TehranSoParvaz

Let's get our perspective into place and our facts straight

AhmadNo one is going to argue that every community has challenges and even problems to work on.

Iranians are here in much smaller numbers than some other communities. And many immigrated as professionals who aren’t business people. Especially the first generation. The Chinese came to North America MANY decades before us. As did the Irish and the Italians. And they outnumber us by far. There are other factors too that contribute to why some other people have established organizations that we might not have. The reason isn’t that Iranians aren’t united or don’t care about each other or are some how different from others.

Renting someone else’s hall is not a shame, unless you have an inferiority complex. It’s called outsourcing to me LOL.

We don’t have the numbers they do, we don’t have the same needs. For example, many communities (e.g. greeks) are religious. So the first thing they do is to establish a church. Iranians here are not religious, especially not in an organized and institutionalized way. So they never had the need to start with a church. Maybe that put us 2 steps behind in terms of timing to find each other but I think it’s a good thing that we are mostly secular. I don't look at the problem and say AHA iroonia intorian dige!

If we had cultural centers, at best, they would be used for Saturday schools and a few celebrations here and there. We like concerts. Ebi needs a concert hall not a community centre down the road! We like 13 be dar outside. Parks are perfect. We have many Iranian lawyers who help people in immigration issues. We have radio stations. We have MANY publications in print. We have MANY websites.

Our grocery stores might not be as big but they don't cater to the same target cutomer. Our business owners may be starting out with less capital. It’s a different kind of business. On the other hand, we have the first female private space explorer! We have many Iranian landlords. We have Iranians in other areas that OUT DO all the communities you mentioned. How do you like them apples:

Iranian-Americans reported among most highly educated in U.S.

//iranian.com/Diaspora/2004/January/USA/

BTW, //www.persianculturalcenter.net/index.htm//www.farsinet.com/ipco/

And this is just a quick 10 second search. Where I live we have 2 Iranian art centers that are like galleries and hold all sorts of exhibitions. There is an Iranian mosque. There is an Iranian library. And a host of other events that take place in other places like Saturday school that have 20+ students in each class (we don’t need to actually build a school from scratch, we rent them from the school boards and the government actually pays us to print text books for the preservation of our culture). We use university halls for literary purposes and we have several Iranian Deans who are more than happy to let us (as well as Chinese or others) use the university grounds for all sorts of events. These serve the needs of the community here very well.

The point is. These stereotypes are nothing but stereotypes and are completely out of sync with reality.

We are the same as others and when we look at an issue, we should put it into perspective and look at it from all angles.

nobody understood what he was trying to say

His emphesize was not on the competition of the businesses but on pulling ourselves up with all that we claim to be.

All other minorities manage to survive in the west, wiith one major difference.

They pull their resources and strenght together. In Toronto the Chinese have a few super markets which every one of them is big enough to fit 15 iranian stores in it.

They also have shopping center with so many stores in them and they are growing every year. They also have their own cultural center to hold community celebration and other activities. Other communities are not far behind. Indians have several community centers.

But Iranians have none and they keep talking about how superior and special their culture is. But when it comes to celebrating Norooz, they go and rent other community"s hall. This is a shame, and all you people wrote here was mainly how you can play with words in order to impress others.

You-know-it-I-know-it-and-the-American-people-know-it (Bob Dole)

I know what your argument is and you know my argument and we know the answers.  You say crimes committed against indigenous people in Australia and North America (today not 100 years ago). You mean Canada?! If so, I agree!

Otherwise today in America?  En masse or an isolated case? I see people who fight each other to death in their homelands (Sunni, Shiites, Jews, Palestians, former Yoguslav, Catholics and Protestants) living side by side as neighbors and having their kids play with each other.  This is what I call tolerance.  I don't know of that many countries that have this tolerance.  Certainly not Iran.

