Dude don't know what to tell you other than you're just plain wrong on this. Take a look at Iran in the 70s. It was a place of art, culture, and freedom of expression. It wasn't until the mullahs were installed and the violent political ideology of Islam with them that things took a dramatic turn for the worse against the will of the majority of the Iranian people. I know multiple people who came directly from Iran and they have all relayed almost The Identical sentiment. The Iranian people are not the enemy here. It is the brutal crushing ideology of Islam that brought this country to where it is in terms of the people in power. It helps no one to pigeonhole the entire population of Iran and equate them with their violent Islamic government.
People who are quite young have no idea of what Iran was like when the Shah was in power. How free they were and on track to evolve without oppression. I saw, I was visited by Iranians who came to the US, right on the cusp of falling back into the dark ages after the Shah was gone. They went home and proceeded to have everything taken away from them. I wish I could put their family name here but that is not safe for them. I didn't know anything about what Muslims believe. I can only say that I felt the friendship was sincere.
The Shah was a western puppet installed to keep the oil flowing. His regimes secret police and torture techniques were built with aid amd support of the CIA. Why did a bunch of maniacal religious nut jobs find support from so many parts of iranian society? Because the Shah was an asshole to normal people. The CIA deposed the elected leaders of Iran - when they had a functioning democracy. History goes back a bit further than 1978.
Actually, it's "where are you going" that counts :) It's going on two generations that Iranians have been living in an Islamic theocracy. Can they return to being a secular, Westernized country? Highly unlikely - the entire Middle East, except for Israel and parts of the UAE, is a totalitarian hellhole. The weird part is the Arab and Persian masses (a) don't seem to realize they are living in a hellhole, and (b) those that do blame it on "The Great Satan" i.e Western countries and cultures. I say we drop the Big One ASAP and get this over with once and for all. Cue Randy Newman "Political Science" :)
Some do. Some don't. The ones who do are weak and are not willing to risk their lives. Compare them to the Hong Kong protestors who are willing to risk their lives. Compare them to us who won't go out on the streets to protest the political impeachment because we have jobs. It's all a matter of degree and circumstance. We all get the country we deserve.
Dude don't know what to tell you other than you're just plain wrong on this. Take a look at Iran in the 70s. It was a place of art, culture, and freedom of expression. It wasn't until the mullahs were installed and the violent political ideology of Islam with them that things took a dramatic turn for the worse against the will of the majority of the Iranian people. I know multiple people who came directly from Iran and they have all relayed almost The Identical sentiment. The Iranian people are not the enemy here. It is the brutal crushing ideology of Islam that brought this country to where it is in terms of the people in power. It helps no one to pigeonhole the entire population of Iran and equate them with their violent Islamic government.
People who are quite young have no idea of what Iran was like when the Shah was in power. How free they were and on track to evolve without oppression. I saw, I was visited by Iranians who came to the US, right on the cusp of falling back into the dark ages after the Shah was gone. They went home and proceeded to have everything taken away from them. I wish I could put their family name here but that is not safe for them. I didn't know anything about what Muslims believe. I can only say that I felt the friendship was sincere.
The Shah was a western puppet installed to keep the oil flowing. His regimes secret police and torture techniques were built with aid amd support of the CIA. Why did a bunch of maniacal religious nut jobs find support from so many parts of iranian society? Because the Shah was an asshole to normal people. The CIA deposed the elected leaders of Iran - when they had a functioning democracy. History goes back a bit further than 1978.
Actually, it's "where are you going" that counts :) It's going on two generations that Iranians have been living in an Islamic theocracy. Can they return to being a secular, Westernized country? Highly unlikely - the entire Middle East, except for Israel and parts of the UAE, is a totalitarian hellhole. The weird part is the Arab and Persian masses (a) don't seem to realize they are living in a hellhole, and (b) those that do blame it on "The Great Satan" i.e Western countries and cultures. I say we drop the Big One ASAP and get this over with once and for all. Cue Randy Newman "Political Science" :)
Some do. Some don't. The ones who do are weak and are not willing to risk their lives. Compare them to the Hong Kong protestors who are willing to risk their lives. Compare them to us who won't go out on the streets to protest the political impeachment because we have jobs. It's all a matter of degree and circumstance. We all get the country we deserve.