The Nepalese Could Learn from the USA
They stand to make profound change; the question is, will they do it?
Political storm clouds have been on the horizon in Nepal for some time now. (Photo by author, Kathmandu, 2019)
The people of Nepal, particularly the youth, did something Americans have not shown the courage to do (yet?). They rose up in protest against systemic corruption and incompetence, and forced their existing government to quit. Now they face a pivotal moment — how to start anew, to craft a way toward a promising future instead of trudging along a path of despair driven by a dreary status quo.
They could learn some lessons from what is happening in the United States.
The place
Nepal is a tiny nation squished between behemoths India and China. It hosts a population of around 30 million, roughly equivalent to the state of Texas or the province of Chongqing in China. The country is one of the most beautiful on earth. The mighty Himalayan mountains grace its northern and eastern borders. On the other side sits the Terai, an area of “tall grasslands, scrub savannah, sal forests, and clay rich swamps.”
It is a culturally rich and diverse place. Foreigners know it for its Sherpas, but there are so many more, such as the Dalits, Tamung, Newar, and Madhesi. People speak any of more than 120 languages and, while the majority is Hindu, 20% practice a wide range of religions.
The political history of Nepal is as complex as its demographics. Focusing more recently, until 2006 it was characterized as a constitutional monarchy. From 1996 to 2005, the country fought a civil war over how that constitutional monarchy should function and who (or what party) should decide.
A year or so after the war’s end, the monarchy was abolished. Two years later (2008), the country declared itself a federal republic. It took seven more years to create and implement a constitution, and another two after that to hold the first general election (in 2017).
Starting September 8, 2025, events unfolded that “changed the face of modern Nepal, figuratively and literally.” Young people took to the streets in protest, ignited by a nationwide ban on numerous social media platforms, and things escalated quickly.
Fires blazing on the first night of protests. (Photo by a friend, used with permission, who asked for their name not to be released).
It is unclear at this point who did what exactly, but we know for sure that many buildings were burned and protestors killed. Even some politicians and the politically connected were injured. A former prime minister’s wife was killed. The number of dead is reportedly 74. The current prime minister resigned and fled the country. In the absence of a functioning government, the military took control. As I write this, things have quieted, according to my sources, though there remains a heavy military presence in many places.
Smoke coursing up over Kathmandu following the protests. (Photo by a friend, used with permission, who asked for their name not to be released).
Before going further into the present circumstances, let me step back and describe the lead-up.
There are plenty of academic sources that dive deeply into the history that led to this moment. I am not adopting their approach. I have been entrenched in Nepal in various capacities for almost two decades. During that time, I have made connections at every level — families, students, colleagues, friends, government officials, celebrities, media figures, and more. This is a commentary from a semi-outsider looking in.
The views expressed here are reflections on what I have experienced, seen, and heard. The goal is not to criticize the government, the people, or anyone else. Rather, I am offering my thoughts using comparisons of two separate systems — the American and Nepali — based on my unique place between them.1
If you are unfamiliar with what is going on in Nepal right now, I encourage you to read the excellent set of articles by Kalam Weekly on Substack prior to continuing here. The one titled, “A primer for what is happening in Nepal,” by Pranaya Rana, is the best place to start. It offers a much deeper analysis than I could ever hope to. To stay apprised of the situation as it unfolds, consider subscribing to that newsletter. (I have no affiliation, I just find the work to be gold standard).
My history in brief
My introduction to Nepal happened when I was a college student looking to study Tibetan language. Because the politics surrounding Tibet and China made it impossible to study in Lhasa, Nepal was an apt second choice. Do not confuse ‘second’ with ‘inferior.’ (There is a large diaspora of Tibetans living there).
I spent my first months at a Buddhist academy near Kathmandu, the country’s capital, learning from Tibetan monks. In my free time, I made lots of friends — Nepali, Tibetan, and many from countries as far as Australia, Europe, other parts of Asia, and South America. More profoundly, the seed of my Nepali upbringing was planted.
Your author with Bidur Dangol, founder and owner of the famous Vajra Bookstore in Kathmandu. (ca. 2023, photo by author)
In the years following, I traveled to Nepal almost annually, sometimes more, for a wide range of reasons. I taught subjects such as law and technology. I assisted in disaster response. I participated in environmental and other projects. I went on holidays solely to spend time with loved ones.
