Ms. Ambassador

The election of Mr. Rohani as the president of Iran and the change of tone by his administration have raised hopes that a possible military confrontation between the West and Iran would not be on the horizon and the two sides could come to a quick resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue.

Sirens of Success

"In Greek mythology, the Sirens were dangerous and beautiful creatures, portrayed as femme fatales who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island."

There are successes and victories which in the end are nothing but setbacks and defeats. Those successes and victories have their own euphoria and are enticing but only set one up for a bigger setback and defeat. This is the case with the anti-war activists who are against the intervention by the United States and other Western countries in Syria.

Fascism and Islamic Movements – II

A friend, Rick Rice, commented on my first post on Fascism and Islamic Movements and this prompted me to say a few more words on this subject. Rick, thanks for taking the time.

In that post I pointed out to a common characteristic between Fascism and Islamic movements. This commonality is not equality and I tried to point that out also. My perception is not to try to create a model and I think such an attempt is futile and counterproductive. The differences are important and consequential in how we confront the Islamic movements.

Is It a Coup?

The ouster of Morsi in Egypt which began with massive demonstrations in Tahrir square, followed by the military arresting him along with some leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, has created a labeling crisis for the left and the left over Marxists.

Islamic Movements and Fascism

Some use the word fascism as descriptive of the Islamic Republic or Muslim movements. The use of this term could impart a particular political meaning that is easily interpreted as a declaration of war on these movements and institutions or adoption of a series of policies that would directly lead to a war, particularly with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Election, Class and Boycott

In the Western countries elections are a routine part of life. Decisions from small to large, filling potholes to creating a monumental social program such as health care and even wars are the result of some form of electoral process, local elections, broader province or state elections and finally the national elections. Open debates are part of this process and ideas can be expressed without fear of arrest and imprisonment. The police, military and courts cannot prevent you from expressing your opinion or fielding your candidates. Open debates, expression of opinions continue between elections and one's ability to organize around ideas are protected.

Sanctions

Since my last post I had a couple of discussions, one with a good friend of my own generation, and the other with a young woman who was born in Iran and raised in Canada. They had two fundamental criticisms of what I have been posting. One is that my posts are painting a dark picture and lack appreciation of what is happening in Iran. The other was that sanctions of Iran by the West are not helpful and are hurting the same people who came out in the street celebrating their electoral victory, and in a twisted way tried to show their opposition to the government.

Moderate Cannibalism

The reports indicate that Rohani, a supposedly "moderate" candidate has won the post of the president of the Islamic Republic, a secondary, maybe even a tertiary, executive position in Iran. The primary position is occupied by Khamenei, for life, as the supreme leader. Rohani seems to have won by millions of votes. He was supported by Khatami, a previous "moderate" president and also by Rafsanjani another supposedly "moderate" leader of the Islamic Republic, head of one of the councils of the ruling religious oligarchy.

Western Intervention

The election of the Islamic Republic President in Iran has been carefully staged to reaffirm the rule of religious oligarchy. Only a few days ago the NY Times reported on the hard-line stance that each approved candidate had taken on the nuclear dispute between the regime and the Western alliance.

Secret Weapon

Imagine a society of cannibals, at peace among themselves, surrounding a newly caught victim. All rubbing their stomachs, anxiously waiting for the end of the ceremony, when the sacrifice and eating begins. Could we interpret the rubbing of the stomachs equivalent to the vote of majority for the practice of their venerated custom. Could we call this a form of "democracy"? Different than ours but nevertheless it has the majority rule in there, albeit by rubbing of the stomachs. Were British anti democratic when they tried to stop these practices among South Pacific societies? Was that the sign of their "imperialistic" cultural transgression?