As far as flag issue, I mentioned the UN rally, not the global day of action in July.  Earlier flag issue wasn't that divided.  So what's the problem?  Well the dictators in Iran want to say that those in Green movement and against Ahmadi are those who were thrown out in 1979 or later in early 80s with Rajavi's crowd who joined Saddam.  It's proaganda, yes, but what do we do as the educated elite in freedom lands?  Biker and haggle over nonsense instead of having a large enough voice to be heard as one in the international community.  Fantasy yes, but this is the discussion, isn't it? That we don't get along.

I know you hate stereotyping Iranians, but stereotyping is the easier way to view a group of people.  I didn't define it and I'm not condoning it, but as we say in Farsi, something must be wrong when people say things.  I think it is better to understand why it is that it is being stereotyped than flat out fight against it.  I for one see few things that I can point to say that Iranians don't get along.  It's not a big crime but it is not false either.

I really don't want to debate this live or via comments, especially since the guy who wrote this blog isn't participating.   Maybe he comes in later and say something condenscending! ;-) 

Everything is sacred.

I think you're wrong.

I think you're wrong.

If you want to talk about intolerance, I can talk about devestation all over the world that comes from intolerance, starting from Europe's history of genocide, to North America's brutal racism, to sectarian violence in the middle east and back to crimes committed against indigenous people in Australia and North America (today not 100 years ago), to all sorts of other things.

You brought up the flag issue. Many people take that as a sign that ooooh Iranians are so not united and have so many problems. Well, last time I checked Iranians the world over shook up Iranian politics with their post election protests. Some protests had issues with flags but give me a break, you think Americans who go on to protest or Europeans or others don’t have disagreements or problems when it comes to organizing political movements/protests? We should be so lucky one of our MAJOR problems is a piece of cloth! Why not see these disagreements as a positive sign that we are accepting to make rules for movements and allowing those who feel differently to organize occasionally have their own rallies? 

All I’m saying is if you want to fix something, you have to define the problem first. And using these stereotypes to talk about what Iranians are supposed to be like gets us no where. Why not change perspective for a change and start thinking positively? Why not exploit our national UNITY that has stood the test of time (even under mullahs)? Why not feel good about all that we’ve achieved outside of Iran? Or be happy that we have a choice between 2 flags and god damn it one day we'll hold a vote and maybe even decide we want to have 10 flags?

Why this constant insistence that we are different from other people and some how, we hate each other and don’t support each? I don’t know what it will take to open our eyes to see how some of these supposed problems (like spending money on weddings or having 4 book stores in one street) aren’t problems. I really cannot stand it when people get into these stereotypes and have superficial arguments to proove their point. I wish I could debate this live and not via comments.

Programmer,  The blog was

Programmer, 

The blog was about Iranian attitudes and our supposed behavior that keeps us disenfranchised as opposed to other communities that are apparently tighter knit. I know you are talking about the website but these topics are connected.

My point in bringing up this web site in the first place was to show the idea that Iranians aren’t “together” is false. The blogger gives the impression that Iranians run away from each other and that's simply not true. And the fact that he posted something here is proof that he knows Iranians will read it because this is one of MANY places we get together.

I think this site's more political than communal but they go hand in hand. So it’s natural you would see opposing points of views. And some people fight. I don’t think you can stretch that and associate it to a pattern of behavior for an entire population. Especially if it can be proven other people can be just as “passionate”.

Arabs hammer each other all the time. There are MANY Arab states but they haven’t done a thing to fix some of the major Arab issues. I’m sure that’s reflected in their websites. Keep in mind many websites are moderated, this one isn’t!

Ps what's this talk about outsider this insider that? There’s no blood test to determine who's in or out. If you have any Iranian blood, I hate to break it to you but you’re not an outsider :)

I mean u can't compare us+Arabs to America in terms of tolerance

When it comes to tolerance Iranians and Arabs are the same.  No tolerance! So I meant you can't compare us and Arabs to America, not us to Arabs or America.

In fact, I think Arab activists are envious that they don't have a green movement like us.

Everything is sacred.

......

