It is widely reported that, one year after the U.S. left Afghanistan, things are hard there. Poverty is widespread and women’s rights are effectively nonexistent.
We are asked to feel sorry for the Afghans. What I have not heard is why we should feel anything beyond schadenfreude.
They didn’t want what we offered enough to help us keep it there. Instead they wanted their independence. Well, they’ve got it. I wish them the enjoyment thereof, as they figure out how to do what we call “pull up their socks.”
I’m reminded of an interaction I had with a group of executives in an organization for which I was consulting, decades ago. They asked me to define my expertise and I replied “organizational psychologist.”
Their background was biological sciences and, hearing the word “psychologist,” presumed incorrectly I was a therapist. So they asked how I’d respond if an organizational member should report feeling anxious or troubled.
Organizational psychologists don’t do therapy so I replied “Cope, dammit, the rest of us have to.” My response became semi-legendary in the organization. And that’s what I tell the Afghans, it’s your country to run, make it work, cope.
