If you act like sheep
Sit down and educate yourself on just exactly what is a democratic society

Cyrus Mossaddegh
July 5, 2006
iranian.com

If the current individuals holding power in Iran continue their muddled, fumbling, incoherent, and utterly incompetent approach to negotiating with Western powers over Iran's nuclear energy program, then the likelihood that Iran ends up in a military confrontation with America is greatly increased and therefore sufficient reason for Iranians to demand the removal of the current regime.

Just because Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi and their Revolutionary Guard supporters need to consolidate their power, and complete their attempted coup, does not mean they should be allowed to cause military confrontation to take place.

To think a great nation like Iran is being ruled by these brainwashed, blinkered, buffoons is cause enough to punch out the nearest mullah.

Iran has only one card to play if push comes to shove and that is total disruption of the world's economy through the destruction it can cause in the Persian Gulf and the nearby region. At some point the rest of the world is going to arrive at the conclusion that it will not be blackmailed and will simply eliminate the blackmailer.

But all this totally depends on the Iranian people agreeing to follow the current leadership. And based on the mood in Iran the last thing Iranians want is further hardship, bloodshed, and senseless martyrdom. An alternative must be offered to the Iranian people and unfortunately none currently exists.

However, the current regime can be removed through peaceful civil disobedience and raising awareness. Almost every Iranian has relatives in the Revolutionary Guard. This means every Iranian has a small lever of power because the regime only exists because its power depends on the muscle of the Revolutionary Guard. Weaken that muscle to a point where it can no longer do harm and the regime is weakened. Or better still, instead of having that muscle work against you, create the right conditions so that the muscle works for you.

If all bank employees called in sick for one day it would shake the regime down to its core. If oil industry workers turned valves shut instead of open for 24 hours it would embolden the rest of Iranian workers to stand up and demand an economic system that provides a living wage and that is not in the hands of incompetent government managers.

But it is not enough to just remove the regime. We must replace it with a genuinely democratic society where there is a separation of mosque and state and where every Iranian has a voice in how their country should be administered. It is obvious to anybody with their eyes open that Iran is an Islamic dictatorship and any talk of Islamic democracy is no different to a children's fairytale.

At this point every Iranian needs to sit down and educate themselves on just exactly what is a democratic society, how is it created, and what needs to be done to bring it about. Once enough Iranians have a common understanding of what it is they want and what that reality looks like then they can go about creating it.

A fundamental truth is that if you don't know where you are heading then any path will take you there. And in the case of Iran, the truth is that if you act like sheep then don't complain if they take you to slaughter. Comment