Originally posted by: Veritas
Ok I am going to post the First question relevant to our Book.
From what I have heard..Three Cups of Teas is required reading for anyone visiting the AF-PAK region.
Doesn't that give in to the assumption that terrorism is a socio-economic problem rather than a political one and can be solved by better education and amenities.
Doesn't Bin laden and his ideology blow a hole through that theory..
Not having read the book, I'd answer it this way:
The way I see it, terrorism is more of an ideological problem... I think, it will persist irrespective of education and amenities.
Well-educated people can be indoctrinated, and it is practically impossible to raise the standard of life in backward regions to the same level as the developed world (where terrorism, in its current stereotype of suicide bombers, etc. is not visible). And, actually it all depends on what is classed as terrorism. There are fundamentalists and hard-liners in every society...
We often hear that terrorists are made because of disparities meted out to them by society/destiny/whatever... If this is true, then terrorism can never be completely eradicated. I think, disparity is the nature of human existence. There will always be winners and losers; there will always be people in every rank and scale who have been wronged and are vulnerable to violent ideologies.
So, what needs to be done is for education to adopt an ideological dimension. Killing the virtuous/sinners should be thoroughly discouraged, especially as an act of retribution or for political statements. Education is a suitable way of achieving it, but teaching children how to read, write or count probably doesn't sensitise them to the benefits of peace.
And, then again, on the other hand... if children are taught the doctrine of non-violence, this might be considered propaganda; and we'll again be wondering whether that is ethical or not... (It'll be the opposite of Krishna telling Arjun to fight...)
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