Western Afghanistan
| |
| Flag of Western Afghanistan | |
| Motto: Better A Mind Opened By Wonder Than Closed By Belief | |
| http://www.freewebs.com/abduldukhirahiq/map.htm | |
| Region | Atlantian Oceania |
|---|---|
| Capital | Herat |
| Official Language(s) | Dari (official), Pashto |
| Government | Communist dictatorship |
| - Council of Ten Chairman | Abdullah Dukhirahiq |
| Population | 197 milion |
| Currency | aoaj |
| NS Sunset XML | |
Contents
The Country
The Most Serene Republic of Western Afghanistan is a very large, environmentally stunning nation, remarkable for its devotion to social welfare. Its compassionate, cynical population of 197 million are ruled with an iron fist by the dictatorship government, which ensures that no-one outside the party gets too rich. In their personal lives, however, citizens are relatively unoppressed; it remains to be seen whether this is because the government genuinely cares about its people, or if it hasn't gotten around to stamping out civil rights yet.
It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, socially-minded government stops and the rest of society begins, but it devotes most of its attentions to Social Welfare, with areas such as Defence and Public Transport receiving almost no funds by comparison. The average income tax rate is 55%, and even higher for the wealthy. Private enterprise is illegal.
A landlocked country in Atlantian Oceania, Western Afghanistan is broken up into three provinces, Herat, Badghis, and Faryab, running from southwest to norteast. The Herat Province, which contains the capital city of Herat, is considerably more populous than the other two provinces, and where urbanization has not spread outward from the capital, the province contains pleasant, sunny hills and valleys. Badghis Province and Faryab Province, which are generally made up of steep rural hillside (Badghis and southern Faryab) and rocky desert (northern Faryab, near the border with Nojika) are generally less habitable, but contain various moderately sized cities like Andkhoy or Dawlatabad.
The country is made up of seven electoral districts, as is discussed below. Here they are:
- Badghis District
- Central Herat City District
- East Herat City District
- Faryab District
- Greater Herat District
- North Herat City District
- West Herat City District
As is apparent, the population balloons vastly in the capital, which over the millenia has gone from a massive ancient Greek pioneer city to a tiny Persian outpost and back to a sprawling metropolis, whith possesses vast depths of not only West Afghan but global culture.
Western Afghanistan prides itself on the implementation of a 20th century socialist philosophy called anarcho-syndicalism. Similar to socialism, the goal of anarcho-syndicalism is ultimately to obliterate the government in favour of a self-sustained, self operating anarchy where any given citizen has equal opportunity and equal rights.
Economy
A rigidly controlled structure, Western Afghanistan's economy is extremely fragile, and various tactics have been used by The Office of the Secretaries to attempt to stabilize it. With a national GDP of over $1.5 trillion, one would think that Western Afghanistan is reasonably well off. However, with a population of 197 million, finances are spread rather thin, especially considering the punitive income taxes levied onto all citizens, particularly wealthy ones.
The government's control over the workplace is tight- as private business is forbidden, all jobs are provided by the Department of Commerce (a puppet organization of The Office of the Secretaries). As such, one in four West Afghans are unemployed.
With all this said, the structure generates a reasonable centralized economy, and the government's vast-reaching social programs, operated with funds from the enormous income taxes, are appreciated categorically by the citizens of Western Afghanistan.
Government
The government of Western Afghanistan is technically only made up of 19 individuals, only seven of whom are elected. Other officials (like Under-Secretaries) are simply barely employed figureheads for the party line, which is determined by the Afghan Anarchist Party, or AAP.