Hi! Craig,

      Here is your words,

*******************************

Hey, I'm not talking about an entire population! I'm talking about the environment on this website! I never even knew there was such a thing as a rude and abusive Iranian until I came here! A few years ago if somebody had asked me to stereotype the social behavior of Iranians I would have gone the totally opposite direction and said Iranians were much nicer than other Americans.

******************************** 

     I share your view to certain extent. I met great Iranians in real life and saw the brave Iranians on TV (unparalleled bravery on this planet, I admire them a lot.), and also met super kind and nice people here (cyberspace)....but I do feel that there are a couple of people acting like "Crouching attackers and hidden bullies", who enjoy attacking people....they are mean to their own hamvatans here...

     At the same time, I think I should not tell them what to do 'cause they have their own philosophy of life! 

thanks, 

I'm not even

Gonna comment on this.......

Mrs

Programmer, plenty of other sites are the same.

I really don't agree with that... not "community" websites like Iranian.com is. On the other hand, I'd say that some Arab blogs (even major ones) are far worse. But even so, I don't really see Arabs hammering eachother on those sites! It's usually Arabs and Westerners going at it. This website has not attracted many westerners, and maybe that's why there's so much disunity amongst Iranians. And, I'm not sure what Arab blogs in Arabic are like, because I don't speak Arabic. Maybe they tear eachother to shreds when nobody else is around too.

So when
you put anonymous people, they go nuts and say anything they want. Even
check out people.com or entertainment sites.

Right... well, I'd say BBC "Have Your Say" is even more brutal than Iranian.com and that's a complete melting pot of readers from all over the world. But that's what BBC "Have Your Say" is for... people go there to vent about current events covered by the BBC. 

Besides, there isn't
anything on this site that is a big deal. There are only a few people
who engage in hostile behavior, on a regular basis.

Well, I don't know how many people it is but they sure are loud, and they seem to spoil every thread I try to follow. Maybe you have better luck than I do :)

How does that make
an entire population's behavior "unusual"?

Hey, I'm not talking about an entire population! I'm talking about the environment on this website! I never even knew there was such a thing as a rude and abusive Iranian until I came here! A few years ago if somebody had asked me to stereotype the social behavior of Iranians I would have gone the totally opposite direction and said Iranians were much nicer than other Americans.

Maybe you should check out
more "nice" sites and mix it up so you get a different viw.

You mean Iranian blogs? I used to read Iranian blogs. For the most part, they seem to attract like minded people with a critic/troll every now and again. And you are right, that's a better alternative for people who want to get involved in serious discussions. But, the Iranian blogosphere seems to have gone pretty quiet since Iranian.com started supporting personal blogs. 

Maybe this
IS an extreme site, in which case it can be compared to other extreme
sites.

lol. OK. I'm really not trying to criticize Iranians. I was trying to comment on the topic, and I thought my take as an outsider might be worth mentioning :)

Mooshak, What do u mean

Mooshak,

What do u mean you can't compare us to Arabs or Americans? Why not? We're all human aren't we? And since when have they done more than us to allow ethnic groups who kill each other live in peace? Iraq is full of sectarian violence and Americans destroy other countires whenever they want. My point is, "not getting along" is not an Iranian problem. It's a human problem. And as such, we can't hold ourselves to a higher standard and we certainly shouldn't think we're different. Because we aren't. Once we accept we are the same as others, we can then sit and try to find solutions for challenges. Instead of bitching about Iranian this Iranian that.

And why Tehran has this view isn't my concern. I'm just replying to the stereotypes.

And we can't forget about others and just think of ourselves. Not if everyone keep comparing us and saying Iranian this Iranian taht. We should look at others so we can put our own culture into perspective. Anyway I have to go watch tv with my luvah he made chaee for me. have fun.

If Tehran is not going to comment I won't continue, however

Mrs all those who don't get along suffer, one way or another.  Furthermore, you can't compare us or Arabs not getting along with American's not getting along.  At least they have done a lot to allow ethnic groups who kill each other in their own homelands, like Shiites and Sunnis or Catholics or Protestants, live in peace along side each other.  This is a lot more than we can claim. Sure if they can get along better they can have a healthcare system that does not rub them blind.

