Pakistan is a Horrible, Awful Country that Doesn't Matter

Did that title grab your attention? Good, it was designed to. I apologize for the "click-bait".

That title is the mindset that many of us have towards Pakistan, other "-stans", or just the Middle East in general.

"Turn it into a parking lot!"

"Who CARES about them? Leave them to rot!"

I could go on, you get the picture.

A man named Brandon started a project in 2010 to document the lives of many people in New York, called Humans of New York (or just HONY for short).

Recently, Brandon went to Pakistan to show the lives of people there. This is just some of his work, along with the captions from when he interviewed these people. This shows, in my opinion, a DRASTICALLY different view of Pakistan than what the talking-heads on TV will have us believe.

These aren't just a bunch of terrorists.
Not a bunch of savages.
They are every bit as human as you and I.
_______________________________________________

"I'm forty years old, and she still can't fall asleep unless I'm home safe at night."
(Karachi, Pakistan)

"What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
(Karachi, Pakistan)

"When I'm bored, I call up Radio Pakistan and request a song, then I start dancing. I'll even dance on a rainy day. It's my way of expressing how grateful I am. I am the happiest man in Pakistan."
(Passu, Pakistan)

“This is the worst time of my life. I have two brothers. A few years ago, one of them was diagnosed with polio. And he can’t walk anymore. And last year, my other brother got a brain tumor. And he can no longer remember my name. So one brother needs me to be his legs. And the other needs me to be his mind. My father is too old to work, so I support us all on a soldier’s salary. If something happens to me, there will be no hope for any of us.”
(Hunza Valley, Pakistan)

“He’s a very respectful husband. He’s different from a lot of the men in this region. He never stops me from voicing my opinions. And if he ever notices me walking down the road, there’s always hot tea and apricot cake waiting when I arrive.”
(Passu, Pakistan)

"I just found out we've been evicted. Right after you leave, I'm going to start packing up. I've got to find my family a new place to live by tonight. The landlady is a good woman. She's just in a tough situation. Her disabled son lost his home. I'll handle it. I've been through worse."
(Hunza Valley, Pakistan)

"What's your favorite thing about your sister?"
"Her happiness."
(Hunza Valley, Pakistan)

___________________________

There are so many more pictures to see, I urge all of you to go look at them at his website or facebook and see the stories for yourself.


For all of the corruption that is in Pakistan's government,
For all of the terrorists that her borders harbor,
She is filled with many more loving, beautiful people.

a reply to: gatorboi117

I would assume that most countries have the same issues as the US. The average person being fine with those with less than great intentions penetrating just about every aspect of society. (Government, business, schools, religion) those looking from the outside in see the corruption, etc. Not seeing the average folks

Good luck turning the green mountains of Pakistan into a parking lot.



Run, duck for cover, theres propaganda flying everywhere...

Every place and culture has its noble aspects and its less than noble ones along with its good and bad people.

However, it should be noted that Pakistan has serious challenges when it comes to sectarian violence towards people of differing religious belief, women, and children. It also has trouble with what most people consider basic freedoms of press and assembly. Justice and the rule of law can also be quite arbitrary there making it a somewhat unstable place to be.

a reply to: gatorboi117

all i saw was some out of control kids stealing a shopping cart....( I have to write that I am joking here because some of you wont get it)

Nice thread...I think just about anyone who ever leaves their country finds that people are amazing everywhere...but id wager a good portion of ats (especially americans) say much of what they say cause their only perception of of a foreign country is what they saw on the news or that Niagra Falls trip they took once summer with the family to Canada.

Thank you for this man. We need reminders at times that the people that we are screaming to nuke are just regular folks living in a dangerous area. THINK about it before calling for nukes to destroy these people.

a reply to: ketsuko

Every place and culture has its noble aspects and its less than noble ones along with its good and bad people.

I agree.

