>From: "Eliezer S. Yudkowsky" <sentience@pobox.com>:
>If it were up to me, I'd say go in with the troops and rebuild
>Afghanistan. Lay down roads. Cart in modular housing and erect
>it as fast as possible. Build factories. Build farms full of
>easy-to-operate modernized farming equipment. I don't think we
>could transform it into a First World country overnight, that
>takes an educated populace, but - if only we were interested in
>nation-building - we could just build a new nation where
>Afghanistan used to be, and the Afghan military forces
>certainly couldn't stop us. It would at least be worth trying.
Excuse me, but this is exactly the kind of bull-headed arrogance
that gets other people, ethnic groups, and countries annoyed and
pissed off at the U.S.
I doubt that the Afghans _want_ modular tract homes and many of
these other aspects of U.S. society and cities.
It would be really wise, if you want to live a long time, to take
some care and respect and learn something of that culture (or any culture!)
that the U.S. wishes to "rebuild".
In this case, please let the Afghans _tell you_ (the ones that are
still alive that is) of what would be helpful for them to rebuild
their country.
Amara
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Amara Graps, PhD email: amara@amara.com
Computational Physics vita: ftp://ftp.amara.com/pub/resume.txt
Multiplex Answers URL: http://www.amara.com/
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"Take time to consider. The smallest point may be the most essential."
Sherlock Holmes (The Adventure of the Red Circle)
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