The time I spent there spanned from a few weeks to over a year per visit. Those journeys provided opportunities to explore nearly every corner of the country. I laid eyes on Mount Everest, Chitwan National Park, Maya Devi temple (the Buddha’s birthplace in Lumbini), Boudhanath, Pashupatinath, Janaki Mandir, Namo Buddha, and so many others.
Most recently, I taught at an IT College and participated in many academic conferences, talks, projects, and related events.
The backdrop to the present
Over almost twenty years, I heard a consistent message from Nepali youth (some of whom are not so young now, yet continue to hold the same view). There was a pervasive discontent with economic opportunity and governance. The word that came up almost every time was corruption. In short, nearly everyone under 40 with whom I spoke felt that corruption and nepotism in government (and some business) were prohibiting them from finding opportunities not just to thrive, but to survive.
Transparency International has consistently ranked Nepal around 105 to 110 out of 180 on the corruption perception index, with a score of 34 out of 100 (lower is worse).
An economy based on ‘who-you-know’ leaves few jobs for those outside of such inner circles. And the sum availability of work is already small, given Nepal’s consistently weak economy. With so many people competing for extremely limited opportunities, it’s an employer’s market. That means deeply depressed wages. I have friends who are forced to live on barely 200 USD per month, often in supremely cramped quarters with minimal or wholly inadequate facilities.
Those with families lucky enough to possess the means for them to travel often leave the country to earn money and send it back home (Nepal’s economy relies heavily on these ‘remittances’; they comprise nearly 28% of its GDP). Working abroad subjects Nepalese to harsh conditions, including abuse, imprisonment, and even death. It also splits families of a very family-centric culture. Some workers outright disappear, leaving their families without answers about what happened. (Watch the film The Secrets of Radha, directed by my friend Subarna Thapa, to see a fictionalized, but realistic depiction of this).
Employment problems notwithstanding, another common complaint involves corruption in day-to-day activities. For example, certain (legal) items are difficult or impossible to find within the country. Nepalese are forced to try and procure them from abroad. But getting them through customs can be challenging, sometimes requiring paying off customs officials to facilitate the process, according to some.
This kind of quid pro quo ostensibly happens across many bureaucratic functions. I’ve heard similar stories about acquiring passports or visas, bank accounts, medical treatment, and more. Purchasing land or starting a business or charity are other functions where I am told illicit money almost certainly must change hands.
People of certain ethnicities believe malfeasance by officials is targeted at them more than others. This often involves the appropriation of land, especially sacred sites. Sometimes it is done in favor of the dominant religion, other times for commercial gain. Whatever the motive, it is always done corruptly, in their view.
City services that Americans hardly think about also fall victim to corruption or government apathy in Nepal. A ride across Kathmandu is an easy way to get a sense of this. Roads are riddled with potholes, and sometimes not paved at all. Others are pristinely paved, then ripped up a short time later, never to be repaired.
I’ve been told this is due to disputes over paying the contract or because of poor planning (such as deciding to fix subsurface infrastructure right after the paving is done instead of before). In either case, as one would expect to hear, the underlying cause is corruption.
Traffic signals — something that became ubiquitous in Kathmandu relatively recently — often do not work or are ignored in lieu of police on-site directing traffic (for reasons that are either unknown or ostensibly without logic). Enforcement of traffic law — such as it exists — is haphazard, at best. Unfairly targeted, at worst. And all of this occurs in an urban landscape that never contemplated the huge volume of traffic it now gets.
A lot more could be said, but it would simply belabor the point. Sadly, glimmers of improvement happen, but they so often seem to be offset by new disappointments. For Nepalese, these letdowns are anything but new. Rather, they represent the “same old” thing they have grown accustomed to over their entire lives.
The now
To describe the sentiment at present, let me offer an excerpt from Rana’s reporting:
For weeks before the initial protest on September 8, young Nepalis had been engaged in an online campaign loosely organised around the “NepoBaby” trend…
[T]he campaign targeted the children of Nepal’s political and business elite…
Nepal’s Gen Z came of age in the years following the end of the country’s civil war and the abolishment of the monarchy, now nearing two decades in the past. They were promised a “new Nepal” under a restored democracy and a new constitution, where they could lead better lives than those of their parents. Instead, Gen Z-ers were confronted with a failing economy, characterized by few job prospects and an increasing societal pressure to migrate due to the lack of a worthwhile future in Nepal. As ordinary Nepali youth compared themselves to the children of the political elite, many of them also from Gen Z, there was a swell of righteous anger.
