FG

The Great Islamic Republic rarely publishes economic statistics anymore and when it does it lies.  Free lodgings are available  at the Hotel Evin for any any economist who publicly dissents--and for his defense attorney. 

Instead of rehashing how bad things are let me offer a tip: Where everything is rigged (trials, news reports, elections), the same goes for jobs with actual paydays.   So if you lack connections, join the Basilj.   It requires some work: filling out empty ballots on election days until your fingers cramp, spying on your fellow students and professors, cheering loudly at "We adore the Great Islamic Republic" rallies, trying not to yawn as a bearded mullah drones on for endless hours, and learning how to use weapons and ride motorcycles. 

The poor souls who live under democracies must settle for hunting rabbits or catching fish.  However the Great Islamic Republic provides opportunities to gun down real live people (no cardboard fakes) or to leave tire tracks on someone's face.  If you are the right type (Reza, Perouz) it can be highly entertaining.  See R & P for applications today.   Join the nomenklatura class now.

I always scratch my head when informed that the average person in Zimbabwe, Libya, North Korea, Iran still loves the Great Leader in spite of everything.  In all fairness, let's give the farsighted Khamenei credit for trying.  He proposes a new public works program that would (tempoarily) aid the unemployed.   One suspects that certain people should not bother to apply.  

Will the Great islamic Republic start building anything productive like dams, bridges or a Tehran subway extension--anything that might make people a bit happier down the road?  Allah's Chosen One proposes something better.  To address the people's real wants he would construct badly needed mosques by the hundreds. It doesn't matter if most existing mosques are half-empty and those who attend are mainly elderly folk or regime syncophants & jobholders, a dwindling species. 

A few questions are in order, however.  If one's subjects must live under priest-kings, why not build old-fashioned ziggurats since they'd cost less?  Why not throw in a few Chernobyls for variety? (We all know how competent this regime is when it comes to management).  Will the people get any say concerning what is producedl?  Should public funds go to fancy temples, especially when oil exports have become virtually its sole source of revenue? 

Finally, why do very few young people attend mosques these day in a country where the majority is under thirty-years of age? The proclaimed raison d'etre of the Islamic Repupblic was to promote Islam. So why has the opposite happened?

Thirty years ago would you have bet that so many Iranian youths would be atheists?  Or that others would turn to Persian Zoroastrianism or Christiantians regardless of potential death penalties for apostacy?   Notice how Iranians prefer fire ceremonies and Valentine's days ove Friday ceremonies.   Those who have stuck with Islam cannot abide the ultraconservative Shove-It-Down-Their-Throats variety compelled by Khamenei and Mesbah Yazdi.  Boys! Boys!  You can't stick square pegs into round holes.

In 1979 the mullahs were respected and listened to.  Today they are widely despised and their mosques symbols of oppression and arsenals for the Basilj (an obscenity).   Meanwhile many young people find refuge in sex, drugs and rock 'n roll and snicker at prayer mats.  Ninety percent of the young say they would emigrate in a heartbeat, given the chance.  Does all this suggest the Great Islamic Republic is a "beloved" success? 

You be the judge, Mr. Khamenei.