Bright red and a headache (page 4 of 4)

No more than yours...

If the mullahs thought they had the support of their population, they wouldn’t need to organize rigged and controlled elections.

There wouldn’t be a need for Revolutionary Guards either.

Tomorrow’s Iran certainly won’t happen overnight, but is it better to survive under a dictatorship than to try to win your freedom? Is a half-life worth living?

Yes, up to a point—it’s China.

No, when nothing works anymore: no freedom of speech, no freedom of lifestyle, an economic disaster.

In short, all the warning lights are flashing red.

The transition will be what it will be, but Iranians have nothing to lose.

You're transposing and superimposing your Western values, which you see as universal, onto cultural and civilizational worlds that are very different. The freedom you're talking about takes many forms—it’s quite unique in France, for example, where opinions are tightly controlled, and very different from Anglo-Saxon freedom. In China, it’s strictly collective. So in Iran... You say Iranians have nothing to lose, but that overlooks the fact that this war is mostly about money, disguised as a battle of values.

Michel

You’re projecting your own fixed ideas onto your rhetoric.😇

What do Iranians who died a few weeks ago care whether Donald’s goal was monetary? What do the Iranians marching today care if oil changes hands?

The goal is to no longer suffocate under the mullahs’ rule.

My "fixed ideas" have a name: the diversity of political philosophies, each too easily seen as a universal reference. I think the media you listen to gives you a biased view of the real situation; personally, I’ll refrain from judging the aspirations of Iranians.

Michel

I also think the media you listen to gives you a biased view of the real situation...

There’s not even a need to listen to or read the media.

As mentioned earlier, just look at an Iranian election. 🙂

It’s really enlightening! !

At its core, you idealize what’s presented to you as the model everyone should universally envy: democracy through universal suffrage, a somewhat oligarchic and technocratic power structure, the cult of Western rationality, human rights and egalitarianism, militant secularism—and you’re incredulous when I explain that these are intellectual and social constructs, which are worth... well, what they’re worth. 😅

Michel

You don’t have anything concrete to suggest. As usual !😉

I’ll let you ramble on.

Hi Agnès.

For now, Khamenei has taken refuge in his bunker... What’s he afraid of, since according to him, all his people are behind him?

I didn’t get why you sent me this message—I couldn’t care less about Khamenei. 🙂 I’m way less caught up in Westernism than you are, and I’m just appalled by this new phase of World War III. Hubris has us in its grip...

Catherine

Hi Catherine,

You mentioned Khamenei and Trump in your last message. That’s the only connection.

As for war, we’re animals just like the rest.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are at each other’s throats, Russia’s attacking Ukraine, and the Iranian regime is caught in the crossfire between the U.S. and Israel after waging war on its own people (no link between the first step and the second, even if the internal frustration certainly helped push the button—not for humanitarian reasons, though).

I don’t think a peaceful world will ever happen.

Hi Agnes,

The difference between us comes down to the fact that I take a relativist, anthropological approach. In other words, you believe there are universal values—superior ones, no less—and conveniently, these happen to be your own. You think these superior values should naturally impose themselves by their own force, so it’s only right to fight against cultures, civilizations, or nations that don’t subscribe to them. So, we end up launching what can only be called crusades. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s a lot of talk these days—just like with Iraq before—about the “axis of evil,” malevolent figures, justice being served, and so on. I don’t believe in inherently superior values, especially when I see them waved around as an alibi for imperialist and financial ventures.

"As for war, we’re animals like any others..."

Reductio ad animam? 🙂 Humans are the only animals that wage war, the only ones that fight to expand their territory, influence, or wealth. You’d almost start to lean Rousseauist.

Michel

Hi Agnès,

You mentioned Khamenei and Trump in your last message. That’s the only connection.

Yes, about Khamenei and Trump. One of them is dead, and the other, the Epic Rager, is yelling that he’ll keep hitting for a whole week nonstop.

It’s possible the bulbuls have gone silent in Tehran. So let’s make Googoosh sing instead.

https://youtu.be/v9NdIV3uza4?si=jNeROMtJskmQ0hcS

Catherine

PS: You’d make me happy if you didn’t insult animals by comparing them to humans. 😉

Words and words and words and words and words And more words you scatter to the wind

I’m noticing that, just like with Maduro, the inner circles of dictators aren’t very reliable. The weather vanes bet on new horses and the troublemakers disappear.