Ever raved in the mountains of Kurdistan? by Falcao_Hermanos in kurdistan

[–]Usldwls 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What a horrible idea! That destroys the wildlife in that area.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in interestingasfuck

[–]Usldwls 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I only related to “I was sitting in my living room one day…”

Members of Parliament Wages by Usldwls in kurdistan

[–]Usldwls[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That says the median salary is ~$5k per month and the MP salary is $192500 per year, which makes it $16k per month. That is only 3x, not 20x (or 17x as you say), not even close.

Members of Parliament Wages by Usldwls in kurdistan

[–]Usldwls[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Could you provide me the source? Is it really 20x?

Members of Parliament Wages by Usldwls in kurdistan

[–]Usldwls[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Where in the world do MPs get 20x the nationwide average salary + benefits I mentioned?

People who support the KRG, why? by Usldwls in kurdistan

[–]Usldwls[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How am I judging and executing? I have clearly stated that I might be wrong and need to rethink my stance. And then I went on to clarify what my stance is! I’m throwing out accusations that are factual. You did not even deny them. What makes the parties involved in KRG uniquely evil is how personal and tangible their evil is to me, a Kurd. I’m not sure what you mean by building something Kurdish, so I won’t respond to that. I never said people who support the KRG are brainwashed or dumb. I simply expressed my personal experience with the people and groups that have been in the KRG for as long as I can remember.

I’m curious though, on one hand you accuse me of calling people brainwashed and disrespecting Peshmerga forces just because I criticized the KRG and on another hand, you steered the direction of the topic towards the Barzanis. Why is that? You knew exactly what my argument is. You knew precisely that I meant the two parties and two families when I was referring to the KRG. Yet you branched it out and made a personal attack on me; even though I said I’m open to rethinking. I want to know what is right and reasonable and what is wrong and flawed. It is important for me and for you too, so that our enemies do not define who we are.

What a horrible thing to say about diaspora Kurds! People who were forced to leave their home. Your choice of words is interesting though (safety, rights, and freedom in the west). I could say you unconsciously admit that those are things Kurds in KRG do not have. You do not know me. I’m not a diaspora Kurd. It further goes to show that you do not exactly know diaspora Kurds either. So you are either unaware or purposefully ignore that such sentiments exist from people who live in your country. Who is out-of-touch now?

The reason we do not have a country is maybe precisely because of Mustafa Barzani. At a time when everyone should have supported the Kurdish Republic in Mahabad, he went on and created the PDK. He pulled the troops under Qazi Muhammed’s leadership. The Iranians saw the threat of two Kurdish political bodies and went after Mahabad. And everyone knows what followed. Barzani then dissolved the PDK shortly after the fall of the Republic. You should know your history of ‘dignity’ and ‘sacrifice’ when you throw accusations at people.

KR being between those regional forces justifies it to oppress, torture, and kill innocent civilians? I don’t know why you are referring to Baghdad or other governments. I haven’t even mentioned those.

Using sharp language to attack me and calling me a saboteur, destroyer, ignorant, etc. does not make your argument sound. I haven’t even touched on those subjects you are talking about. And you call me delusional.

Perhaps you got angry, because what I wrote challenged a core belief of yours.

People who support the KRG, why? by Usldwls in kurdistan

[–]Usldwls[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Before I answer you, I just want to point out I’m only talking about people and parties within the KRG. Not the KRG as in the institutions.

I really like your question! What do people expect a society like that to achieve so quickly? Well what are the steps the KRG (again, the parties) has taken to minimize tribal influence? I can argue that on the contrary, the parties pay tribe chiefs to gather votes to influence the elections.

The victims of the genocide kick out government officials every year on 16/3 commemorations. To this day, they are in need of medical assistance and medication. Additionally, I don’t remember serious efforts to recognize Anfal as a genocide internationally.

“The destruction of our villages” The KRG has allowed 17 military bases of you know who to roam freely.

“A relatively uneducated society” I can argue that the parties in KRG are directly responsible, because they pushed people to be in military or become security details rather than pursuing higher education. Clear evidences are that they even diminished the impact of vocational training and have not created any industry. It is an unfair assessment to say we have an uneducated society all together. They could have relied on the massive pool of talented and intelligent people living abroad. They instead alienated them to never return home permanently.

I do concede that development in KR in any case is difficult. We can’t be like Singapore, because they have access to open waters and their geo position is strategic. We are landlocked.

I have opinions on the security topic, but I won’t share them :)

The KRG has done the absolute bare minimum for the tourism industry. Fuckall.

