Imagine a Taliban-esque faction somehow took over your country by force. You are now subject to Taliban laws. What would you do?

This question SCARES me a lot, because I don't have a passport and it would be very difficult for me to get one. (DO NOT tell me how easy it is; my situation is complex; I don't want to go there.) I would try to escape as soon as I possibly could, and I feel strongly that people who don't like the government where they are should leave rather than taking up arms (just think how much better the world would be if we all felt this way), so it scares me to think that I might REALLY REALLY want to leave and not be able to.

My first priority would be to get my wife out of the country using whatever means necessary. From the question, I'm assuming that the invasion has been successful. If I remained behind (which I would do if needed to get my wife out) then I would not make my opposition to the government obvious. A number of my friends would fare poorly under such a government. I would attempt to either shelter them or help them escape. If this were to happen in the US, the chances of the entire country falling are extremely remote. This makes a hypothetical guerilla's work easier. Assuming that any of the my country's military force is intact, I think that the most effective resistance technique would be intelligence gathering as opposed to direct warfare.
**ron2112: Check out www.taliban.com
**steve: One problem with your proposal (leaving vs. taking up arms): In this situation, the government gained power by force. What makes you think that they won't do this to whatever country you flee to?
I would cite the classic example of the efficacy of appeasement when faced with an invading force but I fear I will invoke Godwin's Rule...

Since I have no idea who Taliban is, I'm not really sure. But since there are enforcers beating people up on the streets, I don't think I'd like it. Since it was a takeover, there's likely a resistance group of some sort that I'd already be a part of.

Steve - What if your government was good but has turned bad? You should just leave? Should the French have just packed up and left France in 1943? Even worse, what if there's no place better?

I would stay, outwardly conform, and ferment rebellion whereever I could. Women can't go to school, nor leave the building at any time except in the company of a male close relative and in the completely floor-length outfit which is medically proven to be very dangerous (for various sort of obvious reasons). It would be horrible to have this lifestyle forced on me. I'm amazed that no other countries are really protesting this regime. NPR yesterday had someone reporting that this is the worst treatment of women (singled out from men) that they've found ever, anywhere.

Bad me!! Sorry for assuming we all knew who the Taliban were - guess I've been immersed in it for too long. Thanks, daver, for your ever-helpfulness :) Also, check out this article on women and This article on government.

It would help me a lot if I had any clue what the hell Taliban is.

***daver: Thanks! Now that I know, I would probably go on a murderous rampage until one of them finally took me out. So long as I got one or two it would be worth it. I can't imagine what else I'd do; once you let fanatics get that much power there's really no stopping them.

***lisashea: Reading that article certainly strengthens my resolve. I'd be dead in a week anyway under that kind of rule, so I'd try to kill as many of the scumbags as possible before they got to me. I really really hate religious extremism.

I couldn't answer the would/not conform bits, because it would depend so much on the situation. Would I risk being beaten on the street and thrown in prison if I had three small children at home and my husband had died in the fighting? Probably not. I don't think I would loudly & brazenly not conform unless I had a vision of how that would make it better. If it was only going to get me killed, there'd be no point, unless I could figure out how to make my death extremely visible.

What the heck is Taliban? I am having to make an educated guess in order to answer this survey...

I think I would be able to conform, and I would do so in order to stay alive. I actually kind of like the way the word "taliban" sounds. I would eventually find a way to resist I hope, but I would be very careful about it.

???

Sorry to sound like a martyr, but I would be willing to fight to the death to return my country to the state it was before the takeover. I have lived under oppressive, Middle Eastern regimes & visited others & even that was hard & we were being paid well to be there.

Please educate us ignorant people.

I'm not familiar with Talibany stuff but I assume if they're beating people I'd want to leave. And, just a guess, but maybe you meant foment (incite, rouse) trouble, rather than ferment (cause tiny bacterial organisms to grow) trouble? Or are they interchangeable these days?

I would fight to overthrow, but not necessarily because they were Taliban. If the Southern Babtists overthrew the government by force (don't ask me how) I would fight just as hard.

you don't ferment trouble, you foment it.

I would display my ignorance and say, "WHAT?"
Hopefully when i read the answers I'll have a clue about this Taliban.
***Ahhhhh.... I see. Nope...couldn't live like that but I couldn't kill either. Guess I'd have to head for the hills and start my own cult.

***Hey Romkey...COOL!!

I checked several, which could be conflicting: I'd conform to keep away from the beatings and stuff. I would not conform, but would keep quiet. I would accept the system. I would escape, if I could, as soon as I could. What I'm saying is that I would put up the facade of being a perfect conformist, but would secretly practice whatever I believe in private, and would escape when I could. This is, of course, all in the hypothetical overthrow of our government by these people or this religion that I have never heard of in my life. But that's how I handle most situations, school included.

I would conform so that I could be an enforcer. I always wanted to beat someone with a stick.

I have no idea what "Taliban Laws" would entail or what a "Taliban-esque Faction" would represent.

it would be more difficult to be an anaerchist in that setting. in what way did they take over? do many people accept it? then i'd have trouble existing in the same space and agitating locally.

Run away!

Taliban?

Oh I see. I would start a resistance cell in the northeast and join The Invisibles.

Barbelith



*** Lorax - I would hide you in my root cellar. In fact, I would make a root cellar specifically for you to hide in.

I read this as Taliban-esque faSHion ...floor-length burqua answer reinforced it ... don't know what I'd do...but it would probably lead to my death.

Being a Christian and given the current Jihads against Christians by Muslims, I would probably be dead pretty quickly. I certainly wouldn't conform.

*** Romkey - :)

great, excellent, wonderful question. And I honestly don't know, although I've been sitting here thinking about it for a few minutes. Maybe I'll come back...

that's 'foment', by the way. Ah, I see Atzilut has already covered this.

Given recent current events, I suppose I would start a terrorist training camp.

now that I have a definition..... I have no objection to a fist length beard, but..... I would be long dead because I would have fought to prevent them from ever coming into power. I would fight them just as I would ANY religious regime,or at least the ones that would take over by force. if it was a takeover by peaceful movement, I might consider joining it, I probably wouldn't but I'd look at it. with a peaceful takeover the chances are that my rights would be respected, if not,then I would simply leave. back to the original question, if I survived the takeover, then I would already be in the hills as part of the resistance.
*phi: does that mean that you are a certified terrorist? or would you be looking to attract some so that you could be trained withthe rest....