National Holidays
- April 2: West Afghan Independence Day
- May 2: National Workers' Day
- May 27: Dukhirahiq Day (Chairman Dukhirahiq's birthday)
- June 18: Al-Sakat Day (Former Chairman Al-Sakat's birthday)
- July 31: West Afghan Football Day
- December 30: Soldiers' Day
History
In 2018, civil war once again ravages the nation of Afghanistan once again, due to the assassination of a right-wing political figurehead. With the UN providing nothing but humanitarian aid, the fight lasts for eight years. When the war finally ends in late 2026, a huge percentage of the Afghan population has permanently fled the country; the once well-populated nation contains less than 19 million people (an almost 40 percent drop from the 2005 census). Nothing at all is left of Afghan culture or society. In this vacuum of cultural values, the country breaks into two separate political cloisters. By 2028 this manifests itself as the expulsion of all ethnic Hazaras (who become an easy target for other ethnicities to blame the war on) and all political progressives to a separated state. This is seen as a compromise and alternative to war. Afghanistan (or Afghanistan Proper, as it becomes known) becomes a Pakistan-endorsed, ethnocentric, Islamic theocracy which occupies most of the former unified state and is controlled by a military junta, and West Afghanistan, made up of the Herat, Badghis, and Faryab provinces of northwest former Afghanistan. The latter comes under the control of a progressive radical party which calls itself "The Advocates for the Abolition of Antiquated Traditions and for the Rebuilding and Liberation of Afghanistan," also known as the Afghan Anarchist Party, and consequently garners the support of the new revolutionary secular government of Iran. Their chairman, Ramat Al-Sakat, a prominent Hazara figure from Herat, is selected as the Council of Ten Chairman, or, more commonly, the Prime Minister. His government rejects any association with Islam, in conjunction with the party tagline "Better a mind opened by wonder than closed by belief," and announces the state's name as The Most Serene Republic of Afghanistan (though this name is ceremonial, casual references to the state are universally to 'West Afghanistan.' The flag is designed in the model of the 20th century flag representative of anarchy.
It takes nearly twenty years for West Afghanistan to be rebuilt, and even then it is hardly an economic power of any significance, but the mixed population of Pashtuns, Hazaras, Uzbeks, and Turkmens remain faithful in progress, and in the AAP. Al-Sakat remains in power until 2032, when he chooses to step down. Three more AAP chairmen hold the position of Prime Minister over the next 19 years. When the Italian corporation Zaccardo International loses a class-action lawsuit, it is ordered to pay over 81 million US dollars to the West Afghan state in 2042. However, because of the AAP's general opposition to business, the money is put into an "citizen security fund," where it is essentially delivered to arbitrary government organizations. The move is widely criticised; one pro-business pundit mocks the fund, saying that the "biggest place it allows business a fair share is in bakery ownership." (It later emerges that this mockery is completely accurate- the biggest government contribution to private business of the $81 million is a paltry $400,000 for "Dining-Related Private Enterprise.") The fiasco eventually becomes known as the Zaccardo Affair, and it proves to be almost entirely unhelpful. It does, however, provide an impetus for more conscious economic spending on the part of the AAP in the coming years, and for greater tolerance of the smugglers and salesmen of the increasingly famous gourmet Afghan trout, which in the latter part of the 40s becomes quite popular in France and Spain.
In 2051, the most recent AAP chairman steps down, and his successor, Abdullah Dukhirahiq, a ethnic half-Pashtun, half-Hazara (making him controversial with left-wing pundits for possible ties to Afghanistan Proper) is controversially selected as the new Prime Minister, as many opposition parties worry that he is too radical. He is indeed notably more forceful than his predecessor, but the public gives him the benefit of the doubt.
Further, in 2052, the passage into law of a controversial piece of legislation, which permits for medical use the immediate confiscation of internal organs from a deceased person, is broadly criticized by the majority of West Afghans as a misrepresentation of their values. Dukhirahiq takes the brunt of the criticism for this ruling (though technically his only role in the passage of the law is to choose not to veto it; the fluidity of the passage is surely due to the medical histories of the members of the Governance and Social Welfare Board). All criticism notwithstanding, the move eventually does help significantly to fortify a national healthcare system with almost universal organ transplant availability for all citizens, something that puts it not only ahead of other countries in the region, but ahead of conservative privatized healthcare systems such as that of the United States.
