Is it a country? And is it theirs?

The Taliban made a huge deal out of “eradicating” poppy-farming back when they first took over Afghanistan. By the end of their time in power, they were quietly encouraging it, because there really isn’t any other cash crop that could be easily packaged and sold for profit in that part of the world. The US tried getting the grape/raisin industry going, but with the Taliban going after everyone who accepted our help, that was a non-starter.

Frankly, the whole thing is a dog’s breakfast. If you truly eradicated the poppy crop, then guess what? The locals starve to death in poverty. Which is the reality for why everyone looks the other way over it all–They don’t want to allow the peace that would afford the opportunity for other crops, and the money is too good with the poppy crop. The warlords want something portable and compact to sell, soooo… Yeah.

It is analogous to the issues with the whiskey taxes during the early days of the American republic. You couldn’t transport the wheat crop affordably to where you could sell it, so you distilled it down to whiskey which was portable enough, and which could be stored for a long, long time… Only thing was, the government man wanted his cut, so there ya go.

Backcountry agriculture is always problematic. Doesn’t matter when, where, or what, it’s a problem. Most of the high-value crops that are easily portable out of the logistic nightmare that was frontier America or modern Afghanistan are also things that are illicit and high-profit. Go figure.

First is very bad, second is very good. Did I get it right?

That and all foreign aid must cease, and all charities be regulated.