به زبان فارسی
PICTORY
LATEST MUSIC
SEARCH
Are we crazy?
19-Feb-2010
One of the first times teaching a class in Canada, I caught a kid laughing at a scrap note, which said “Irani = Crazy”.
I took some time to first point out to the obvious fact that making blanket derogatory remarks against any race or nationality was a no-no, for so many different reasons. Then, I proceeded to explain that the various peoples of Iran, over the course of history, have been credited with inventing so many great contributions to the civilization, from wine and wheels, to monotheism and mail!
Nowadays, I am hard-pressed to maintain my faith; as we are again being reminded that every Iranian government has been ready and willing to hang itself, given just the enough length of rope.
Iran was ruled by murderous maniacs up until the beginning of the 20th century. But then, the first democratic movement in the Middle East turned Iran into the first Muslim country with an elected parliament. So why have things gone so wrong? Why has the following string of events taken place to turn us again into a bottom-of-the-barrel country, ruled by blood-thirsty crazies?
1. Reza Shah: despite an initial firm support from the British, accepts a secret alliance with Nazi Germany; even though his country was surrounded by the British and Russian forces. Result = invasion and occupation of Iran, leading to the brink of break-up and even communist take over.
2. Dr. Mosaddeg: even after brilliant victories over the British in UN and the Shah in Tehran, fails to resolve the oil nationalism impasse, and instead, creates a dozen more national crises. Result = coup-d’état and the demise of Western style parliamentary system in Iran.
3. Mohammad Reza Shah: with the windfall oil money of the 1970’s, embarks on a surrealistic program of “grand civilization” - including lavish celebrations, departure from the Islamic calendar and forced membership of everyone into his “resurgence” party. Result = an Islamic reaction mixed with leftist fervor and nationalist distrust, exploding into a needless and destructive revolution.
4. Ayatollah Khomeini: takes the embassy and citizens of the strongest country on earth hostage, for 444 days. Result = active animosity of the West towards Iran, complete with material support for Iraq, during the 8 years of war.
5. Ahmadinejad & Khamenei: discard the strategic gains of a nuclear package-deal with the West, in favor of an unwise drive for nuclear weapons. Result = ???
| Recently by Arash Monzavi-Kia | Comments | Date |
|---|---|---|
وابستگی، استقلال، همبستگی | - | Nov 04, 2012 |
| The pain of living | 1 | Oct 21, 2012 |
| The 2nd Year of Green | - | Jun 01, 2010 |
RECENT COMMENTS
IRANIANS OF THE DAY
| Person | About | Day |
|---|---|---|
| نسرین ستوده: زندانی روز | Dec 04 | |
| Saeed Malekpour: Prisoner of the day | Lawyer says death sentence suspended | Dec 03 |
| Majid Tavakoli: Prisoner of the day | Iterview with mother | Dec 02 |
| احسان نراقی: جامعه شناس و نویسنده ۱۳۰۵-۱۳۹۱ | Dec 02 | |
| Nasrin Sotoudeh: Prisoner of the day | 46 days on hunger strike | Dec 01 |
| Nasrin Sotoudeh: Graffiti | In Barcelona | Nov 30 |
| گوهر عشقی: مادر ستار بهشتی | Nov 30 | |
| Abdollah Momeni: Prisoner of the day | Activist denied leave and family visits for 1.5 years | Nov 30 |
| محمد کلالی: یکی از حمله کنندگان به سفارت ایران در برلین | Nov 29 | |
| Habibollah Golparipour: Prisoner of the day | Kurdish Activist on Death Row | Nov 28 |
no need to get so angry
by Arash Monzavi-Kia on Fri Nov 26, 2010 09:37 AM PSTno need to get so angry
The Anglo-European race are the craziest nut-jobs in all history
