The Price of Going to Class

It is almost hard to imagine a place where you are in danger by just walking outside of your house. A place where girls aren't even allowed to go to school because the ones in power are afraid that they might gain too much power if they are literate and if they are intelligent. Living in a country where education is mandatory and going to a school where you are almost guaranteed to go to college, it seems almost unreal what is going on in Afghanistan. Often we hear people say that people in Afghanistan face horrible problems everyday, but do we how often do we actually comprehend what they they have to go through everyday? I will admit that I didn't understand quite how horrific the problems the Afghan women are faced with before reading this article and that I never thought about them because I was so busy in my life. After reading this article, you really slow down and think about what it is that you complain about in your life, like that schoolwork is so much and you have no time to do your homework, when they are worried about survival. Suddenly our problems seem so unimportant and little. I will go through the day knowing that I will have food on the table to eat tonight and that tomorrow i will be able to get an education. It makes me sick to think that someone, let alone a huge group of people (the taliban) could be so selfish to ban education from others for their own personal gain along with torture of others.

Taliban View

Regarding the actions of the Taliban members I fully disagree with what they performed towards the young students. The government has allowed women to freely get an education, therefore I do not think it is right that just because the Taliban members felt women didn't have the right to be educated and would rather women be "stupid things" they do not have the right to act out against women. I personally think the Taliban would get across their point much better if they proposed an argument to the government stating why they felt this way rather than acting out in such violence. However, this didn't come as a surprise to me that the Taliban would act in such violent ways considering their past. I do not think the Taliban is a fascist regime but i would say the Taliban is indeed a totalitarian state. The Taliban has definitely taken over the social, political, economic, intellectual, and cultural aspects of Afghanistan without the governments consent. The Taliban does not allow any opposition and instead responds violently, instigating fear into the civilians. By instigating fear the Taliban creates a one sided relationship with the people, the Taliban having all control. All in all the Taliban is a great example of a totalitarian state without out being part of a fascist regime.
I believe the Taliban is not a fascist regime because the definition I found for Fascism was a governmental system led by a dictator. However, I found that when I searched for one main leader of the Taliban, there was not one. I found that Mullah Akhtar Mohammad founded the Taliban but was not the main leader, therefore I had come to my conclusion that the Taliban was a totalitarian group.

Inspired Fear

Everyone thinks that they would chose to do the “right thing” when faced with a dangerous situation concerning your pride or safety. However, would they actually choose the brave and valiant path? In the graphic novel, Maus, and the article “The Price of Going to Class”, Vladek, a man owning up to his Jewish heritage in World War II and Shamisa, a girl courageous enough to go to school despite the Taliban, choose the path of putting what they believe in before their safety.

Vladek and Shamisa, have another aspect in common besides their bravery: their government, or the people who are making them chose between life or staying true to one’s values. The Taliban and the Nazi’s fascist system of trying to control people using tradition and conformity are very similar. It is the reason that both organizations got power, a popular movement and an attempt to unify people under one set of rules. And if you aren’t within the requirements, violence is used to make you stay quiet or to just get rid of you. It is very effective way to make people back you up: the tactic of fear. By being a fascist and totalitarian government, there is only one right way, one organization, and one way to behave and look like. And fear was and is the method of control for the Nazis and the Taliban.

If you were faced with the option of going to school and knowing that you would have acid thrown on your face by the Taliban due to your ongoing education or staying safely in your home, what would you would do? Or would you take the chance to cover up your Jewish heritage during a time of Nazi rule? It would mean you would slip past the horrors of World War II, but is that worth the price of betraying your religion, your God, and your fellow Jews? Would we succumb to the fear of the terrifying fascist government, or defy them by upholding your values and heritage? We would all like to say we would pick the latter, but I suppose we won’t every truly know until we are faced with a similar impossible situation.

