plants, etc. They just sit arond in the open air markets and people watch, while they plot their terrorists acts!!

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[freeforall]

I would say they need The US to free them like we did to germany and japan.

[AshleyMontagu]

Arab World Poverty -- Whose Fault?

Easy. Arabs'. I haven't read the responses yet, but I'm sure that my answer is not original. It's pretty obvious.

[joathome]

"Yeah, and when you see those newclips of Arabs, it shows able bodied men NOT working, but just PEOPLE WATCHING in the town squares, whilst they smoke their crack, or whatever....."

Actually, the same thing exists in many African and other third world nations around the world. The one thing they all have in common is that they're not Christian. The status of womanhood is so low in those countries that women are to be treated like mules and work animals instead of women who are to be protected and cherished, and working IN the home with the children, instead of laboring outside.

Oh, Gee.....I think I just described where America is headed.....

[Fiddlstix]

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[lawdude]

"Everybody is to blame."

WRONG Bucko. I am NOT responsible in any way for the poverty of another. I don't steal, take unfair advantage, or co-opt anything from these people. If you want to accept blame or some of the blame, so be it. But keep me out of it!

Perhaps they should have a conversation with the Bin Laden family. I understand they have beau-coo bux, earned from the backs of their own subjects.

[a_Turk]

"Everybody is to blame."

WRONG Bucko. I am NOT responsible in any way for the poverty of another. I don't steal, take unfair advantage, or co-opt anything from these people. If you want to accept blame or some of the blame, so be it. But keep me out of it!

Well, it's obvious that we're all in it together. We all need to take responsibility for it. We are all, in some way shape or form, to blame. Would you say that the USA had too lax an imigration policy? Are you a voter? When's the last time you faxed or emailed your Congressional representative to let your opinions be known and counted? If indeed you have always been consciencious of your responsibilities in these democratic institutions, but then did you push everyone you know to also take part? Bucko?

[TomSmedley]

But it will never be done as long as these people continue to enjoy living in this squalor and with this ugly religion. There is no hope for them.

As a Christian who benefits from, participates in, and wishes to propagate the gospel, the protestant work ethic, and the attendant benefits, I sadly have to agree with a friend who's actually living and working in a third-world nation -- it takes multiple generations. When the Berlin wall fell, the "wall in the brain" remained in the older "ossies" (East Germans). Still, when the external ideological structure collapses, maybe there is hope for the younger folks. As one who loves muslims, I pray for the discrediting of Islam soon.

[TomSmedley]

Poverty in the USA and the Arab world is not the result of well to do families losing their wealth. It is uncontrolled breeding among the poor.

Interesting how the "populations" of such solicitious concern by our "population" experts are non-white socialists. Singapore has about 11K folks per square mile -- and prosperity. The issue isn't family size, but liberty, and a work ethic to support the family and the liberty.

[lawdude]

"Well, it's obvious that we're all in it together. We all need to take responsibility for it. We are all, in some way shape or form, to blame. Would you say that the USA had too lax an imigration policy? Are you a voter? When's the last time you faxed or emailed your Congressional representative to let your opinions be known and counted? If indeed you have always been consciencious of your responsibilities in these democratic institutions, but then did you push everyone you know to also take part? Bucko?"

If you would care to respond to my comments with logical and rational thought, fine. The above referenced babble is just that. What the hell are you trying (so poorly) to say.