I think Tehran has heard things (not seen first hand) and is now blogging about it.  His own experiece at most is him witnessing *some* Iranian guys gossiping about Iranian girls dancing with Arab or black guys in clubs. Again he is not here to talk but that is what I think.

Now in terms of getting along, well we're concerenced about us and our own, forget about the rest.  I believe he is saying, can't we at least not use an Arab as an insult? Can we at least not be so close minded in this regard? I mean for goodness sake, you live in freedom and diversity is America's key to success and prosperity, what have you learned?  Why can't you apply what you've learned in your own daily lives?  Why can't we get along?

The rest of the blog I think is just in "draft" mode or just ezhar-e fazl!  Not that there is anything wrong with it!  He is young like all our other young Iranians who want to express their wisdom and knowledge and there is nothing wrong with it. ;-)

Everything is sacred.

MR Tehran,Hamshahri maa dar DC....

Ebi aka Haaji

Anonymouse. I"m not

Anonymouse. I"m not defending being Iranian. I'm giving counter examples to show this idea that we don't get along is not realistic. Every community has disagreements. Look at Arabs. Look at Americans, they can't even agree about health care. Look at the EU. Look at Muslims...every group you look at, they can't get along. Therefore, Iranians not getting along is not anything out of the ordinary because People just don't get along. It's not an Iranian thing. I have no problem with discussing how we can get along better but I don't think it makes sense to take unrealistic examples and talk about stereotypes that don't exist (or apply to everyone). The flag issue isn't that big a deal. Look at Americans and their views about economics and other issues. They're in the same boat. Or how about Africans who are constantly being killed by their own? This isn't an Iranian issue.

If you want to talk about cultural issues or political solutuions. great. But exploring superficially and reinforcing stereotypes that can easily be broken isn't productive.

I would talk in terms of, ok, we are a very united culture and have some values but how do we use them to solve our problems? What are our problems? Real problems not why there are 4 book stores on one street and why so and so had a big wedding. Do we need to learn to work more as a group? then let's teach that in school. Do we need to capitalize on the fact that most of us are more educated than average? Let's talk about what we can do.

But we should accept, sadly for some people, that IRanians are no different than others. no better, no worse. We have challenges but they are not defined by some notion that we can't get along. Because over whelmingly, on a day to day basis, usually, generally and most of the time, we get along just perfectly dandy.

Programmer, plenty of other sites are the same. Iranian or not. So when you put anonymous people, they go nuts and say anything they want. Even check out people.com or entertainment sites. people say the craziest things. Political websites are even worse. Besides, there isn't anything on this site that is a big deal. There are only a few people who engage in hostile behavior, on a regular basis. How does that make an entire population's behavior "unusual"? Maybe you should check out more "nice" sites and mix it up so you get a different viw. Maybe this IS an extreme site, in which case it can be compared to other extreme sites.

sure we can

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I_oV0qd_IY

P/S to Mr. Anonymouse

Due respect, I think it would be rather erroneous to extrapolate the interaction and disunity of the Iranian in diaspora to the public in Iran.

Whether we like to admit it or not, we in out of the borders of Iran have very little in common with people living in Iran. This came to bright day light during the after election demonstrations in Iran and outside.

Iranians within demonstrated unity, as we in diaspora demonstrated disunity. Case point is your own example. Too many different flags, too many different [shoars] and etc etc.

As to the contributions that small businesses make to the whole economy, in US being the largest economy of the world, 47% total domestic production[GDP] is produced by small businesses[under $10 million total capital]. What makes this system to work so beautifully is COMPETITION and laws against monopoly and price fixing.

Regards

-YT 

Ms. TehranSoParvaz - Stifling?

I am not from LA, but been there few dozen times particularly the Westwood area and the book stores row. I love the site and far as having those hard working businessmen/women marketing the most wonderful item, being books.

But I am not getting the whole jest of the thread. Are you saying that competition is bad? or are you saying that they compete unfairly? Maybe it is the proximity of the like businesses together that makes you use the term Stifle.

