At some point you have to just beat on these authoritarians. The only thing they know is violence. Sure, try peaceful protests first, but don’t stop there if it’s not getting the job done.
The paradox of tolerance – those who break the ‘social contract’ deserve no tolerance from the otherwise tolerant, otherwise they’ll just run roughshod over everyone. I hate violence as well and have no stomach for it, but it does seem there may be no other way to stop regimes like this.
First you would.do well to read up on the history of Iran, especially the involvement of the US in basically creating Iran as it is today.
Once you got that down, you have got to understand how religion and culture works there. Simply saying “kill the masters” won’t work, we did that with Saddam Hussein and after wars and deaths, shit was and is worse.
A LOT more will be needed to change counties like these for the better, and simply talking about breaking the paradox of tolerance won’t do.
No, you’re totally right – there’s no easy way out of this. But how does one work towards a peaceful solution, and overcome multi-generational, cultural, ‘religion’-based attitudes shaping foreign policies (I place ‘religion’ in quotes because I believe that religion is just used, by all sides, as justification for intolerance and abuse of power) that insists on conflict? BTW I’m referring to both Iran and the ‘Western Powers’ here.
Simply trying to ‘kill the masters’ would only create a vacuum for whomever is waiting in the wings to take their place, and just perpetuate the cycle… sigh. I dunno.
First of all, I respect your point of view and I share your anger. That said, if there’s no middle ground then any bloody revolution will turn into another Reign of Terror. Peaceful revolutions are a fairly recent phenomenon and violent revolutions have historically been shifting the power from violent leaders to violent revolutionaries who themselves become violent leaders. There needs to be a middle ground otherwise, it’s just changing the meat we collectively put in the grinder.
There are places where peaceful revolution is possible and then there’s Iran. When your opposition can and will kill every last one of you there is no time to waste on being civil.
Reporting these incidents makes martyrs of Iran’s victims. I believe the overwhelming majority of people everywhere want justice, human rights, and peace for everyone. People are affected by news like this.
We live in a global society. The NGOs and governments that work with Iran give them the resources that allow this kind of power imbalance to begin with. The good and imperfect way is unfortunately martyrdom, journalism, organized resistance, and patience through the horrors for peace to come.
In every war both sides gain their own martyrs, and that’s what makes so many of them perpetual even after the fighting stops. That’s not perfect or good.
At some point you have to just beat on these authoritarians. The only thing they know is violence. Sure, try peaceful protests first, but don’t stop there if it’s not getting the job done.
The paradox of tolerance – those who break the ‘social contract’ deserve no tolerance from the otherwise tolerant, otherwise they’ll just run roughshod over everyone. I hate violence as well and have no stomach for it, but it does seem there may be no other way to stop regimes like this.
As always, it’s not that easy
First you would.do well to read up on the history of Iran, especially the involvement of the US in basically creating Iran as it is today.
Once you got that down, you have got to understand how religion and culture works there. Simply saying “kill the masters” won’t work, we did that with Saddam Hussein and after wars and deaths, shit was and is worse.
A LOT more will be needed to change counties like these for the better, and simply talking about breaking the paradox of tolerance won’t do.
No, you’re totally right – there’s no easy way out of this. But how does one work towards a peaceful solution, and overcome multi-generational, cultural, ‘religion’-based attitudes shaping foreign policies (I place ‘religion’ in quotes because I believe that religion is just used, by all sides, as justification for intolerance and abuse of power) that insists on conflict? BTW I’m referring to both Iran and the ‘Western Powers’ here.
Simply trying to ‘kill the masters’ would only create a vacuum for whomever is waiting in the wings to take their place, and just perpetuate the cycle… sigh. I dunno.
Martyr or Murder there is no middle ground. The masters tools will never be used to dismantle his house.
First of all, I respect your point of view and I share your anger. That said, if there’s no middle ground then any bloody revolution will turn into another Reign of Terror. Peaceful revolutions are a fairly recent phenomenon and violent revolutions have historically been shifting the power from violent leaders to violent revolutionaries who themselves become violent leaders. There needs to be a middle ground otherwise, it’s just changing the meat we collectively put in the grinder.
don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
There are places where peaceful revolution is possible and then there’s Iran. When your opposition can and will kill every last one of you there is no time to waste on being civil.
Reporting these incidents makes martyrs of Iran’s victims. I believe the overwhelming majority of people everywhere want justice, human rights, and peace for everyone. People are affected by news like this.
We live in a global society. The NGOs and governments that work with Iran give them the resources that allow this kind of power imbalance to begin with. The good and imperfect way is unfortunately martyrdom, journalism, organized resistance, and patience through the horrors for peace to come.
In every war both sides gain their own martyrs, and that’s what makes so many of them perpetual even after the fighting stops. That’s not perfect or good.