After reading an article titled “Cultural Values and Learning in Afghanistan” on the The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development website, I was able to better understand where the pride and tradition in Afghanistan culture comes from. The history of great civilizations, leaders, travels with great silk caravans has all “left its imprint on the country”. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission In Afghanistan website, the country “was the land of affluence, high-value international trade and intellectual achievement”. Afghanistan is filled with many riches and it was once the crossroad for many great civilizations. One of the oldest travel routes is the Silk Road and it was a factor that triggered the early development of China, Egypt and India. The trade routes linked many different civilizations and countries to Afghanistan. Since Afghanistan was positioned in a great spot geographically, the country acquired a lot of wealth. Eventually, the riches in Afghanistan had attracted many invaders causing Afghanistan to install a policy of isolation and close borders to foreigners.
As the article notes, tribal loyalties which were used for easy communication across the country across Afghanistan have “tended to keep the people isolated”.These changes might have improved security but it prevented the country of further development. Besides development, there was less cultural diffusion in comparison to countries like America who are open minded to all different types of ethnicities. Unlike America, food stamps or as Baba recalled “free money” is not common because it has not been introduced in the country. I believe this is because of the isolationism policy which prevents the society from advancing. While reading the book I always questioned why Afghan people seem very close minded and traditional. Their history of isolationism helps me to better understand Baba and why he does not feel comfortable in American culture.
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