The Taliban and Fascism

Jackson Siegman
Fascism Op-Ed
2/25/09

By definition, fascism is a system of government distinguished by centralizing authority, enforcing strict sociological and economic rules, and suppression of any opposition using all means necessary, even if that means physically or mentally harming people. We have seen examples of this throughout history: Nazi Germany, for example, centralized their government under Adolf Hitler and established the Aryan social norm, which was enforced with concentration camps, Jewish ghettos, and the overall decimation of Europe’s Jewish population. Italy also was known for having a period of fascism, with Benito Mussolini as a dictator and a strict police system created. Much of this happened 70 plus years ago, and many people think that fascism is a thing of the past. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is a new fascist regime rising in Afghanistan, and it is the infamous Taliban. The Taliban is using their political power to enforce traditional Islamic rules restricting women’s rights. But Islamic culture is not so much the problem; after all, people are very protective over their religious beliefs. The issue at hand is that the Taliban is forcing women to sell themselves short in life, as they are limited to playing the role of the stay-at-home mothers of the world while men fill jobs. I looked up Afghanistan’s poverty statistics (www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/10/17/afghanistan-20-million-people-under-poverty-line.html),

and over a third of all people live in poverty. If women were able to work and go to school without being ridiculed or tortured or killed, we would most likely be looking at much more promising statistics. We have seen similar actions before; in other fascist regimes, as we discussed in class, women were promoted as homemakers and babymakers to further the development of the government and the ideals they try to bestow upon the people of their country. If we look at the definition of fascism, we can see that the Taliban fits the mold perfectly, and as their power increases, our war there will unfortunately increase as well.

Fascism in the 21st Century

Attending school to receive a proper education has always been an expected part of my life whether I wanted it for myself or not. I feel privileged and somewhat guilty when I hear of the terror befalling girls in Afghanistan who simply want to attend school, and are barred from doing so because of the Taliban. These girls risk their lives everyday just walking to school, but for them, the opportunities that an education make possible greatly outweigh the risks.

The political momentum of the Taliban today has similarities to the fascist movements that took place in Europe during the 20th century. The Taliban target activities that do not follow certain strict traditions: women attending school are encountering acts of violence by the Taliban, increasingly so since public schools for girls were shut down. The role of women in Afghanistan has been progressing into a new phase, but the Taliban want women to remain in their traditional place as mothers and housewives who cover themselves completely when outside their own homes. The fascist movements in Italy and Germany put constrains on the freedoms of women as well. Presenting the ideal role of women as mothers and homemakers. These figures in Europe tried to convince women that they should return to a recently abandoned image of a woman's place in the home through means of persuasive propaganda and occupational limitations.

The goal of the fascist ideals constructed for women in Europe is different from that of the Taliban. The Europeans believed that increasing the population was a sign of a strong leader. In order promote large families and subsequently increase birthrate, propaganda was widely distributed to provide men with the image that the ideal family raised a flock of children. In contrast, the militia in Afghanistan are not concerned with whether or not their terrorizing tactics garner support. Their concept of control requires fear to induce conformity. Mussolini and HItler used systems that gained mass support by sympathizing with the plight of the citizens. Hitler's approach gained active support from his followers by initiating an oath of loyalty. The Taliban do not aim to win over the hearts of the Afghans: their mere compliance is good enough. For many people, the fear of death associated with disobedience will keep them out of school, but just as many Afghans will pursue their education because it holds the most hope for a better future.

Although the Taliban have once again gained momentum, I do not believe they will have lasting power because so many people experienced a taste of a freer life. No one who has experienced the potential unleashed by education would give it up without a fight. Even thought the Afghani government has given the Taliban some legal power, as Hitler once did in Germany, I believe that the Afghanis will endure this set back and eventually rebuild public schools for girls because the ember of determination has already been set.

