Thursday, February 22, 2007

Qat

I thought that the idea of how people in such a poor country would spend a good part of their money everyday on what is simply a drug. My first thought was how pathetic it was that people would do that and why would they do that. Than, it hit me how so many people in our own country spend $20 on beer or cigarettes and how our country, just like theirs, has its own addiction. Only our addiction causes all sorts of cancers and health problems, often death. So many of my peers reactions were how stupid and strange it was that these people do this "drug". It is as if people dont see that what they are critizing is happening all around them. Qat is a funny thing that I've never heard about until this book, but now im most certainly intrigued by it.
LB
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3 comments:

Baghdad Blog said...

Disregaurd the above^(i forgot to spell check etc.)
You contradict yourself a little bit. You talk about how at first you thought it was silly that people in such a poor country would take what little money they had and spend it on qat, then you have your realization about how we are hypocrites to say its bad when we do it here, however, linking back to what you said earlier, it is a matter of wealth and personal income, if a person can afford cigarettes and beer and still afford to feed and be responsible for their families, by all means go ahead. However in many of the middle eastern countries people do waste money they do not have to satisfy their own selfish addiction. AM

February 22, 2007 at 7:17 PM
Baghdad Blog said...

LB, I definitely agree with you that qat is something that should not be bought with the little money the Yemeni people have. However, qat is a big part of their culture and everyday lives, just like siestas are a big part of the Greek life (during the afternoon, Greeks, and a few other countries take naps). Every culture has it's specific activity, some addictive (qat) and some not. As much as I do believe that qat is a bad way to spend their money, I do understand how it is a cultural act. Every place has their different everyday routines. -a.v.

February 22, 2007 at 7:41 PM
Baghdad Blog said...

I would say that even more similar to beer and cigarette addictions in the U.S. is an addiction of gambling. Around here, many people-mostly whom are living comfortably enough that they should do so-spend large amounts regularly on things such as scratch tickets and keno. Now although Qat provides pleasure, the near false-hope that people feel when gambling is similar. They want that ‘high’ of having just won a lot of money. The pitiful thing with this gambling is that in the rare occurrence that someone wins, they will probably not stop. If they have gambled for a long time, this one win may not even make up for all the money they have wasted, least of all if they continue to gamble afterwards. So, I would argue that in every country there are major addictions. Addictions can differ between social classes, but the basics (in the U.S.) such as alcohol and tobacco addictions do not. -CS

February 23, 2007 at 9:46 AM

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