Comparing Revoution: Iran and Poland

Recently there has been several comparisons between the 1989 Revolution in Poland where Lech Welesa led the Solidarity movement into power overthrowing the communist regime installed by Soviet Russia and the 2009 election protests occurring today in Iran (most recently in Newsweek). While there are some similarities, this are two separate events occurring in two completely different atmospheres.

First of all, the Polish Revolution took almost an entire decade to finally be successful. There were numerous protest and marches against the government throughout the 1980s, but victory was only obtained when all the people of the country united aganist the communist regime. The Iran protest movement has just begun, and while I pray and hope that the protesters will be successful, I believe that this movement too will also take several years to be successful. History has given Iran a leader of this movement, a man familiar with revolution and who can be sucessful, but large parts of the population are true believers in the theocratic dictatorship that is in powe now. Until more of the other segment of the population become disatisfied with the government the facist leader of Iran will cling to power and use his gestopo like forces illegally arrest and kill dissenters.

It appears that in the near future there will be fundametal change in the way Iran is governed, but until then, the reformers will have to keep the movement alive to bring about this change.

Review of Recently Read Books

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

A White Tiger is a rare spectacle in the Jungle, and the narrator, Balram Halwai, believes he is a rare and talented man. However, he is narrator that some may find hard to identify with as he blatantly tells the reader that he murdered to get into his position, but in some cases you find yourself rooting for him to break the bonds of traditional Indian life and eveolve as human. Obviously this novel tells the story of how Balram went from a poor man to a rich man, but the most eyeopening observation of this book is how life and modern culture function in contemporary India.


Crum by Lee Maynard

Several reviewers note that Crum maybe the Cather in the Rye of rural America, but I do not see it that way as the narrator of Crum evenutally leaves his home behind, Holden remains with this family in New York. Crum is an actual town in West Virginia across the Tug River from Kentucky where the novel is set. The plot follows narrator through his adolescent life in Crum, and the seasons affect the lives of the characters. Crum is just like any other small West Virginia town where there is nothing to do but get into trouble and Maynard vividly describes the antectis that occured in Crum. The language is definatly rated R, but all teenage boys cuse like sailors and it makes the story more believeable. While I identify with the narrators want to escape Crum and West Virginia, there is something about the state that always calls its native sons and daughters home no matter how long you've been away; it's a hard state to escape.

Notes From Underground by Fyodor Dotoevsky

This work, creditied as one of the first exestential works, consists of ideas and antecdotes from the Underground Man. The work is divided into two parts the first consisting of the rambling philophy of the man and the second consisting of past episodes of the mans life before he went underground. The Underground man contradicts himself in almost every fashion, and his beliefs have made him into a sad and sorry man. In this work Dostoevsky shows that man is an irrational being and incapable of being satisfied. From this work, I can easily see how this style of writing lent itself in Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment.

Will Iran turn Violent

With Ayatollah Khomeini's address today, it appears that tomorrow could be a bloody and violent day for Iran. Khomeini is standing behind the disputed election results that show a dominant victory for incumbent Ahmadinejad, and called for end to the street protests that have been occuring throughout Iran since last Saturday. The protest carried out mostly be students and the affluent educated have been peaceful, and only turn violent when the protesters are attacked by the secret police. However, with Khomeini's words today, many believe including those inside Iran, that further protests will be met with violence. Protest will occur again tomorrow and again my thoughts and prayers are with the protesters in Iran. All people should have the freedom to chose their leaders and freely assemble without fear of reprisal. Though the president has not officially backed the protesters, the United States will always stand for freedom and we have already choosen a side. Wear green and pray that the Iranian government has the sense to refrain from the violence that many are expecting.

Recession . . . What Recession? West Virginia less affected by Economic Downturn

Being glued to Andrew Sullivan's blog the last couple of days I have been reading a lot of the other content on The Atlantic's website including a state by state examination of the recession. Today the correspondent reported on my home state of West Virginia. While the article discusses the resilience of West Virginians, or the lack of money to actually loose in a recession, we have not been as resilient as the article states. Numerous West Virginian's have lost their jobs and been laid off from their jobs; furthermore, according to the WV State Journal, unemployment in West Virginia is at it's highest level in 15 years. Fortunately there are not many well paying white collar jobs to loose in this state and as the article says, "when you got nothing, you got nothing to loose."

One bright spot in the state has been Morgantown, which was featured in the WallStreet Journal, because the city is actually creating jobs. Another interesting fact about the article that I liked is the women discussing growing their own crops and canning their own vegetables as this is something we do in my own home.

The Revolution turns Violent

I followed Andrew Sullivan's blog again most of the day as he again uses his vast readership and contacts to bring the revolution to us live. The radical element of the government police force fired on the protesters today, and last night stormed the dormitories of Tehran University (where the above picture is from). While I have seen riot police during my years at WVU, we were fighting for our right to party and probably deserved pepper spray and batons, but the students of Tehran are fighting for their freedom against the dictator and his personal police squad. I don't have any illusions that anyone in Tehran (or anyone in general) will read this, but I want the people of Tehran, especially the students to know that I am praying for their safety and their victory.

So You Say You Want A Revolution

While the Iranian protesters took to the streets this weekend, most Americans heard relatively little information on the events. CNN America's larges news network along with Fox and MSNBC chose to ignore the events in Iran (though CNN defends itself here). Fortunately bloggers like Andrew Sullivan, with his vast network of sources, was able to keep us informed on the events in Iran. Until this weekend I believed twitter to be an idiotic, a way for people to pretend they are friends with celebrities, but I have changed my mind. To quote others, "The Revolution must be Twittered."

It was a strange weekend to say the least as I went to church, played tennis, and enjoyed my family and friends, the Iranian students where marching through Tehran as the police brutally beat them.

I may not be the most informed person, but I do know that many Iranians desire change. Last year as I interned for the WVEO in Munich I met an Iranian man at the Chemspec trade show who told me that he would love to do business in my country and that someday in the future after Bush and after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that hopefully our two nations could work together economically and politically. Hopefully this day will arrive soon.

My thoughts and prayers are with the Iranian youth as they fight for their freedom. While there are no rallies planned here in West Virginia, I will be wearing green today in solidarity with the students of Iran in the hopes that tyranny and the dictatorship of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Power of the Internet and the ignorance of the US media

Today I spent most of my time following Andrew Sullivan's blog on the Atlantic's website because the US media has decided not to cover this story. As was detailed on Sullivan's blog the 24hr US news networks took the day off and completely ignored an enormously historical event especially if a coup follows in the next few days. The ecents playing out in Iran are extremely important not only to the US policy in the Middle East but to the world in general, and it is a shame that the media seems to be ignoring the biggest story on the planet. The Iranian resistance has been using the internet to communicate and subvert official communication channels even with the government attempting to shut down down all communication networks. For full details follwo the link on this page to Andrew Sullivan's blog.