One of the great benefits of being a friend of the “West”, if you have some extra cast, is you get the privilege of lending money to the Europeans and Americans.
John Paul Getty once said, if you owe the bank $100, and can’t pay it back its your problem; but if you owe the bank $100 Million, and you can’t pay it back, it’s the bank’s problem. Add a few more zeros and you’ll understand the dilemma of those that have lent money to the Europeans and Americans. The numbers are so large, that in fact the financial crisis in with sovereign debt in Europe and America – is actually China’s, Brazil’s Saudi Arabia’s …you name it…but it’s not actually a European and American problem.
Don’t let the crocodile tears of the Tea Party crowd or any opposition party in Europe fool you. All these damn politicians know that the ones that will lose their shirts are the lender nations – Not the Europeans or Americans. A few simple tricks with exchange rate manipulations and all these debtor nations will be taking a bath.So you might ask, with friends like this, who needs enemies?
Well in comes Iran. After 30 years of hostility, 30 years of sanctions, 30 years of playing the enemy of the West …it turns out Iran has NOT really purchased European and American sovereign debt; nor really had a privilege of borrowing from foreign banks either. While the poor people of Ireland find themselves owing $500,000 each (yes, each) to the rest of the world; and the Brits owe $147,000 each to the rest of the world, and the Spaniards and Greeks owe $47,000 each. And a new born American is now in debt to the tune of $45,000 on the day the baby gets a birth certificate. In fact American households (families of 4) owe close to $200,000 each. Yes, I am talking about Per Capita net foreign (sovereign) debt. Iranians on the other hand have one of the lowest levels of foreign debt (about $12.5 Billion). This means Iranians have a net per capita foreign debt of $170. Peanuts compared to the rest of the world. Iran ranks 84th on the list of nations with foreign debt, one notch below Jamaica!
In essence, while the Europeans, Americans, Chinese, Brazilians, Arabs etc. are all busy screwing each other – Iran has kept largely out of the orgy…so much for the high moral principles of the Rapist regime in Iran!So what is the lesson here?
Engagement with the West – especially the Europeans and Americans is a curse. Sanctions have been a blessing in disguise.All Iranians need now is some regime change. Given the history of duplicity by the West, and oppression caused in Iran by Western agents, it is critical that any regime change be perpetrated through domestic efforts alone. Iranians must not become behold or obliged to Western “liberation” efforts as in Iraq or Afghanistan. Any change must come from within….no matter how much Europeans, Americans and Israeli’s threaten Iran with war. Although, I keep posting news articles threatening war with Iran, I do it as a matter of fun (humor) because we all know (and it is clear by now), that all this war mongering is pure fantasy and hollow. None of these belligerent nations can afford a fight right now anyway.
Iran’s new generation will be the most fortunate new generation on the planet. With literally 5 Million expatriate in the Diaspora outside Iran, Iran can also benefit from an influx of expertise and rebuild with its own financial and intellectual capital – without any dependence on the west. Iranians will be able to lift Iran to new heights – last witnessed some 2000 years ago in the history of Iran. I can’t wait to go home – all we need now is “change we can believe in” (inside Iran).
