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Kikimara99 t1_j56jnf0 wrote

Reply to comment by RKU69 in At least 78 people die as winter temperatures plunge in Afghanistan by 38384

I understand what you're saying. On personal level I understand every Afghan, who wanted to run away and save themselves and their families. On the other hand, when everyone runs away...there is simply no country. Ukraine is a good example. Last winter we had some construction workers from Ukraine reconstructing the building I'm working at. Then the war had broken, they all left to fight for their country. No one would have blamed them for staying in safety, but young men in their 20s and 30s chose to risk their lives for their land. We are still in touch and my employee occasionally raises money for their needs - medicine, night vision goggles etc. I have nothing, but utter respect for these people. Afghan on other hand, don't seem to see their land as an idea worth fighting for. Maybe it's, because Afghanistan is so ethnically diverse. I don't know.

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RKU69 t1_j56lbat wrote

I think the situations are totally different. Ukraine has had a stable, well-defined country and government for ~100 years now, and I think an ethnic identity going a long time before that. Even through the break-up of the USSR. And the current war is an external country invading your own sovereign country.

By contrast, Afghanistan has been in a state of civil war since 1979 - 40 years of war, chaos, shifting sides, imperial interventions, often with no real "good side" to root for or support. At a certain point people lose all hope and just try to get the hell out of the way. Unlike Ukraine, there was no highly legitimate and popular government to rally behind in Afghanistan and hasn't been for a long time. And if the Ukraine-Russia war goes on for a long time, Ukraine might well go that way too, if the government degenerates and new sides pop up, etc.

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Kikimara99 t1_j56o7zp wrote

I agree that Ukraine is different, because it was much more stable, though,I would disagree with 'popular government'; I also agree that Afghanistan had a long period of chaos; however, at some point a nation must develop this idea of responsibility and being in charge of your country's future. Afghanistan has a generation of 20 year olds who were born with relative access to education and opportunities, at least in places like Kabul and other bigger cities. They know a different life, so why aren't they fighting for it.

My country recreated itself 100 years ago, we were a part of Russian empire. Under tsar's rule my language was prohibited for 40 years and people who taught it in secret were sent to die in Siberia or hanged, but we maintained out identity and we fought. We had two brutal uprising. After brief period of independence, we were once again occupied by nazi and later on by USSR...we fought. And now we are independent again, really stable, relatively rich, part of the EU, part of NATO etc. You can go against odds if a significant number of people believe in same idea.

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