| Double standards & Individualism As Iranians, we all love our motherland. We can be left wing, right wing, socialist, communist, capitalist, religious, republican, monarchist, whatever, but Iran is what we all have in common. Our society like any other in this world has its positive and negative aspects. We have a long history and an old culture which I believe is probably more complicated than many other old nations. We have a distinct cultural and historical identity, situated among old and new societies in a region torn in social and political crisis. Since the beginning of history good and evil, old and new have been undeniable facts in our every day life. We have many traditions which being one of the oldest surviving countries on this planet, have managed to resist change in order to safeguard what has been ours. Throughout our long past like any other nation, there have been men and women who have fought to improve our standards. However, not many of them have managed to change or influence our society in a way where centuries or even decades later one could see the pattern being continued. I believe this can be blamed on the lack of social freedom as much as on the fact that we are a very pretentious nation. What I mean by this is, that we live in a way that is acceptable to others! Let me elaborate on this a bit more! Many of us have either experienced or at least seen or heard the case where a member of a family has said; �Oh my God, if you do this, how am I going to look into the eyes of the neighbours or the rest of the family?�- Even if the family has no objection to what you would like to do, they are worried that the aunts, uncles, the neighbours or the shopkeeper round the corner might talk behind them! We all live in an age where freedom is the most important aspect of every society. We believe that every individual in every nation must be free to live in whatever way suitable for that individual. Naturally this does not mean that the freedom of one person should interfere with others, but what it means is that if one likes to eat and the other doesn�t, the latter has no right to object -even though its Ramadan and the latter is fasting! This probably is an oversimplified example, but it leads to tolerance and respect. When Cyrus the Great, pushed the boundaries of our empire to then the world known earth, he respected every citizen�s way of life, religion and customs. Thanks to him we can be proud today that we are the only empire in the history of mankind with no slaves. Individualism and respect for one another goes not only in our work place and society but should be tolerated in our homes. Iran has a culture where the father (naturally due to Islamic restrictions and societies under development) is still the head of the family. The mother is slightly higher than the children and she is not considered equal to the husband � in decision making or basically having the last word! Practising democracy must start from our homes. When we do not share issues, discuss difficulties with our children and do not create an environment as what we call in Persian �Kaanoon-e khaanevaade� where every member can express her/himself, how on earth can we tolerate people outside who might not have the same belief as us? In laymen�s terms by nature we Iranians are extremely resistant to change. As much as this can be a positive aspect in many ways in life, it can also in many respects obstruct our society from developing. Thus stagnation will result in falling behind from the world community. Looking around us many Western and Eastern countries have progressed and therefore, prospered due to initiatives of their citizens. Freedom has given their people the chance to express their opinions in civilised manners. Therefore, debates and discussions that have followed have created an intelligent community where people feel free to talk on any subject. Nothing should be taboo to talk about in public. Nothing should be ignored or pushed under the carpet. Freedom of speech, freedom of women, freedom of religion, politics, individual�s belief, sexual orientation, press and many other agendas that are so alien to our society today must be eliminated if Iran is ever going to be free from chains of dark ages. The advent of Internet has given this golden opportunity to the Iranian nation and in particular to my generation for the first time in history to have freedom of access to whatever one may wish. Your Internet site though seems new and under construction is the only site on the Internet where an open window is being created for everything and everyone. You had invited Iranians to come and talk about Iran, so I hope you get this email and be of interest to you. I am an Iranian student living in Iran and for security reasons therefore, I would like to remain anonymous. However, I would like to use your site as a platform (if possible) and reach out to my generation in Iran and simply tell them that, �We can not stop now! We have started a path to freedom & democracy and we have this responsibility and duty for our own sake and for the next generation of Iranians. We must push for freedom for as long as it takes. People in the most democratic societies have fought for freedom. Fighting for freedom never stops. Freedom has never been given by autocratic rulers, it is something that must be demanded and earned by nations.� I am quite new to the Internet and there might be many other sites such as yours, but having found your site in my first days of surfing the net I would like to congratulate you and encourage you to continue your work and let us use your forum as a platform to raise our voice to others. Wherever you might be based, I wish your organisation and our nation the best in the future. Warmest regards An Iranian student in Iran 10 December 2000 |