Class Dismissed

The Taliban is using the most common form of rule: fear. They do so by frightening the population with guns, forcing them to obey. They force girls to stay home from school, keeping them illiterate. That is another form of power, for if un-educated they have a lower chance of realizing the situation they are in (being controlled by a terrorist originization) and thus not retalliating. This is a horrifying way of ruling, one that the Nazis as well as so many other Fascist governments used. It makes me think about how ridiculous the problems that a typical menlo student has. The largest problems are usually doing terribly on a test, while students in Afghanistan have problems that include being murdered while on their way to school. Articles like these give us some perspective on the different worlds we live in. However, it also brings hope to see that these women are retalliating, fighting for what is right. It shows that ruling through fear only works for some time, until enough people realize what is going on. And right now, the Afghanistanian women know exactly what is happening, and they are prepared to fight for it.

Op-Ed "The Price of Going to Class"

In this article, the actions of the Taliban show us that they wont stop until Afghanistan is under their control and that they are a completely Fascist. Fascists believe that violence is a natural part of survival, and that only the strong can and should survive by being healthy, vital, and agressive through conquering and eliminating the weak. From this we can clearly see the Taliban is promoting violence, conquering Afghanistan, and eliminating the weak by throwning acid on girls to stop their view of "weak" from getting any stonger through education. I also see that the girls see education as the Taliban do except the complete opposite because they feel that "Education is the way to improve our society". Mahmood Qadari clear sees what the Taliban sees that it is the only way to defeat them with out weapons or the military. Lastly, we can easily compare the motives of the Taliban with the Nazis in Maus with eliminating the "weak" and conquering.

By Bobby Pender

Fascism Op-Ed

Matthew Roy
2/25/09
History

Fascism and the Taliban
The Taliban’s actions have another motive that the media usually does not empathize. We see them as terrorists, insurgents, radical religious fanatics and more. But what we don’t often realize is that they represent more than just a form of religion, they also represent many of the key elements of a fascist regime. Many of the basic ideals of the Taliban coincide with those of fascist regimes such as that USSR and Germany.
The Taliban are famous for their stance on woman’s roles in society. They enforce the fascist element of a woman’s role as a stay at home mother whose duty to society is to have as many children as possible. They want them to stay uneducated, going so far as throwing acid in the face of schoolgirls who have the audacity to look to have more in life than running a household. They back their claims with military might, and are attempting to install a totalitarian government. Whether it is intentional or not, the Taliban movement represents a push towards the return of a Fascist government.

"The Price of Going to Class" and Fascism

Filkin's article about the hardships faced by modern day Afghan schoolgirls remind us that fascism is not just a distant memory of the past, but a fact of modern life. Maus reminds us of the past and the atrocities that a government with unchecked powers can do. But what both of these pieces do is give a personal, human spin by telling the story of a person, instead of giving percentages or statistics.
Both of these works give us the true human experience of what it is to live in the intolerant, fascists regimes of both modern day and of the past. The similarities between the modern day Taliban and past fascists regimes, such as Hitler's and Mussolini's, are abundant. Both the Taliban and past regimes used fear to subdue their enemies, and were willing to use brutal methods of torture to silence them if necessary. The Taliban, in their pursuit to put to an end to the schooling of girls, use the fear of the people in Swat Valley to achieve their goals. It is their fundamentalist interpretation of Islam that leads them to terrorize the girls that wish to succeed in life, saying that a woman's place is at home. Hitler's Germany had a similar plan for separating those that were not of the "pure" Aryan race. The Nazi party's rise to power was during a time when the world was at a turning point: on one side, there was total economic collapse; on the other side, salvation and restoration of cherished times. The Nazi party, through it charisma and eventual rise to power, was able to sway the German citizens to rally against its own Jewish citizens. Those deemed unfit to be part of Germany, especially, but not only Jews, were slowly purged from their homes and sent to labor camps. As the party began to gain more and more power, they relied on more drastic measures to fulfill their end goal. The Nazi party saw their goal, a world ruled by the Aryan race, as an end that could justify the means. The horrid tactics they employed to get their plan through is shown through Maus. And these tactics of fear and torture are once again on the rise in Taliban ruled Afghanistan.

The "PRICE" Innocent People Pay

Life is precious and meaningful, but in the cases we've read about this week -- the Holocaust and Afghanistan - there appear to be very inconsiderate people that go as far as destroying other people's lives for their "benefit". 