However, it should be noted that Pakistan has serious challenges when it comes to sectarian violence towards people of differing religious belief, women, and children. It also has trouble with what most people consider basic freedoms of press and assembly. Justice and the rule of law can also be quite arbitrary there making it a somewhat unstable place to be.

I have visited both Pakistan and the U.S (40 States - stayed a few months in some - many times) and basically everything you stated above, which is valid, including the info in the link, is true for both countries.

Depending on how cultured one is, and how well travelled, will influence how one views other nations. There are people who will live and die without ever leaving their country to see this blue pearl with their own eyes, therefore their worldviews are often very tainted concerning certain matters, which is extremely sad because there is soooooo much beautiful people to meet, beautiful landscapes to see, and beautiful customs to immerse ourselves in. Only 30% of Americans have a valid passport... and yet many have a lot to say about other nations based on what they are conditioned to believe through external sources.

One of my deepest passions in life is travelling and what I have discovered through my globetrotting adventures is there are far more similarities than there are differences between all countries. I see the same heart when I look at a child running through narrow streets of Pakistan than I do when I see a child running through the narrow streets of anywhere else in the world. We are all more connected in many intimate ways than one may be lead to believe.

Why did you comment if you had nothing positive to add to this thread that was attempting to help bridge gaps and allow the heart of humanity to shine through?

The OP is trying to show the more good things which all nations possess than the bad by focusing on the human element and true currency of life that we all strive for such as; love, health, joy, peace and harmony for ourselves and loved ones. It is OP's such as these that help nurture global patriotism and do away with national patriotism.

Why try to rain on that parade here with your post...?

Again, if one were to read your second paragraph not knowing what country you were referring to, most might assume you were speaking about another nation...



We are all ONE. Oldie but goodie...

Some people see the world through humanity, others, ideology. Thanks for sharing.

if you are shocked by these photos , then you have been brains washed and its time to wake up and realize that under all our differences we bleed the same color . If ever in your life you felt like you were more superior than that man living in the streets , you were mistaken. We are all equal in this life and in death . These simple little realizations will put you on a path to understanding your self and others . Most of all it will help you to understand the true meaning of love and compassion .

If you feel the need to judge someone then judge then by the heart and not by their appearance.


ty for the Thread OP .

♥kap♥

a reply to: Kapusta

That's a really nice sentiment, but it's just as naive as thinking that everyone in Pakistan is a monster.

It's more complicated than that and can't be summed up with flowery platitudes.

Pakistan as a country is pretty freaking messed up. Of course we shouldn't hate people, but let's not pretend that a few pretty pictures and nice stories somehow absolve a country of it's evils. Like anywhere else, your average person probably just wants to live a happy life, but the gang rapes, stonings and other atrocities that seem to happen rather frequently (even if "over reported") indicate the country as a whole needs to take some very big steps. Yeah, the West is messed up too, in a lot of ways. That doesn't mean we should just smile and nod and claim cultural differences when we read horrific stories that seem to be just part of life in this country.

Of course we shouldn't lump everyone together and we need to realize that most people just want to live a rather simple happy life. Someone from Pakistan walking down an American street isn't going to worry much about getting killed because they're from Pakistan. I would be real worried walking down any street in Pakistan just being white. I would also be worried if I had a vagina.

Thank you for this OP, people should realize that the "enemy" isn't the average person, but the extremists and awful people who's morals contradict so sharply with our own they make us shudder. Problem is, I have a feeling most people that were born in the West would have a REAL bad time in Pakistan. Women, religious minorities, and homosexuals sure do. Yeah, they get flipped a lot of crap in the West, but it isn't something that keeps people from Pakistan from moving here.

When I see a post like this I have to try and figure out if it's propaganda or not.

ATS is widely known as the top conspiracy site with the owners appearing in major media outlets like Coast to Coast among other things.

There's definately real posters but there is definately people working on agendas.