by Nur-i-Azal on Wed Feb 24, 2010 03:43 PM PSTWe have nothing on these people. We have not been responsible for the genocide and eradication of entire civilizations of Indigenous peoples around the globe. We have not introduced foreign diseases (smallpox, malaria, etc) where they never existed. We have not been responsible for the ecological devastation of this planet. We have not been responsible for the elimination of entire species of plants, flora, animals and bacteria. We did not enslave entire nations of Africans and mercilessly indenture them and impoverish them to our own lands. We have not been responsbile for all the wars, murders and genocide of the past 500+ years. We did not develop the nuclear bomb and detonate it twice on civilian human populations. We never produced a figure like Adolf Hitler or ideologies such as National Socialism or events like the Holocaust. We have not been responsible for the destruction of the structures of the traditional family and thrown all human society into instability. We have not trivialized and made banal the most sacred aspects of human life. Our religions are not nonsensical tripe like the comic book Christianity/Churchianity the Anglo-European has pushed down the world's throat at bayonett point for 500+ years. Etc etc etc etc
Iranians are not crazy. Iranians in diaspora have low self-esteem and are Westoxicated thinking they are less than the Anglo-European and that they should emulate him in his judgement of them. Anglo-Europeans have earned the appelation and honor of being the most crazy and destructive race our world has ever seen! They are the real Turanians of this age. Iranians have nothing on these people.
amgw4
by Cost-of-Progress on Sun Feb 21, 2010 01:21 PM PSTStandards are pretty low. They allow comments by you and the likes of you.
____________
IRAN FIRST
____________
Does Iranian.com have any editorial quality?
by amgw4 on Sat Feb 20, 2010 06:47 PM PSTDoes Iranian.com have any editorial quality?
I'm tempted to send in mock articles, to see how low this magazine's standards are.
great topic
by Fatollah on Sat Feb 20, 2010 01:34 PM PSTthank you for the blog, it made me think and ask questions.
more reasons
by Arash Monzavi-Kia on Sat Feb 20, 2010 10:49 AM PSTFor more reasons, other than the historical blame-game, we perhaps should dig a bit into the dominant Iranian social psyche.
As mentioned, up until the beginning of the 20th century, Iran was mostly ruled by gangs of murderous maniacs. The roots of those cruelties have thrived in modern Iran, and given us the haunting experiences of Reza Shah's Ghasr prison, Shah's Evin and mullah's Kahrizak.
The hallmark of this psychosis is a blatant lack of respect for the human life. You can see that same wickedness in the Iranian politics, in the "law-enforcement" and even in the everyday driving!
Every nation's history is directed by its social psyche and vise-versa. It is a damning circle, if one is stuck in the fanatical loop. Sadly, reading some of the most influential contemporary novels (see e.g. the following two) - makes it clear how difficult it is to break free.
Shazdeh Ehtejab, by Houshang Golshiri
Jonoon Neveshtan, by Prof. Baraheni
More than one reason
by divaneh on Sat Feb 20, 2010 03:42 AM PSTThank you for posting. IN each of these examples we have paid for trying to punch above our weight and have overestimated our standing in the world. That is almost endemic with all Iranians. There were however other factors affecting each of these decisions and for example Reza Shah could have placed his bet on Germany. HE would have been equally damned if the complete reverse had happened.
Mohammad Reza Shah downfall was only due to lack of political freedom and abuse of power by some members of the royal family, army and government who seemed to have no regards for the law. Calendar and celebration certainly were not the causes of the upheaval.
In the last two cases please do not forget treason and betraying the wishes of a nation who gave blood to achieve freedom and democracy. If not craziest, that was the dirtiest thing.
......
by yolanda on Fri Feb 19, 2010 03:30 PM PSTI think the kid was referring to IRI regime, not Iranian people....IRI did a lot of crazy things.....they are still doing the crazy stuff.....but they don't feel they are crazy. They think they are doing everything including executions in the name of God.......
A very good question.
by Mehrban on Fri Feb 19, 2010 06:18 PM PSTand it doesn't just apply to our leaders.