Тег: Talibs

The Importance of Cryptocurrencies in Providing Humanitarian Aid

Voluntarist, Bitarch

When a serious crisis occurs in a society and people lose not only their rights, freedoms, and accumulated wealth, but are literally deprived of the means of existence, concerned representatives of other societies try in every way to help them. Organizing the provision of humanitarian aid is a difficult task, especially in crisis conditions. But cryptocurrencies can come to the rescue, as they make it possible to provide this aid in the most accessible way.

We are talking about Afghanistan—a country where power was seized by the Taliban terrorist group. The country’s economy has practically come to a standstill, and people have lost access to their deposits and savings. The terrorist regime was subjected to significant sanctions from the West, and although the US President exempted humanitarian aid from sanctions, banks are blocking transactions directed to Afghanistan, and the international payment system SWIFT has simply stopped working within Afghanistan. This has made it practically impossible to provide humanitarian aid to the residents of Afghanistan using classic financial instruments.

Cryptocurrencies came to the rescue, proving to be practically the only way to send funds to the residents of Afghanistan. For example, Fereshteh Forough, an Afghan-American who founded a programming school for women in the Afghan city of Herat, turned it into an improvised crypto-bank. This allowed money to be transferred to the institution’s students, which they can exchange locally for afghanis (the currency of Afghanistan) to buy food and medicine. And Sanzhar Kakar, an Afghan who grew up in Seattle, created the HesabPay mobile electronic wallet for the residents of Afghanistan back in 2019, which also works with cryptocurrencies. As he claims, 88% of families in Afghanistan have at least one smartphone, allowing them to trade, transfer money to each other, and receive transactions from abroad without ever touching banks or the Taliban regime. And this could help save millions of Afghans facing the risk of starving to death. It is also reported that the opportunities provided by cryptocurrencies are being actively studied by international charitable organizations.

Now it should be perfectly clear how cryptocurrencies are capable of saving millions of needy people from certain death. Sometimes cryptocurrencies are accused of being merely a financial pyramid operating for the enrichment of a limited circle of wealthy individuals, and therefore they must be banned for the benefit of ordinary people. Of course, such claims are incorrect, and banning cryptocurrencies is simply impossible, except by completely shutting down the internet. It can be concluded that a person who advocates for the well-being of people and the provision of aid to those in need, but is at the same time an opponent of cryptocurrencies, is completely inconsistent in their reasoning. Cryptocurrencies are a benefit for ordinary people, and especially for those who have fallen into an unenviable position.

“Legitimate” and “illegitimate” bandits

Voluntarist, Bitarch

The recent case of the seizure of power in Afghanistan by the Taliban movement only further confirms the theory of the stationary bandit, according to which states arise not through a mythical social contract, but because nomadic bandits decide to settle down and move from irregular looting to stable tribute (or taxation) and the subjugation of people. Even the most liberal and democratic states continue this tradition, as in their case as well, a person has no right to disobey the orders and tax rates established from above—disagreement with this is punished by violence, exactly as in the case of a bandit attacking an unarmed and defenseless victim. And even the provision of certain socially useful services by the state does not change the essence—it is the same as so-called “protection rackets,” where you either agree to pay bandits for some form of protection, or they will attack you.

But it is also important to note that the legitimacy of a specific group on the world stage, that is, its recognition as a state by other states, is purely a question of victory and the seizure of power. Some states are already ready to recognize yesterday’s Taliban terrorists today, and there are even talks of cooperation, including from Russian government structures at the level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Similarly, in their time, the Bolshevik bandits were recognized; after they seized power, the representatives of the previous Tsarist government suddenly became the bandits.

The winner is recognized and always spoken with, even if they were a mad bandit only yesterday. And this is the only thing, rather than any “social contract,” that distinguishes a “legitimate” and recognized political force from an “illegitimate” bandit-terrorist. But the essence itself remains the same.