The typical historical references to the time of the Shah are actually incorrect. Connecting what was done at the time of the Shah with now is incorrect. The left wing does not apologise for what it did in the time of the Shah, and Trita is not doing it now. The purely democratic ideology does not work in an ancient culture. Iran like many old nations has many other cultural elements that have to be considered, before it is cut up by the blunt democratic tool. Things are not black and white, and Mossadegh was not God. At that time the fear of the Communist Party selling Iran to the Russians was great amongst the world. The world press exaggerated all this, and the result was complete economic disaster for Iran whilst Mossadegh was around.
I know all this to be true because my father was a leading industrialists at the time of Mossadegh. He advised Mossadegh not to make such a big deal and not to allow the oil price to rise. The world of oil was and is in the hands of the distributers, and Mossadegh refused to understand this simple fact. He thought that just having the oil is the be and end all of it all. He built a political scenario around this, and like Khomeini tried to convince the people that the Shah stood at the ports and filled his pockets with money. He promised great revenues for the people of Iran, and like Khomeini, got power but never delivered. Luckily his rent-a-crowds were not around for too long and the people did worry about his dealings with the Communists. Mentioning Mossadegh at the time of the Shah was as if you were talking about the Russians. So the people did see a threat to their freedom. We did have elections at the time of the Shah, but like this Theocracy it was protected against the radicals. These radicals do not give credit to the fact that the Shah was on the side of Ancient Iranian culture, whilst the Khomeinists put Islam above Iran. Iran comes before Islam or Democracy in my and many Iranians' lives. Trita et al think like the mullahs in that ideology - namely democracy (a political ideology) should come above Iranian culture.
The spirit of Iran, rooted in its ancient culture propelled Iranians to put Iran on the map and make it the great nation it was. There was good reason for the 2500 year celebrations. But some people in the left called it a "tea party". They money and effort that was put towards the research to find out about Iran's history is what has kept Iran's dignity now. As we know Iran prospered under the Shah so much that it was ahead of Turkey and South Korea by most economic measures, and plans were afoot to make Iran and Western Asia the world's next power house. But as many people have written in the past thirty years, the world does not like "Persian Pride". Yes we Iranians do carry a big chip on our shoulder, as we look at the ancient history books, and wonder why were are not the Empire of the world. We have instead become a pariah state.
So there are important reasons why everyday we hear horribe news from Iran. The world press does not look at the Good Iranians who are working in many countries and in Iran, and could give Iran the honour and glory it has in its spirit. Imagine what Iran would have been if the Shah had told the world that he is dying from cancer and that it is about time that he was not the place where the buck stops. You see, in Iran, no one wanted to take responsibility for anything. Like most developing nations the people were more interested in being told what to do than to take risks and do things on their own. Look at the number of graduates in Iran, look at the number of new businesses being set up every day, and then look at the unemployment figures. Why you would say aren't new businesses being set up for a country with so much wealth from natural resources and room to grow?
So the people who were fished out and sent to Iran were carefully selected and are supported to rule Iran, to stop Iran from growing. We have the highest brain drain in the world. Every child wants to leave Iran, whilst all the venture capitalists want to get a good connection with a mullah that they can rely on, because Iran economically speaking is the most undervalued nation in the world. Why the mullah? Because the mullah does not allow sane Iranians who want to build Iranian culture to do business. That leaves a bunch of gunmen and drug dealer to do business with the mullahs. But look at the companies that do trade in Iran and you will see that most companies trade at book value or less. You cannot get that measure anywhere else.
If it was not for the plans drawn up by the minds of the 70's that were logical as opposed to political, that are being carried out now, Iran would not have gotten this far. The people had to fight the mullah who right from the start did not want the modern state. To them it was seen as too western. Once the mullahs took power they wanted to reverse all funds into all the modern projects. It brings to mind the story of the Shirly Brothers who 16th Century planted tomatoes and once the local mullah found out the profit they were making, he ordered them to be flattened. And so the joke goes "when did Iran not catch up with the west?" It was at that point in time when the mullahs and the Safavids lost against the modernity, and now they want to turn the clocks back to then. Iran comes second to them.
Inside the Iranian is a zest for development and the world that hates competition from a new Japan, always supported forces that stop Iran from modernizing. The removal of the Shah was not so much removal of the Shah, but to stop Iran from modernizing. Rotten and useless equipment from Russia (as in aircraft) has to be bought, when we have huge oil and gas reserves. Like the time of the Shah the rulers are allowed to waste money on financial intensive military goods or nuclear equipment, instead of hospitals and schools above ground where centrifuges are being spun. Go to Natanz, see how poor these honourable people are, and ask them how many schools there are. Count how many doctors have moved into the area ever since centrifuges were brought into huge bunkers undergound over there.
It saddens me to see all the wise people of this debate miss the most simplest solution to this saga, namely the threat of non-violent general strike. This is the only weapon that the modern world has against any nasty government. It took two days of a hint of strike by the post men in the UK and they got what they wanted. The press were behind them and the whole matter was resolved. We are human beings in Iran just like the people of Britain, but the British media refuses to advise the dictators in Iran that they are powerless against a general strike. Instead the media writes about the killings they get up to, and makes them look strong. They don't write and broadcast about the small strikes that the people of Iran are making. What if they did, and the people realised that their quest for freedom is making front page in The Times or The Economist. Wouldn't that encourage them to do the right thing? Of course it would. Hopefully that would cause the mullahs to react. The chain reaction would start and more and more people would get involved and the road to peaceful regime change would begin. This is not rocket science, and I am no genius. The media are the geniuses who have managed to prevent this from happening. Well done to the media of the world for keeping Iran in the dark ages.