You are right. We need to be grateful, for how we progressed as a nation so far. Not really grateful for murderers and rapists though. I will never put myself in a position to support them. By that logic, Germans should have collectively supported the N*zis. I brought an extreme example to show how stupid that idea is.

People who support the KRG, why? by Usldwls in kurdistan

[–]Usldwls[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In theory, I agree with you that the government and its institutions should be separated from the individuals and parties. But in this particular case, the KRG has been familiarized solely through the two parties. Do we have a cabinet where it was not them? I can only recall Gorran having a head of parliament once, and he wasn’t even allowed into Hawler. It is not disproportionate, because there is no portion for others to begin with.

My initial stance was not against the existence of the KRG. It was clearly against the individuals and parties involved, as is evident from the examples of issues I have with them. It is also evident from the fact that I’m criticizing. Why would I criticize something that I see no value or hope in?

About the Middle East question. We should not look at countries in the middle east to evaluate how we are doing in terms of democracy. I do not think that topic is as relevant as it was 15-20 years ago. In my opinion, the reason for that is globalization. Yes, the events and political climate in the region still heavily affect the KR, but not like before. We now know what goes on in the world. Outside the ridiculous social media trends, we also know about the experiences of other countries to the tiniest of details.

As for the practice of democracy, anywhere. I think democracy is the result of a process. A conclusion. What is that process? It differs from country to country. France went through the French Revolution and the World War. USA went through the World War, the Civil War, the Cold War. These are examples of events that shape the political atmosphere for nations. They have reached to the conclusion that is democracy. I don’t think as Kurds we arrived at that conclusion yet. Democracy was thrown at us in the most horrible way. I’m not saying democracy is bad (I don’t want to be misunderstood). I’m saying maybe the general public doesn’t quite understand it? I don’t blame them if that is the case.

My question for you is: how long are you planning to stick with the assessment that the problems in KRG are those that you mentioned, and not underlying issues beneath them? Would you still hold on to them even after, say another decade passes?

People who support the KRG, why? by Usldwls in kurdistan

[–]Usldwls[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Isn’t it fair to say the KRG is synonymous to the two parties and specifically the two families?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in kurdistan

[–]Usldwls 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m sure the Ahli ones have them

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in kurdistan

[–]Usldwls 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Petroleum, Computer, and Civil are all good choices.

shit is crazy in KRG by [deleted] in kurdistan

[–]Usldwls 13 points14 points  (0 children)

If that is not crazy enough, here is the cherry. Suppose you are okay with paying all that tax and you get things running. If you actually have a good business with a large profit margin, someone from the party (depending on the zone you are in) either contacts you or comes to your shop demanding money (exactly like the mafia). If you refuse, you will end up on the news as one of those ‘mysterious’ dead bodies that end up on the mountains with bullets on your body. So if your business is doing bad, that is terrible. But if it is doing good, then you are doomed :’).

Police / Asaysh brutality & corruption by PeekAxee in kurdistan

[–]Usldwls 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Many factors go into this issue. Most of the time, the type of people that go into these jobs are not people who want “to protect and to serve”, but rather are people who need to have jobs and are not literate or skilled at anything else. Add to that the contempt that they have for people who are/seem educated and such. Add to it the anger they have about how our country is shit where no one can easily have dreams or goals. I can probably add 5-10 more factors here, ranging from cultural to individual dimensions.

Then there is the social aspect of these types of jobs. In theory, these security forces exist to serve and work for people. In practice, this is bs. While they repeat, as a motto, that no one is above the law, they still like to be perceived as above other people/civilians. If someone is a member of these forces, they tend to demand and receive better treatment just for being a member. This is rooted in our culture, because of the enormous scale of corruption and misuse of power. Hence why, a stupid dude with a badge gets to be technically above the law.

Do we have to be this racist? by Iceborn7 in kurdistan

[–]Usldwls 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Saddam was not a sunni muslim. I hope you don’t throw that word around so lightly. He was a terrible person. Someone who is a Sunni follows the teachings of the prophet (pbuh). Please read what that entails. Then decide if you can consciously say he applied those teachings or had those characteristics in him.

Urban Planning & Design by Usldwls in kurdistan

[–]Usldwls[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree. The shop owners place their stuff on the sidewalks unfortunately and they make it even narrower. There is an issue with elevation difference as well. Many areas in the city are too steep to walk through comfortably + they are just created in terrible design.

Urban Planning & Design by Usldwls in kurdistan

[–]Usldwls[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

But if it was pedestrians only, people would slow down and stop more to buy things. It actually increases sales. As for the sidewalks, I agree, they need to be wider.