Monday
February 26, 2001
Kings are for kids
It is both ugly and amusing to see some people have been defending Mr.
Pahlavi and his media exposure in the past few weeks ["What
future", "Democratic
republic, or...", "Citizen
Pahlavi"].
As a 27-year-old, I have witnessed a revolution, a war and don't have
a single nice thing to say about the present regime in Iran. The only
thing I can say is that I was physically and mentally abused by a system
that should be tried for inhumanity.
However, I have been fortunate enough to find freedom elsewhere, and
make the best of my life. With that in mind, I find it extremely difficult
to understand that some people still talk about "having a king"
in Iran!
For someone who has practiced freedom in a democratic society, it is
absolutely self-contradictory to say, "Iran needs a king" (are
you listening Reza Jr.?). It's year 2001.What the hell's a king?
Some countries are developing space stations above the earth's atmosphere
and Iranians are still talking about electing a king to rule on earth!
Monarchy has been obsolete for centuries and I'm astonished to see some
people are still chasing their own tail!
Let's be honest to ourselves. Have we not learned any thing from the
Qajars and the rest of the royal disasters? Are we always going to set
ourselves up for bad politics? Kings belong in cartoons for kids!
Now let's be realistic for a second. Do some people truly believe that
millions of Iranians are going to bow down and say "come on in Reza
Jr., mi casa, tu casa"?
Mr. Pahlavi was born with a golden shovel in his mouth! He has never
worked a day in his life nor has he waited for the best shopping sale to
come around! One thing he has managed to do is, to lose $25 million of
his family's wealth (which can arguably belong to the needy people of Iran)
by poor decision making. He wear's nice suits but what has he done in politics?
To be honest, I wouldn't trust Mr. Pahlavi behind a pink Barbie toy
jeep! If it's democracy Mr. Pahlavi is claiming, then what kind of democracy
is it if he has to become a king and open Chapter Three to his family?
Why can't he be like the rest of us and equally own a piece of democracy
under "people's government"?
It takes generations of IRANIAN CITIZENS to bring change. Not over
night. Iran's government is slowly cracking by the reformers.It's only
logical to let time run its course and allow the people of Iran bring democracy
and justice.
Saman Albaloo
See Saman's
cartoons
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