The Fall of Kabul (Again)

 US Invasion/Occupation of Afghanistan:

-3,000 American lives

-Thousands injured

$2 trillion over 20 yrs that could've been used for national healthcare, infrastructure, student loan forgiveness, universal housing.

I'm hoping in those 20 yrs without Taliban influence...maybe 1-2 generations of Afghani girls could go to school without fear of losing their life. But I know that even under US occupation many areas were not safe for women. Still I seek some positive rationale: maybe in some of the areas things could flourish. I'm hoping that in those 20 yrs and thousands of lives lost, maybe some more Afghani artists, philosophers, thinkers, LGBTQ ppl had a window to breathe. 

It's hard to believe that it all went up so quickly and with so little effort. But I guess that's a sign that the US efforts were flawed and poisoned at the roots. Whether it was 10 yrs or 20 yrs or 100 yrs and $100 trillion...you can't change another culture's life when you ain't right within. This isn't a slam on the soldiers who served, but on our policymakers, the corruption in the US and Afghani gov, the false belief that money and time would heal all wounds. 

I guess as Western capitalists we believe that anything can be solved with enough cash and time. Yet we live in a nation with 400 year old problems of race, ethnicity, gender. Money didn't fix that. I have worked in numerous wealthy institutions that have been around for generations, known they were deeply flawed, and unable/unwilling to change. Money didn't change that. I have my own ups and downs and -most of the time- money does not move the needle one inch.

Why do we worship money if it can't change our hearts, change a society, win a war, overcome terrorism, save a nation?Why do we worship money like it's God...when it is impotent? Money is like a hammer or knife. It's just an instrument. A dumb blind instrument that depends upon the user. But the users have become dumb and blind themselves. Out of this, comes the chaos, the death, the waste, the tragedy. It isn't about the money. It's about misunderstanding our humanity and world. It's about a total misunderstanding of what motivates people. We have exported our delusions and they have been swept away like a child knocking expensive toys off a table. Millions will suffer.