According to Rana and many others, the last straw was the ban on social media that began around September 4. It included many of the biggest platforms — Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, and X, among others.2
For many Nepalese in their teens, 20s, and early 30s, these applications provide economic lifelines. A few use them as influencers, but most to find work or make connections to help find work, and others to do tech related work online. And of course all use them to maintain social connections. This is particularly important given the geographic division among family members.
On the heels of the ban, things grew ugly, fires burned, people died. And the government fell.
Upheaving a broken system is the easier part of a process like this. I am in no way minimizing all the pain and suffering that came as part of the initial sequence of events, but moving forward without adding to them will be profoundly challenging.
Some obstacles will prove more daunting than others. Most troubling of all is that there does not seem to be an explicit answer to the question: What do Gen Z want?
Rana provides the closest thing to an answer:
Their demands are varied, but they broadly agree that their primary agenda is the constitution and the creation of an interim government led by a person of their choosing...
[They also want] an independent commission to probe the wealth and property amassed by politicians; an end to systemic corruption; and the representation of the youth in all state organs. Some factions are also pushing to discard the current constitution and write a new one, as well as to institute a directly elected head of government (the current constitution stipulates an indirect election of the prime minister by parliament).
A lot of the matters above have been discussed on Discord, an online forum for communication that is managed by one or more hosts. The leader of the interim government, Sushila Karki, a former chief justice, was chosen by vote on that platform shortly after the conflagration cooled. She is in her 70s. (Notably, she is Nepal’s first female head of government, officially appointed by President Ram Chandra Poudel on September 12).
Think of how wild what I just wrote in the previous paragraph is. Thousands of teens and twenty-year-olds essentially selected their temporary head of the nation’s government, after toppling the existing government through protest, on an online platform! The person they selected lived for half a century before the technology was even heard of in the country.
But the astonishing nature of it all also hints at upcoming tensions. Gen Z-ers in Nepal have a rough idea of what they want, but they do not seem to know how to get it. Furthermore, they do not seem to agree on very much of the specifics. Adding to the chaos, the dialogue needed to get there is wanting. Rana writes:
[T]he Gen Z movement lacks many visible leaders. Within the movement, various groups are working independently, often with limited contact. Some groups have told me that they have reached out to others, asking for everyone to come together and form a common platform, but they have had little luck.
Without some unity and leadership, the chance of fruitful dialogue is small. Without fruitful dialogue, the chance of descending into anarchy or returning to the status quo and further suffering is very high.
Cues from America
Citizens of the United States are experiencing a similar kind of discontent that led Nepali youth to take to their streets. Similar, but by no means the same. Still, despite the notable differences, the way Americans are handling it and the results they’re getting can provide some useful intelligence for Nepalese moving forward.
Leadership
One would expect that in the United States, putting up a front of resistance to the blatant corruption and incompetence of its federal government would be easy. Indeed, it should be. But the problem is the lack of unity, and this arises from a lack of leadership.
The majority of Americans agree on certain principles — a fair justice system, safe streets, equal economic opportunity, restraints on predatory or unfair business practices, access to good healthcare, adequate social security, etc. But Americans do not have productive discussions on these issues because they would rather clash over nonsensical things. A key reason for this is that no one has successfully come forward to keep everyone focused on what matters.
Activists in Nepal will find themselves in the same position if they opt to engage in infighting. There will always be disputes over the particulars of this or that issue, but they will never be resolved if the conversation centers on the irrelevant or trivial, or is distracted by ego-driven fights over which faction is “more right.”
It’s a matter of getting priorities straight — something Americans have failed at abysmally.
Even if a flawed leader is chosen, one who does not possess the acumen to accomplish nearly enough of what is sought, it is easier to find a more capable leader later, one who can keep the ball rolling and eventually accelerate the speed of change for the better, than to accomplish anything amidst factional strife. The key is selecting someone who shares the core beliefs before allowing malcontents to co-opt power.
Plowing ahead as a mishmash of factions who spend more time fighting each other than fighting for what everyone agrees upon will only land everyone back where they were before.
Setting the goals
If initiating dialogue toward the end of selecting a permanent (as opposed to interim) leader is not working — as seems to be the case right now — then activists need to simplify their goals and announce them as loudly as possible. They need to keep their countrymen focused on the critical matters that need to be addressed.