The next year brings further changes for West Afghanistan. More major legislative changes come, and it becomes apparent that the GSW Board no longer has much role in decision making, as two bills that had for years been too radical for the citizen-composed council become law. The first permits human cloning for medical research. This is not to say that the passage of the law makes Western Afghanistan a scientific pioneer immediately, the law is more symbolic that anything else. It emerges several years later, however, that several Swedish scientists had come to Herat in 2053 in order to receive government grants for work in human cloning. The second law follows in the footsteps of fellow progressive nations France and Australia by legalizing public nudity. Also a generally symbolic move, the rights granted by the law prove to be rarely utilized by the nation's mostly Muslim population; it seems that Dukhirahiq is pushing controversial laws past the GSW Board for no reason but simply to aggravate the West and establish Western Afghanistan as one of the leading states in true anarcho-syndicalist policy.
In 2055 major uranium reserves are found in the southwest of Herat province. Nearly spilling over into Iran, the previously unknown deposits become an immediate target for western powers. An American corporation, Revelry Industry Incorporated, immediately posts an outlandish offer in order to be permitted mining access to the area. The AAP demands a hefty chunk of all funds gained from the mining, a 60 percent share. Making international news, Revelry accepts the offer. However, when a month later, in September, when the corporation's operatives arrive in Herat, they are turned away from the site by force by the West Afghan army. Word comes out immediately that due to "environmental concerns," the Dukhirahiq regime has reneged on the deal. Revelry and the American government are furious, and even file a complaint with the UN, but ultimately no action is taken. By the next year, however, Dukhirahiq does order the forested area above the deposit to be declared a national park, adding at least a small degree of consistency to the debacle. This event, along with the Zaccardo Affair, adds a significant level of distrust to all relations between Western Afghanistan and western corporations.
2057 is a year of condradictions for the West Afghan state. When in January a massive protest by the racist political group Al Teqawa is smothered forcefully by the national guard, UN representatives threaten to withdraw their embassy, citing that "a free, civilized political system is one that tolerates not violence or hatred, but one that tolerates every side of the political spectrum; there is a fine line between social justice and dictatorship." Prime Minister Dukhirahiq makes his first public address in over two years, and responds, "The racists and the bigots are not welcome in Western Afghanistan. If Pashtun purity is so important to you, go back to East Afghanistan." However, later in the year, a class action lawsuit is filed against the national television network, Wind Kings TV, citing complaints about the alarmingly racist sitcom "Hazaras Say The Darndest Things." This affront to the cultural and ethnic diversity of the nation is, however, not squelched as easily as the January protest; though the official Secretaries' response is that the move was designed to appease the UN, rumors begin to spread that the only reason the show was not cancelled was because it is one of the Prime Minister's favorites.
In February 2058 Fatima Hassani, the chairwoman of the TY Alliance (the main opposition party) and consequently a Secretary, is dismissed by the Council of Ten. The reasons for her dismissal are attributed to a labour strike in the Herat-based Wukhar auto manufacturing plant. Wukhar Corporation is of course property of the West Afghan government (as private enterprise is strictly forbidden), and so when Hassani recommends that the strike be ended by force (hardly in keeping with AAP policy), Dukhirahiq orders her removed. Hassani had been a moderate (or conservative, as the AAP sees her) and a Pashtun, and so many right-wing personalities accuse Dukhirahiq and the powers that be of racism. No official defense of the sacking is ever made. Hassani is replaced with Sheza Al-Jubeera, a Hazara, party-line AAP liberal. As the other Secretary, Khalid Chakhish, is also an AAP member, this makes both Secretaries members of the same political party, a scenario which breaks with tradition and enrages the general public. When in October 2058 67 percent of all Dahada Products Inc. employees go on strike, Al-Jubeera and Chakhish have Dahada executives strongly punished and order a 20 percent raise for all employees of the trout farming company. While this makes Dukhirahiq and other AAP big shots happy, it emboldens other labour unions across the government to strike for higher wages, and in general does the West Afghan economy no favours whatsoever.