"The Price of going to class," (an article in our current Upfront issues) written by Dexter Filkins displays the "regrouped" members of the Taliban's extremely harsh treatment on Afghanistan teenage girls. In the article a seventeen year old girl named Shamisa Husseini was sprayed with battery acid by a man. She was not the only woman attacked, many others were. And for what reason? What did these girls do? They were  just living their lives and going to school to learn like we do everyday, and because of this, they were attacked by the Taliban.  Throughout the article we are able to see Shamisa's strong eagerness and willingness to learn - even after the battery acid incident.  (She continued to go to the Mirwais School for Girls). It's incredible the way she and the other girls that got attacked are standing up for what they believe in and going against tradition and finally realizing that they deserve to live better lives and be treated the right way. 

I believe the answer  to why the Taliban did such a thing to those innocent girls is clear. They wouldn't allow girls to get an education because they feared loosing power. If people were more educated (80% of the women in Afghanistan are illiterate) they would rise up against the Taliban and see that they're missing out on their own rights. (They would go against the Taliban and tradition)

There was another group that suffered greatly and this was Jewish people during the time of the Holocaust when swastika flags and khaki uniformed men - the German Nazis - created chaos in Germany and other unfortunate places in Europe. 

In Maus, Vladek, a Polish "mouse" is telling his life story about his horrible life during the Holocaust. From his story I am able to say that the Nazis were a fascist group. First of all, they were a single organization in Germany that quickly became more and more powerful. (We know they became more and more powerful because they started off being guards and asking people for their "papers" then they took away businesses and finally killed anyone standing in their way) The Nazis eventually became a totalitarian group that controlled everything. Because even Jewish people - the Nazi's target - joined the Nazis, ( to avoid being killed) I believe that it grew into a popular movement. The Nazis were also very militaristic because they had SS guards throughout Germany. They also made everyone conform to their beliefs by force. All these factors are key elements of fascism.

Both organizations are very greedy and did whatever it took to gain complete control over society. When one has power, one does anything to assert one's power. These people abused/are abusing the power they had/have. 

Faith and Fear

Faith and fear. These are relatively vague terms, but seem to be the underlying aspects of both Maus and the Price of Going to Class. As an atheist and a young person with little experience regarding life threatening decisions, I find it hard to even relate to these two experiences. I don't even know if I would be strong enough to stand by any 'belief' I may have. Would I be willing to endanger my life to keep whatever remains of my lifestyle, or more importantly, would I be able to cope with the guilt of caving in?

In Maus, Vladek constantly relies on his strong will to live. He is surrounded by weaker people, such as his depressed wife and fearful mice. In one scene a fellow mouse even betrays Vladek by ratting out the location of the bunker to the cats, which seems awfully repulsive on paper. Even though Vladek is at the direct mercy of the cats several times, he always manages to understand t hat he will live through it. Vladek should be respected for his level-head that many other mice seem to have lost.

This brings me to the article from Upfront. While Menlo students count the minutes that their teachers are late, in hopes that they will get a free period instead, girls in Afghanistan cannot even legally attend school. In the article, the Price of Going to Class, Shamsia Husseini still secretly goes to school. She does this with pride and for a good cause, however. In regards to the supressive Taliban, Shamsia stated, "The people who did this to me don't want women to be educated. They want us to be stupid things." She refuses to be held down by the Taliban, just like Vladek refused to be taken over by fear from the Nazis.

Even though we have the privilage of attending a great school, many of us lose sight of this opprotunity. While I understand that we will probably not be in the same position as Vladek or Shamsia, these stories help us gain perspective and take advantage of what we are given.

Oooh, a Blog!

Welcome, fellow investigators of modern world history, to the experiment. We've got a blog. It's pretty cool. The goal is to use this space to collaborate, share, critique, and commend. It's out in the open; it's a living archive that can be read by anyone, anywhere with internet access. It's our foray into the new system of news and opinion. Let's jump in...