Economically and from the marketing perspective, actually having the like businesses in the same proximity is rather an innovative concept that came to life within past few decades in the west[around 1920's], and has been the main concept of merchandising and marketing in Iran.

In Iran it is called Bazaar, which concentrates the like businesses within the same proximity, as a result increasing the traffic. Same goal is accomplished by the concept of Shopping Malls. The concepts of Shopping Malls were modeled after our own BAZAARS, with anchor stores[Department stores] which cater to same customer base and variety of other stores with same customer base. In short, if one wishes to buy cosmetics they will go to a Mall, or if they want to purchase books they will go to Westwood. It will be the pricing , the merchandise selection and customer service of the businesses which will translate into [dring dring] of the cash register.

As for the competition, IF it is not done in an unfair manner, competition is the fundamental base of any healthy capitalistic economy. The ones who benefit the most from a healthy competition are CONSUMERS, being you and I. As I said, so as long as there are not unhealthy and unfair marketing and merchandising tactics, such as monopoly, deceptive advertisement and unlawful merchandise[i.e. knocked off brands]. Without competition the capitalistic system will become monopolistic/communistic form of economy. The merchants and manufacturers will price the good as they wish, without regards to costumer service and quality of the product.

If you are suggesting that those businesses work hand in hand to promote same pricing, allow me to tell you that there are laws against such practices, it is called Anti-Trust laws, which prohibits any practice which might be an obstacle to free trade and competition between the businesses. It also prevent any practice that might be [price fixing] between the competing entities.

As to your remark [Traditionally Iranians do not get along....] You might be talking about a different issue than the one I am getting from your thread.

Firstly, Iranians, with all the rich and beautiful diversity, have lived the most harmonious history together for 1000's of years. True that there has been sporadic clashes between them, but those clashes been instigated by the rulers of the time, and/or foreign colonial forces in order to gain political advantage from the unrest.

You might be talking about [Snotty] attitude that some urban dwellers demonstrate toward non urbanized population, or even toward ethnic and religious minorities. This ugly  phenomenon gets to the point of being criminal and genocidal when it is sanctioned by such unholy and barbaric regime as IR. Case point is the plight of women and in particular our  Baha'is hamvatans.

Respectfully

-YT 

If you think Iranian businesses compete w/ each other here

If you think Iranian businesses compete w/ each other here you should go and check it out in Iran.

During Shah there was this Istanbul street which had wall to wall shoe stores for miles!  It still exists.  I could never understand how they can make business and what is a shopper to do, which store to go to?!

Now it is even worse, same type of businesses, be it electronics, shoes, groceries, anything are wall to wall next to each other.  Dime a dozen.  I feel bad for them.

Part of this explosion of "small business" in Iran is that since Iranian economy is dependent on oil when you don't have a Govt job, yuo have no other choice but to open any rag tag store just to spend your time and make some money in between. 

Another reason is because the regime asked people during war to have as much babies as possible.  Now those babies are grown and the chickens have come home to roost, so to speak.  Not only they're protesting in streets there is not enough jobs for them either.

Craig if you go to Westwood go to Shamshiri restaurant, they serve ghormesabzi and/or eggplant khoresht on ta-deegh!  mmmm! The chelo kabob serving is large too, so much so that one plate can be easily shared by two people and if two people order one plate to share, they charge more!  Irani bazi!

Everything is sacred.

Mrs

You see that every where. This isn't unique to us.

Maybe its not unique to Iranians but as an outsider I have to offer the observation that it seems pretty unusual to me. Disagreement makes things interesting, and conformity is boring (my opinions here!) but the level of hostilty on Iranian.com makes it seem like an extremist website. And no, I don't think you'd find it everywhere! I think you'd have to look pretty hard to find a generic "American" website that styled itself as mainstream where people dealt with eachother this way. 

Just my 2 cents worth!