Honk for Jesus or Vote Socialist

Have you ever passed by a church that says "honk for Jesus" on their bill board? If one is a hardcore believer in Jesus he might get tempted to honk his horn, but at the same time he probably refrains from it because he notices that the sign belongs to a competing church and that is not really his Jesus. He would save his honk for his own Jesus when he attends his church. I have good friends who are strong believers in Jesus and some of them are casting their vote for Romney because they mistakenly believe that Romney will at least implement their anti abortion, anti gay and other so called socially conservative agendas. Implementation of those conservative social agendas is pretty hard and gets harder by every new generation. It is very hard to turn back the clock of history.

Gossip

My son, Bahman, on his FaceBook has an entry that says, "'gossip is just jostling for social position' – my dad. put that on a magnet". His quote was a phrase I had used to comfort a close friend about some gossip she had heard a couple of weeks earlier. I told her that gossip is part of our social DNA and we cannot do away with it. That is what people do when they meet each other. A lot of the conversation is gossip, talking about other people who are not present and I summed it up with the quoted phrase.

Trauma

I was part of the Iranian Trotskyists and read the works which are related to my past looking for some  illumination.  Kamran Nayeri's attempt which I referred to it at the end of my last post did not shed any light.  It is wrapped inside of his criticism of Barry Sheppard's book that I have referred to in the previous post.   So if you want to find it you have to dig deep down in part 2 of his article.  There you will find Nayeri's version of the history of the Trotskyism in Iran.

Nayeri's endeavor at best seems to be mainly addressed to the good sense of those ex members of the SWP (Socialist Workers Party) who still mourn their expulsion.  What one learns is that from Nayeri's point of view there were several factions among the Iranian Trotskyists.  The good one he was a part of and the bad one was really a cult ruled by Babak Zahraie.  The other factions were sort of tolerable.  The whole diatribe seems to be about his complain that why Sheppard has praised Babak Zahraie in a sentence of his two volume work.  One thing I learned which was illuminating is that expulsions in political parties can be truly traumatic and enduring on some people.  I hope that Nayeri's article was at least therapeutic for him.

Partido

I have been busy working on my ongoing project started as a series of posts titled Perspective.  At the same time,  I have been involved with a group of folks who were interested in writing and within that group I picked up writing pieces of my memoirs.  My group has not met for a while and my incentive to continue with my memoirs has lost some of its juice.  Recent posts in Partido prompted me to write a few more notes related to both.

Partido is the name of a FaceBook group I believe was initiated by a comrade of my Trotskyist past, Les Evans.  At least I remember receiving an e-mail from him inviting me to the group.  Since then I have also been following the posts and the discussions in this group.

Interesting view of Japanese "decline"!

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/opinion/sunday/the-true-story-of-japans-economic-success.html?_r=1

Perspective … 6

Underdeveloped Experience … II

The undeveloped peoples have had to digest two major trends coming at them from the advanced societies. One was the capitalist penetration of their societies and the second the ideological resistance to it, “socialism” and later as “communism”.

Perspective … 5

Underdeveloped Experience … I

The primary characteristic of the underdevelopment up to now has been resistance to change. This resistance increases when the gulf between the underdevelopment and development widens. The process of change is more difficult for the simple reason that crossing this gulf requires time and evolution.

Perspective … 4

Communist Experience … III

Certainly Bolsheviks did not invent violence. Violence has been part of human history since time immemorial. It has been part of our progress through millions of years of evolution.

Perspective … 3

Communist Experience … II

In the previous post I mentioned that, Lenin in his attempt “to construct the socialist order” collided with Marx’s vision from day one.  Lenin’s speech to the congress of soviets was concurrent with military operations of the Bolsheviks to take control of vital nerve centers of the state.

Perspective … 2

Communist Experience … I

“We shall now proceed to construct the socialist order.” This was the opening of Lenin’s speech to the congress of soviets in October 1917 (November in Gregorian calendar) [History of the Russian Revolution, Leon Trotsky, Haymarket Books p 854].  Lenin was out of his hiding putting his final touches to the Bolsheviks seizure of power.  Lenin and his party did not participate in the Kerensky’s government which included the rest of the political spectrum of the February 1917 revolution.