I'm just glad I've been here long enough to know when I read a certain tbread I k ow there is something fishy going on in it.

a reply to: Domo1


Domo I respect your Opinion , But my whole point was about not judging by appearance. Of course their are problems in Pack and Afgan We all know that , But I am sure most folks would agree the IMAGE of these places and the people lay grim in the minds our . I think what the photographer was trying to capture was LIFE ! a life that we are brainwashed into thinking does not exist in places like these .

For a moment can we forget about the horrors that happen in these places and reflect on the life that this photographer captured......


Kap

a reply to: Domo1

The west is as bad or worse, you know splinters in eyes and stuff.

Who has the higher incarceration rate? Just curious.

The only real difference I see is they also have to worry about little mechanical birdies dropping Hellfire missiles.

a reply to: gatorboi117

When you get down to the brass roots of living, we are pretty much all the same with similar issues when it comes to relationships and loved ones. The environment might change and levels of poverty or wealth, politics and religion etc but I like the Chinese proverb "Wherever you go, there you are again' same issues even if you move away.

Nuke'em?

Can you even try to understand what a feeling it must be if you were a citizen of that country and you would come across this site and read about people wanting to "nuke" your country because reasons?

How about we would speak about nuking USA because we don't like the wig of Trump? Or because our great media-leaders told us to think this way?

What would you think of us? yeah, thats right. "How could they?!".

You should feel the same about any other country anyone tells you "that we should nuke'em!".

a reply to: Kapusta

For a moment can we forget about the horrors that happen in these places and reflect on the life that this photographer captured......

Yes, I like that idea.

One of my bestest buddies in the world is Pakistani and I love when he posts sometimes about life over there. He's one of the "lucky ones", well educated, government job etc, but growing up has known hardship, and has seen suffering with his own eyes.

It boiled my blood when I've heard people say Pakistan should be wiped off the map etc they're a bunch of terrorists. In fact when I saw the title of this thread OP, I was about to go on a warpath lol.

Terror lies everywhere, east and west, north and south. Just as sectarian violence, gender-based violence and inequalities, child abuse and censorship of speech and the press etc. In my view we're all as bad as each other in a way. Just as we're all as good as each other.

a reply to: onequestion

When I see a post like this I have to try and figure out if it's propaganda or not.

So which is it?

Have you determined if this is propaganda or a call to see the humanity that dwells within the hearts of the people shown in the OP along by sharing a glimpse into the lives of some by documenting their stories?

Are you implying that the founder of Humans of New York, an American, who provided these photos in the link and who documented the stories of the lives of the people he photographed as he travelled across Pakistan, is now a shill working for the Pakistani government?

Did you read the OP in full?

ATS is widely known as the top conspiracy site with the owners appearing in major media outlets like Coast to Coast among other things.

Cool. Where are you going with that? Seems like a random thing to inject into this thread.

There's definately real posters but there is definately people working on agendas.

Sounds like a conspiracy indeed....

I personally believe the agenda here is to spread the light of humanity onto darkened minds of those who live in the shadows of Edward Bernays....

I'm just glad I've been here long enough to know when I read a certain tbread I k ow there is something fishy going on in it.

Again, sounds like a conspiracy indeed...

What do you find fishy about this thread? I ask because you seem to take pride in your seniority here on ATS and I'm seeking higher counsel on the matter.

en.wikipedia.org...

www.historyisaweapon.com...

Every "expert fisherman" has read that one...

In todays world it seems there is a necessity for people to travel and experience other cultures and lifestyles just to be able to form ones own opinions on the matter,its clear that the media is doing a fine job of misleading people into beliefs that are incorrect.....maybe even if it was at a school level,one class a week showing examples like in the OP for every country.....

a reply to: gatorboi117

I think the main issue with Pakistan and Indian propaganda is that the resources are there, along with a healthy look on life, more should aspire to become a bit more like them in aspect of the philosophical view on life. We are very spoiled in the western part of the world when it comes to life in general.