Westwood

Westwood is a "little tehran" now!? Wow. That used to be a Jewish community in the 1980s! I guess I better go check it out at least once. I try to stay as far away from LA proper as I can, but I hate feeling so out of date :0

So anyway... about the competing stores... it may be that people are only interested in opening a particular type of business, and they want it to be in "their" community, and they just don't much care how many other similar businesses there are. Book stores though? That's brutal, because people just don't buy that many books and I imagine there aren't enough customers to go around. But there's no reason why restaurants, dry cleaners, beauty salons on so forth can't generate enough business even when they are in close proximity to eachother.

I'm not sure comparisons to Chinese businesses are the way to go with your thesis though. I worked for a taiwanese computer manufacter for a couple years. Most the employees were Chinese (not Taiwan Chinese) and most the buyers were Chinese (computer distributers) as well. There's a lot of dirty dealing going on behind the scenes to go along with those low prices. Trying to get somebody to buy your products? Find out who they are buying from now. If it's a, b or c express admiration for them and end the conversation. If it's x, y or z undercut their price, even if it means you have to take a loss. You can always raise the price later! The Chinese are great business people and I'm not trying to be critical... it obviously works for them and has been working for centuries, but it seems very"bad" to my American way of thinking. Americans tend to think the price is the price, and if you've got a better product and a better price than the competition then you logically should get the sale! Naive, I know. That's why the Chinese are kicking our asses...

Mrs you're just defending being Iranian but we don't get along.

Our latest masterpiece was the rallies in NY against Ahmadi and did you see we were all scattered around with separate flags chanting our own slogans?

Some of us use Arab as an insult, just an example.  Who said everybody is like that and even if they are doesn't mean they are right or they or us get along.

I can understand some of your points but you make it sound like everything is peachy and we're fine as it is.  I don't know that we are and don't know that anything can be done to fix it other than having major reforms in Iran which would open up a whole new world for us.

Otherwise we'll biker till our last breath.  I still believe our children are immune from much of what makes us to not get along. 

Everything is sacred.

Won't let me post a blog..

You say it’s uncanny that in Westwood many similar business line up the street. This is absurd. Go to a mall, how many retailers are lining up the sides? Little Italy or farmers markets have the same sort of setup.

And let me point out that the different book stores in Westwood have their own culture and don’t always carry the same books. I love making an afternoon of going through a bunch of book stores.   

Maybe there is fierce competition but that’s just business. Iranians, like others, want to succeed. This means they look out for their business. Send their kids to good schools.   

Iranians are in many professions and businesses. This homogenous view that you have of Iranian businesses is simply not realistic.   Iranians do business with each other all the time. Starting with you posting a blog here, this is a business too. Look at the advertisers, I bet you’ll see some Iranian ones too.

Why would Iranians advertise in their own community if there was no demand or supply? Iranians go to Iranian concerts, dealerships, doctors, lawyers, day cares, mechanics…all the time.   

Each stereotype you mention is either absurd (once you explore it a bit) or exists in other communities (which means it’s not Iranian and has no basis in ethnicity). 

You want to talk about putting each other down? Don’t Americans put down Poles and Texans (in breeding Texans)? Don't Canadians make fun of Newfees? Or Italians of the farmers? Come on.

What about racism and all the jokes and put downs that go deep into slavery? Show me one culture that doesn’t have ethnic jokes! To hold Iranians to some higher standard serves no purpose.

We are actually very united. We have lived through war and devastation, revolution and genocide. And we still have the same language as we did before Islam, we celebrate our ancient ceremonies and are always getting together (whether it be a mehmooni or big cultural gatherings).

You’re view that Iranians don’t have “togetherness” is unrealistic. Let me point out that we love our poets, from various provinces, our dishes from the north or the south and we marry among ethnic groups ALL THE TIME.

"Traditionally, Iranians don't get along". Says who? you? That's absolute racism. Even on this site, you see people bickering. So what? You see that every where. This isn't unique to us. And if we didn't get along, we wouldn't survive these many centuries.

Who says we don’t get along? You didn’t prove your point. Your blog is unrealistic and superficial. It sounds like you need to look out of the box and see a bit clearly that our community is very dedicated to its culture and people. You seem to have just fallen behind the caravan. Catch up. 