I know all this to be true because my father was a leading industrialists at the time of Mossadegh. He advised Mossadegh not to make such a big deal and not to allow the oil price to rise. The world of oil was and is in the hands of the distributers, and Mossadegh refused to understand this simple fact. He thought that just having the oil is the be and end all of it all. He built a political scenario around this, and like Khomeini tried to convince the people that the Shah stood at the ports and filled his pockets with money. He promised great revenues for the people of Iran, and like Khomeini, got power but never delivered. Luckily his rent-a-crowds were not around for too long and the people did worry about his dealings with the Communists. Mentioning Mossadegh at the time of the Shah was as if you were talking about the Russians. So the people did see a threat to their freedom. We did have elections at the time of the Shah, but like this Theocracy it was protected against the radicals. These radicals do not give credit to the fact that the Shah was on the side of Ancient Iranian culture, whilst the Khomeinists put Islam above Iran. Iran comes before Islam or Democracy in my and many Iranians' lives. Trita et al think like the mullahs in that ideology - namely democracy (a political ideology) should come above Iranian culture.
The spirit of Iran, rooted in its ancient culture propelled Iranians to put Iran on the map and make it the great nation it was. There was good reason for the 2500 year celebrations. But some people in the left called it a "tea party". They money and effort that was put towards the research to find out about Iran's history is what has kept Iran's dignity now. As we know Iran prospered under the Shah so much that it was ahead of Turkey and South Korea by most economic measures, and plans were afoot to make Iran and Western Asia the world's next power house. But as many people have written in the past thirty years, the world does not like "Persian Pride". Yes we Iranians do carry a big chip on our shoulder, as we look at the ancient history books, and wonder why were are not the Empire of the world. We have instead become a pariah state.
So there are important reasons why everyday we hear horribe news from Iran. The world press does not look at the Good Iranians who are working in many countries and in Iran, and could give Iran the honour and glory it has in its spirit. Imagine what Iran would have been if the Shah had told the world that he is dying from cancer and that it is about time that he was not the place where the buck stops. You see, in Iran, no one wanted to take responsibility for anything. Like most developing nations the people were more interested in being told what to do than to take risks and do things on their own. Look at the number of graduates in Iran, look at the number of new businesses being set up every day, and then look at the unemployment figures. Why you would say aren't new businesses being set up for a country with so much wealth from natural resources and room to grow?
So the people who were fished out and sent to Iran were carefully selected and are supported to rule Iran, to stop Iran from growing. We have the highest brain drain in the world. Every child wants to leave Iran, whilst all the venture capitalists want to get a good connection with a mullah that they can rely on, because Iran economically speaking is the most undervalued nation in the world. Why the mullah? Because the mullah does not allow sane Iranians who want to build Iranian culture to do business. That leaves a bunch of gunmen and drug dealer to do business with the mullahs. But look at the companies that do trade in Iran and you will see that most companies trade at book value or less. You cannot get that measure anywhere else.
If it was not for the plans drawn up by the minds of the 70's that were logical as opposed to political, that are being carried out now, Iran would not have gotten this far. The people had to fight the mullah who right from the start did not want the modern state. To them it was seen as too western. Once the mullahs took power they wanted to reverse all funds into all the modern projects. It brings to mind the story of the Shirly Brothers who 16th Century planted tomatoes and once the local mullah found out the profit they were making, he ordered them to be flattened. And so the joke goes "when did Iran not catch up with the west?" It was at that point in time when the mullahs and the Safavids lost against the modernity, and now they want to turn the clocks back to then. Iran comes second to them.
Inside the Iranian is a zest for development and the world that hates competition from a new Japan, always supported forces that stop Iran from modernizing. The removal of the Shah was not so much removal of the Shah, but to stop Iran from modernizing. Rotten and useless equipment from Russia (as in aircraft) has to be bought, when we have huge oil and gas reserves. Like the time of the Shah the rulers are allowed to waste money on financial intensive military goods or nuclear equipment, instead of hospitals and schools above ground where centrifuges are being spun. Go to Natanz, see how poor these honourable people are, and ask them how many schools there are. Count how many doctors have moved into the area ever since centrifuges were brought into huge bunkers undergound over there.
It saddens me to see all the wise people of this debate miss the most simplest solution to this saga, namely the threat of non-violent general strike. This is the only weapon that the modern world has against any nasty government. It took two days of a hint of strike by the post men in the UK and they got what they wanted. The press were behind them and the whole matter was resolved. We are human beings in Iran just like the people of Britain, but the British media refuses to advise the dictators in Iran that they are powerless against a general strike. Instead the media writes about the killings they get up to, and makes them look strong. They don't write and broadcast about the small strikes that the people of Iran are making. What if they did, and the people realised that their quest for freedom is making front page in The Times or The Economist. Wouldn't that encourage them to do the right thing? Of course it would. Hopefully that would cause the mullahs to react. The chain reaction would start and more and more people would get involved and the road to peaceful regime change would begin. This is not rocket science, and I am no genius. The media are the geniuses who have managed to prevent this from happening. Well done to the media of the world for keeping Iran in the dark ages.