Consequently in April 2060 foreign businesses cooperating with the West Afghan government hold a conference in Mumbai. The Mumbai Conference becomes a benchmark moment for capitalists who point out the ineffectiveness of anarcho-syndicalism. 90 percent of all West Afghanistan's business contract holders threaten to leave. The scenario of this vast en masse departure frightens the Dukhirahiq administration into reinstating Hassani as Secretary (though Al-Jubeera is discreetly named Under-Secretary of Commerce). She and Chakhish forge a compromise with the Mumbai Conference dissidents: in exchange for reinforced fair wage regulations, previously enforced marketing standards, product quality checks, and anti-trust laws will be effectively abolished. This diffuses the crisis.
The election of a new Governance and Social Welfare Board in 2061 sends the nation deep into controversy. Though no problems are seen in the election process, by West Afghan analysts or by outside UN observers, the appointment of the same incumbents (and incumbents for the last 23 years) for the Council of Ten leads to accusations of corruption and bribery. Though the AAP would likely have been the nominated bid anyway, examinations of the GSW Board vote show that the bids of all parties except for the AAP were rejected as "invalid." As the AAP was the only party to field a nomination bid for the Council of Ten, they were of course awarded it. The GSW Board (with the notable exception of Dr. Ila Muhammad, a firm conservative and unofficial supporter of the Islamic Restoration Party, who writes an official letter of concern to the UN) defends the disqualification of all the other bids, stating that "irregularities were not to be tolerated." Dukhirahiq happily resumes his post as Council of Ten Chairman and Prime Minister. Meanwhile, conservative world powers begin asking serious questions about the validity of the Dukhirahiq leadership.
People
A mostly poor but charming people live in Western Afghanistan. While as recent as 20 years ago the majority of West Afghans lived in the rural countryside, the relative wealth and growth of the capital, Herat, has changed the dynamics of society such than almost 70 percent of the country's populace now live in Herat or its surrounding suburbs. This makes it one of the largest general metropolitan areas in the entire world. Subsequently, almost all of the culture of Western Afghanistan resides in the metropolitan capital.
As far as cultural pasttimes go, buzkashi is the eternal tradition, something gathered from its unification with Afghanistan proper. The ancient game is played on horseback, with two teams trying to carry a goat carcass into the scoring zone of the opposing side.
The study of medicine is extremely popular, and in many ways the government's earnest advocacy of this subject is one of the best social welfare policies the socialist state has. Because to be elected to the Governance and Social Welfare Board one must hold a PhD, there is great incentive to go into medicine, and many closeted politicians attend medical school because they know it is the only way to actively participate in politics.
Transportation
There is effectively no budget for public transportation in Western Afghanistan. Most citizens walk when they can, because driving an automobile can be a dangerous experience on the collapsing roads. Further, bans on skateboards, bicycles, and other personal transportation methods lead to extreme difficulty in traveling around the country. Often the only available method of travel is to fly, and that can be an expensive proposition.
West Afghan Football
The 8-club Afghan Premier League (Western Afghanistan's top football division) is this upcoming season composed of only clubs from the Herat metro area, though the league represents the entire country. While some football fans dislike this occurrence, and demand an increase in the size of the league, they are in the minority (as these people are unsurprisingly living in the rest of the country). Most fans are excited that their top-flight football will take place in such an intimate atmosphere.
Almost all of the youth in the nation play football, and new, expensive stadiums are regularly packed to capacity, particularly the 70,000 seat Q'an Coliseum, home to the most popular club in the country, Nine Columns Athletic. The social outreach programs that the club runs not only for its local North Herat constituency, but for the rest of the nation as well, are regarded as some of the most compassionate in the world of sport. Fans all over the country don the white and navy blue Nine Columns kit every Saturday.
Afghan Premier League 2061-2062 participants:
The national team has never participated in a World Cup, due to the country's small size. However, they have registered for qualifying in World Cup 35, and will be participating in the Baptism of Fire in Errinundera.
