I thought I would repost by earlier article (http://chairmannick.posterous.com/pakistan-just-stop-acting-likely-total-idiots) partly because I screwed up the title (obvious considering I used the word “idiot” in the title) and also because someone commented it was “controversial”. It struck me that this is a problem that effects our social and political system – it is increasingly controversial to make principled statements. We seem to either pussy-foot around a subject for fear of offending cultural sensitivities or have a mass outcry when something tips over an ill-defined precipice. To carry on my Pakistan theme, there was a perfectly reasonable outcry about the young girl who was shot for standing up to the Taleban view that girls should not be educated, but why did it take that? Why did it take this? Why was the pressure not being put on the Pakistani government about the treatment of girls in general? It seems like “principals” have become increasingly identified with a lack of tolerance, and that should not be the case. Saying that women in Pakistan should have equality with men and that their society and economy will suffer until they do is not being imperialistic, it is not being racist, it is not showing a lack of cultural sensitivity, it is just the right thing to do.
Nick
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