Having selected Chief Justice Karki to govern in the interim, it seems in my view that it is best to direct the demands of the people to her. She was selected for a reason, and by my estimation is a pragmatic person both willing to listen and able to act. Indeed, most of her selections for her interim Cabinet are considered “clean,” or “untainted by allegations of corruption or impropriety.”
Americans do not have such a figure to whom they can direct their desires. When Americans make demands, they are lost in a maelstrom of shouts that no one can hear, let alone distinguish. The President and government officials summarily ignore them all, like Nepali politicians have ignored Gen Z-ers. Oppositional figures in the US are treated like partisan rabble rousers because that’s all they really are.
And this is the fault of the people themselves.
They do not uniformly plant their support behind any one individual or small coalition because they are too focused on positional differences on matters that are not relevant to the moment. No leader will be flawless or 100% aligned with one’s views. But a failure to unite even amidst some disputes will absolutely defeat the broader quest for change.
Silence the trolls
Uncertainty attracts trolls like manure summons flies. In America, political trolls have turned their malevolence into a multi-billion dollar market that is profiting from the destruction of the country. The government itself is now little more than an internet troll.
Our principle of freedom of speech has been stretched so far it has broken. Now, the President, major news figures, and celebrities with tens of millions of followers, openly call for murder and mayhem. Violence is not just the language of disagreement, it is the currency.
Nepalese must avoid this. Violence has happened. That cannot be changed now. But it does not need to shape the process moving forward. And if all the parties at the table operate under that principle, it won’t. But that won’t deter the trolls.
And, as one would expect, they are already flooding the interwebs with the help of some of America’s loudest malcontents:
Conspiracy theories regarding the protests and their alleged masterminds continue to proliferate on the internet. Social media talking heads have called the demonstrations a “color revolution” akin to democratic revolutions in the former Soviet states, alleged to have been orchestrated by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). American conservative pundit Laura Loomer alleged on social media that the GenZ protests “exposed a cesspool of corruption propped up by American tax dollars. USAID, alongside its globalist allies like the Soros-funded Niti Foundation…”
In my view, this is a bunch of bullshit.
The way to silence such troublemakers is to drive them to the fringe where they belong. Come together, even with political opponents, to delegitimize them. Ignoring them does not minimize their power because they recruit by baseless emotion. Instead, make it clear that they are wrong. Let their own conduct be the source of their humiliation.
Most critically, prove they are wrong through positive action.
Talk AND Do
Talking is important, but accomplishing is crucial. That Madame Karki was selected is proof that things can get done, even in this chaotic time so close to the moment of upheaval.
Don’t let that momentum stop.
What’s next
It is hard to predict exactly how things will progress. From what I have seen online and heard from friends, there is a sense of optimism. But optimism breeds complacency. There is a thing called Nepali Time. Those with any familiarity with the place will know precisely what I am referring to. If ever there was a moment to abandon the concept, this is it.
Momentum will not last without constant prodding. Don’t let infighting, power-grabs, or other foolishness obstruct this opportunity to embark upon true change. Years ago, I made the argument that Nepal could be the world’s next tech hub, in the vein of Silicon Valley or Bengaluru. Now, more than ever, that prediction has a concrete chance of becoming true.
Just a year ago, the Annapurna Express published my essay about brain drain in Nepal, wherein I put the burden of change directly on the shoulders of the youth. What I wrote is particularly poignant now:
There is no question that turning Nepal into a bastion of opportunity will be hard. Leaving the litany of matters in need of attention to someone else is far easier than staying behind and working to address them. Facing the challenge will require numerous sacrifices and an abundance of energy and creativity. But, consider this. If the youth does not do it, who will?
See the full piece here.
Your author with the owner and staff of Sekuwa Bank, a restaurant on the northern end of Kathmandu. (Photo by author, ca. 2023).
Good luck, Nepal. My heart is behind you. May you all find peace, stability, happiness, and opportunity.
* * *
To get a firsthand view of the immediate aftermath in Kathmandu, check out this video by Wehatethecold on YouTube:
I use two forms of the word Nepal in the narrative: Nepali and Nepalese. The former is used as an adjective: i.e., Nepali food. The latter is used as a noun. Thus, ‘Nepalese’ refers to the people of Nepal. It is an arbitrary distinction; the two are often used interchangeably in regular speech. My usage simply reflects the convention with which I am most familiar.