That's the quote from one of Pakistan's newest Members of Parliament, 25 year old Kamran Khan. Do you agree with him that lack of economic opportunity drives violent militancy, in Pakistan and in other parts of the world? Why or why not? What about in our own country? Is this a pattern in World History? Read the article at the link below:
http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/05/733456.aspx
See what you think.
8 comments:
Bonjour, Mrs. Stotler!I think that the lack of economic opportunities could drive anyone to violence, if the violence happens to get them what they want. The first though on people's minds are survival, and in some places, you have to fight, kill, and go to the extremes in order just to get a meal or a safe place to sleep at night. I do not think that the violent attributes are contained just in Pakistan or other countries. I believe that the society, environment, and your own morals decide what a person would do in times of need. This could happen in America, it can happen anywhere. I think it is sort of a pattern in World History because someone somewhere, at sometime is fighting for a chance to improve ecomonically, or fighting for what they believe in.
~H. Baker
Bonjour yourself! You have provided some interesting ideas. I wonder if people who would normally think of themselves as moral would abandon those morals for violence if they couldn't feed their families because they were out of a job.
I'm thinking of the riots in Paris leading up to the French Revolution. I'm thinking of street gangs in Los Angeles where young men are frustrated because they can't get their lives going and the only place they can make a living is on the streets selling drugs.
I wonder what the role of the U.S. should be in a place like Pakistan. Maybe it's in our best interest to help them out of the circumstances that drive people to terrorism. But how we do this is another problem.
The world sure is a complicated place.
Life itself is complicated, Mrs. Stotler. I think some might abandon their morals to feed their family. Which would be more important to you? A week's worth of grocery money for a stranger's beating, or starving. I think we are driving them to terriorism. We have men over there who probably enjoy killing them, and if we enjoy killing the enemy, then that makes us just like them.
~H. Baker
From Anthony Bellissimo
Without jobs there is militancy and with jobs the militancy goes away. First of all, the premise makes sense. It doesn’t matter what part of the world or what time in history. The reason I believe this is based on a much smaller scale of nothing to do gets you in trouble. Any time I have been involved with a group in school or out of school, if we were not busy, somebody was causing trouble. Camp outs, field trips or even in the classroom at school, idle time meant someone would think of something stupid to do to break the rules. It just makes sense to me that if a group of people does not have jobs and they start to hang out together trouble is on the horizon. Add some hate mongering to fuel the fire and acts of unrest and terror are understandable. FYI everyone, this is why Mrs. Stotler gave us this blog. She is trying to prevent social unrest and acts of terror when we have free time. Thanks for your concern Mrs. Stotler.
Aw, Anthony, you figured out my motive!!!! Lol. Well, it's working, isn't it? :-)
Whoa, creepy. I have had less threatening voilent thoughts since I have first posted on this blog...Mrs. Stotler, are you trying to ruin my voilent creativity for my writing?
~H. Baker Is this even posting!??
Money is believe it or not the most imoprtant thing, without it we have nothing and less of it drives us crazy! Look around prices are going up everyday and more and more people are struggling to pay bills and fill there homes with food and supplies they need, so of course there's going to be some kind of violence. It's a stressful world we live in and lets face it it's not getting any easier or cheaper. I hate to see what the world is going to be like in 5 or 10 years. If prices cont. to go up I do believe so will the crime rates something needs to happen before the people take it into their own hands!!!
I agree that a lack of economic opportunity drives violent militancy. If a person does not have a job, he or she must think of a way to make money and provide for his or her family. More often than not, people will do anything in their power to ensure their family is safe and cared for. At times, people will go to the extreme and resort to violence as a means of making money. This is evident in all parts of the world and throughout history.
-Katie Close
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