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Comment by theGimp | Hacker News Reader

What an ugly thought. I don't know where to begin addressing you.

First, why must we help the oppressed when their local oppressors aren't concerned? Is this what you're asking? You can't possibly be serious.

Second, just because a majority of Afghani men believe something doesn't mean they all do. Those girls presumably had some support in pursuing robotics. It's more than likely the men in their family are supportive.

If there's one thing I would expect everyone to agree on, it's that helping those girls is a noble goal. They are competing on an international level despite living in an environment that stifles their creativity and freedom.

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I definitely can be asking why the US apparently has an interest in spending vast amounts of money and lives, mostly from flyover country or Afghanistan itself, in the interest of changing Afghan society in a direction most Afghans aren't down with. It's extremely non obvious to me.

I'm guessing you have some moral premise about it being virtuous to spend other people's lives and money to help "the oppressed", by some construction, but I'm not sure how explicit you're willing to be about that premise, and I'm fairly sure I and many others don't agree with any plausible formulation along those lines.

changing Afghan society in a direction most Afghans aren't down with

Is that really so? Before the Russia invasion, Afghanistan was a relaxed country that attracted hippies. I have also yet to meet an Afghan in the West who would be against women working in robotics.

You might find this of interest if you weren't aware of it: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/weekinreview/18bumiller.ht...

The Russian invasion was in a large part driven by the population of Afghanistan rebelling against the central government attempting to impose that sort of liberalism. This isn't particularly controversial, even the baseline Wikipedia article about the invasion mentions this in the first couple paragraphs.

Afghans in the West are a ridiculously unrepresentative sample; you might as well talk about the views of Americans in Mecca.

You can ask and claim whatever you want. That was never in question. What I do question is whether you're serious or just trying to bait a response.

As for the moral premise you're presuming I hold, please spare me your intellectual gymnastics.

Explain to me how Afghan society would be changed by allowing a small group of girls into the United States for a few days -- so they can participate in a robotics competition.

This veneer of non-interventionism and pragmatism is no more than a facade you hide behind.

I am in dead seriousness not interested in playing just-the-tip with social engineering in central Asia; nor am I interested in wielding one segment of their population as a weapon against another in an attempt to "reform" their society, which is exactly what PR exercises like the story in question are aiming to support.

You owe me an explanation as far as why we should be messing around with their society in any respect, not the opposite.

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