←back to thread

14 Killed in anti-government protests in Nepal

(www.tribuneindia.com)
560 points whatsupdog | 3 comments | 08 Sep 25 11:24 UTC | HN request time: 0.046s | source
Show context
lionturtle ◴[08 Sep 25 11:52 UTC] No.45167176[source]▶
It was absolutely not just social media ban, it was mostly youth protesting against the corrupt government and unfairness, social media ban was one element that was against the freedom of speech, but it was right around the time where everyone was documenting the rich politicians, their business connections and their families that have been living lavishly and just inheriting the election seats from generation to generation and spinning beurocracy to their sides.

I was there a few hours ago. It was a class struggle, but it was bound to be spun up as "kids don't get facebook and throw tantrum".

replies(16): >>45167316 #>>45167350 #>>45167377 #>>45167421 #>>45167463 #>>45167698 #>>45167863 #>>45168071 #>>45168108 #>>45168248 #>>45168256 #>>45168663 #>>45169106 #>>45169494 #>>45170110 #>>45171907 #
bhickey ◴[08 Sep 25 12:14 UTC] No.45167350[source]▶
The corruption is simply incredible. About fifteen years ago I found myself in Kathmandu after getting altitude sickness. The team's fixer brought me to lunch with some government officials. The topic of discussion? How to steal from a hydroelectric project. One of his guests outright asked, "should we be talking about this in front of this guy?" The fixer shrugged it off saying "he's a Westerner, what is he going to do about it?" And, well, he was right. It wasn't like I could go report it to the police.

Years later the fixer was finally jailed for gold smuggling. https://english.khabarhub.com/2022/16/232667/

Edit: add link

replies(7): >>45167426 #>>45167817 #>>45168337 #>>45168354 #>>45170576 #>>45173671 #>>45182598 #
Quarrelsome ◴[08 Sep 25 13:57 UTC] No.45168337[source]▶
I think its quite something that we all waste our time over divisions like left/right, capitalism/socialism, woke/not-woke when in practice; this is the only division that matters. Those who are trying to follow the rules and make the nation better, and those that are only active for their self-interest.
replies(10): >>45168368 #>>45168765 #>>45169014 #>>45169080 #>>45169300 #>>45169353 #>>45169605 #>>45170570 #>>45170696 #>>45172680 #
1. tacitusarc ◴[08 Sep 25 15:10 UTC] No.45169300[source]▶
There’s an interesting book “What is Wong with the World”, which points out that despite everyone agreeing that things are broken and people should unite to fix them, there are many competing visions for what “fixed” looks like, and this is been the source of much of the contention.

It was written in the early 1900s.

replies(2): >>45169546 #>>45169666 #
2. Quarrelsome ◴[08 Sep 25 15:29 UTC] No.45169546[source]▶
While I agree there is contention about "what's wrong", there's a bit of a difference between "I should put government money into my pocket" and "I think local district zoning laws need reform".
3. dmix ◴[08 Sep 25 15:38 UTC] No.45169666[source]▶
I believe OP is saying the most fundamental thing is people working in government acting moral and in the interest of the country, and not using the power position for self enrichment or engaging in petty corruption for social gain. If you have that then it doesn't matter if your system is capitalist or socialist or a bunch of competing variations where no one agrees. The outcome will always be severely hampered by their constant interference in business, plundering of tax money, and repression of dissent.

Most people probably universally agree on the topic of corruption, unlike economics or social policy. But it requires a well designed political system and a strong culture, which is difficult to do retroactively.