POLITICS

The collapse of the communist ideology manifested in its birth place, Soviet Union, and co-Mecca, China, becoming capitalists galore has left some former believers bewildered searching for an alternative to believe in and be dominated and consumed by. that too- good-on-paper of an ideology which had one’s life mapped out, doling out iron rice bowls along with the certainty that as long as communism is supplanted as the creed, equality is an achievable goal regardless of race and color was a chimera.

To the chagrin of Marx and more so Engle, the ideology of communism/socialism including Maoism never took root and had to be enforced and imposed on human spirit which at its core requires free choice to be effervescent. The transition from Communist mindset to one of subscribing to and believing in the innate goodness of free willing human being still is an anathema to some. But reality being more stubborn than the believer, no matter how earnest the disciple, has propelled some to seek alternative doctrines to fit their concocted way things should be.

Of all the alternatives that are out there the one that has a special attraction to some diehard Communists-who by the way mostly like to be called Socialist nowadays- is of all things, militant Islam in general, and its poster boy Islamic Republic of Iran’s (IRI) version of it in particular. Just to give some evidentiary weight to this proposition lets take the old axiom of birds of a feather flock together as a road map and see where it leads to. Students of Communism’s history know well that one of the initially widely appreciated arguments of that nascent ideology was its antagonism towards capitalism and the despicable exploitation of the workers, proletariats in Communist lingo, which in varying degree is part and parcel of it.

Nevermind the utter slavery condition of the comrades’ life in the heyday of communism, in time that reasoning became an end to itself establishing rancor towards any and all but Communism to be the bane of humanity. Another argument of that manqué ideology was its insistence upon the precondition for total fulfillment of its promises being the utter defeat of its adversary and world domination. For the sake of brevity leaving the other particularities aside lets go back to the bird axiom and The IRI.

Those who have followed the events in Iran in the past three decades and are familiar with the core belief system of the ruling Islamists would not be surprised to hear its obscurantism being put in par to that of “progressivism” of the Communism. The desiccating factor for the former was progress being the futile exercise of achieving what was at hand with no hope of bettering one’s prospect in life and the latter’s dogma of rolling back time some thirteen century has found little if any attraction for majority with a zest and zeal for life.

And if one replaces the hegemony of downtrodden of IRI in place of the Communist’s dictatorship of the proletariat the viability of the comparison becomes clearer. It is this symbiosis reinforced by the vesicle desire to annihilate the more attractive rivaling ideology that has attracted the former commies, the neocoms if you will, to the IRI.

A quick look at IRI’s closest allies would bring home this hypothesis. In the politico-strategic sphere the strict Stalinist hermit state of North Korea with a hereditary leadership scheme, its light version of Arab Baath party states of Syria with likewise hereditary leadership and lastly Cuba with the same communist outlook are it. In econo-strategic sphere there are more partners although with the United Nation’s mandated economic sanctions and the prospect of it being tightened

even more looming in the background; their number is on a rapid decreasing slide. Even the “socialist” Hugo Chavez of Venezuela -- who through his newly introduced legislations has the lifetime presidency ambitions -- has offered his “brotherly support” only in response to IRI’s heavy investment in Venezuela’s housing and light machinery sector in return for some fiery speeches and few State visits to Iran. Of course one could mention other IRI’s allies, like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe but with the African nation being on the verge of disintegration and starvation due to mismanagement of land confiscation/redistribution or handful of others in the same dire predicament would not be germane.

And as far as the support of the China-Russia duo is concerned the IRI and its supporters have begun grasping the fact that the two are using it as a bargaining chip for their horse trading with the other relevant powers and not out of conviction or some strategic necessity. On the non state actors like Hamas and Hezbollah or a dozen or so other gun toting entities the picking is more abundant. This double edge sword for its tactical value to IRI has imposed heavy diplomatic and financial albatross on the Islamist regime in Iran.

Lastly, a smattering of former communists in Europe and beyond who disguise themselves as advocate of “policy of human rights” advocates in addition to selection of crackpots like KKK in the U.S., Nazi Skinheads in Europe and anti Semites all over compose the “public” support for the IRI. In the Arab world the anti Israel sector is fond of IRI as long as it is the enemy of its enemy and for that limited purpose alone.

Differing religious dogma would not only prohibit any sort of acquiescence with the general tenet of the IRI, but is hostile to it. It all boils down to a rambunctious fanatical Islamic regime finding no other God based ideology to latch on to and being more palatable by the fading Commies of the world. Birds of a feather flock together.