Hey there, my comment is way

Hey there, my comment is way too long to post here. I have to post it as a blog. I'll name it, Here's to you kid.

.....

Thank you, Mouse,

      Thank you for the photo link...I saw the storefront pictures with # of the street (1437 Westwood? Waxing Salon)...I can program it into my GPS and it will take me there...I am not hairy or anything O:)), but I can visit other Persian stores....

thank you sooo much!

Some pictures of Westwood

Yolanda here are some pictures of Westwood, maybe others can add more.  It is near Beverly Hills and Hollywood area, "ghetto" side! LOL

//iranian.com/Arts/2004/March/Westwood/index.html

Everything is sacred.

......

What is the name of the street with all the Iranian business? I love to visit there one day, I will shop around for the best prices. O:)) Competition in business is good for the customers.

thanks,

PS don't use a prefab avatar! maybe your pic here? it's good

Everything is sacred.

Tehran, Tehran-e. Tehran!

Dude! you've been registered for 37 weeks and you only had one other comment here and that was the one when you registered?!

Anyway, welcome aboard and I hope you stay this time and blog more and get tangled with your brothers and sisters and learn how to "bully" them.  It's an inside joke and you'd know it if you visit here more often!  If you stay, I promise, if you like, I'll address my comments to you as: Tehran, Tehran-e. Tehran! Maybe the trend can continue ;-)

Anyway, as for your question, I read your blog and I think you're comparing apples and oranges when it comes to competing Iranian businesses because I think you're comparing Iranian grocery stores with Chinese businesses or Korean businesses in general.  There are hundreds of Korean dry cleaners and Iranians have the most stores in Westwood which is only a dozen or so, right?

However, you're right, we're not getting along here in US or in diaspora in general.  Also, this not getting along applies to your parents' generation not your's.  You get along with your peers, don't you?

The reason is that your parent's generation are ALL political potatoE heads!  We're children of a mass revolution so we're all political, we can't escape it or let it go.  So it is natural that when we talk or debate, we don't get along because we don't have the same "political" background or history.  We think every word that someone says that we don't like is somehow supporting the regime in Iran and thus it escalates.

Now Iranians inside Iran get along much better because they understand each other better and the hardhsips that they all go through together.  The violence that you see is due to Iranians who've become violent/criminal themselves, are in power and have made it a career to shut people down at any costs.  Many of those who voted for Ahmadi do not support such violent crackdowns.

Anyway, didn't mean to have such a long comment but since it was you, I made an exception.  We can continue if you comment yourself and have more discussion.

Tehran, Tehran-e. Tehran!

Everything is sacred.

YEP

Tehran,

You are correct. Just read one day's worth of posts on these blogs and boards and you realize that it is not just businesses, but the entire Iranian mentality that fosters an environment of hostility.

That is one reason why - for 30 years - we have been "cursed" with an anti nationalist regime that does not give a rats arse about Iran. Our petty differences and the fact that we CANNOT agree on a single thing keep widening the rift among us. We do not know how to compromise - We do not want to compromise. It's my way or no way.

Why? Good question.

Perhaps it is because we have been invaded, stepped on and violated by so many different factions and groups over the centuries.

The final showdown, of course, was the introduction of the Religion of Peace; the root cause for most of our problems today. We are, I believe, the only nation that embrace those, and their ideology that invaded, raped and enslaved our ancestors.

We've been phucked since......

_______________

PUT IRAN FIRST 

________________

.....

Wow! your article opens my eyes and makes me think! Is that really true that:

Traditionally Iranians do not get along. Don’t get mad at me…I am only the messenger.

I have noticed that Iranian.comers love to have heated debates in cyberspace.......It is amazing that you give so much kudos to the Chinese and Koreans...I got to tell my Chinese and Korean friends about it.

Thank you for your article!

Okay

let me get my attorney ( Weinstein ) to read this and I'll get back to you , until than. I would hope so, but i doubt it, so no.