Good Premise, Bad Execution

This blog is a response to the Lokht Dar Ayeneh video blog, posted on Iranian.com. Firstly I should mention that I agree with the main premise of the video, and that is: exposing existing bigotry, backwardness and in general flaws in our society and parts of our culture. However, in my opinion, the blog’s execution of its goal is very uninformed and immature, in that it immediately dismisses the root cause of the Iranian society’s backwardness and Instead focuses on mocking Ferdowsi’s thousand-year-old poetry which was intended to fight foreign occupation of Iran during Ferdowsi’s time, and is one of the main reasons why Iranians haven’t lost their language, culture and identity as a nation, despite being occupied and forced to give up their language and culture multiple times. You can never expose our society’s flaws and solve our problems if you dismiss the root cause and dwell upon ancient history!

Bigotry, hate and backwardness existed in most societies around the world in the beginning of the twentieth century. However, in democratic societies progressive and civil rights movements caused course-correction, and proper education, endorsed by progressive intellectuals and enlightened leaders who took the helm, over time resulted in progress, awareness and enlightenment among the general population. Western societies, for example, didn’t become bastions of tolerance and respect overnight; decades of proper education and civil & political activism made possible by democratic systems of governance have resulted in more tolerant and progressive societies, which though on the right path, still have long ways to go.

In Iran, however, instead of course-correction we had a total derailment in 1979, when the most bigoted and backward section of the society came into power. Consequently, teaching of bigotry, hatred and intolerance was institutionalized in Iran’s educational system, and backward culture of bigotry (khodi va gheir-e khodi) and hatred spread through the society. Essentially, if our society was a like a glass of water with some trash and backwater at the bottom, the 1979 revolution is analogous to turning the glass upside-down; as a result the whole water became tainted. Consequently, women and religious & ethnic minorities, such as Kurds, Baluchs, Bahais, Jews and Seculars, were severely oppressed and discriminated against.

Therefore, the twentieth century came to an end and our society never corrected its course, never got proper education and enlightenment never spread through the society. And if we want to solve our society’s problems, we have to understand that enlightening and educating a society is not only a bottom-up process but also (and probably more so) a top-down process. So instead of dismissing Iranians general criticism towards the Iranian regime, we should make an effort to not only help educate the Iranian society but also simultaneously fight to change the bigoted and hateful Islamofascist regime of Iran.

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