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Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

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Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#121

Post by trhway »

Mirioron wrote: post #67
complianceowl wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really want to visit Iran, as well. As an American, I love the look on people's faces when I tell them that. I also think it's important to distinguish between the government and the people. It can be easy to see them as one and the same, but that would be a mistake. Peter Santenello opened my eyes to Iran. I couldn't believe how pro-America so many Iranians are; the culture seems so rich, and the people so pleasan…

> I also think it's important to distinguish between the government and the people. It can be easy to see them as one and the same, but that would be a mistake. To a degree they are one and the same though. The government still requires the consent of the governed.

>The government still requires the consent of the governed.

government is violence (either actual or a credible threat of it). Application of violence doesn't require consent of the subjects of violence when the violence applying side is many orders of magnitude stronger than the subject.

Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#122

Post by FabHK »

ska wrote: post #93
lostlogin wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m surprised at this. Have you spent time in Israel? I haven’t been to either but would have expected Israel to be better again. Thanks for the comment.

I haven’t been to either but would have expected Israel to be better again. I'm curious, why would you expect that having no experience of either?

Because one is a theocracy, and the other one a liberal democracy. The expectation is not wrong, either, in my view (and I have been to both countries).

Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#123

Post by FabHK »

Mirioron wrote: post #67
complianceowl wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really want to visit Iran, as well. As an American, I love the look on people's faces when I tell them that. I also think it's important to distinguish between the government and the people. It can be easy to see them as one and the same, but that would be a mistake. Peter Santenello opened my eyes to Iran. I couldn't believe how pro-America so many Iranians are; the culture seems so rich, and the people so pleasan…

> I also think it's important to distinguish between the government and the people. It can be easy to see them as one and the same, but that would be a mistake. To a degree they are one and the same though. The government still requires the consent of the governed.

You think people in the rest of the world need not distinguish between the Trump administration and the American people?

Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#124

Post by FabHK »

throwaway_tech wrote: post #42
stef25 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Without fail, every single person that has been to Iran rates it their number one country Only heard similar opinions, which really makes me want to visit. Three female friends of mine went together and they loved it even though there is this omnipresence of the religious police, reminding them to cover up. The stories they told me of how friendly people are and the things that go on behind closed doors makes it so…

> the things that go on behind closed doors "House parties"? That happens to be something I hear about a lot from young Iranians that come to the US for school. My understanding is "house parties" are essentially the only time young men/women can socialize together. I also understand sometimes even alcohol will appear at house parties which again I understand to be at least taboo if not outright illegal generally.

Having been to Iran, Indonesia, and several other majority Islamic countries, here's my theory on house parties in said countries:

Given that you're already crossing the line by going to one of these parties, and in trouble if you're found out anyway, you might as well go the whole hog. Cocaine is prohibited, and weed, but so is alcohol. Orgies and adultery and sodomy and BDSM are prohibited, but so is vanilla sex or just being alone with someone of the opposite sex that you're not married to.

The line is drawn so close that it's nearly impossible not to cross it. There are no moral graduations (no shades of gray, as it were) beyond that line anymore. And if you're a sinner anyway, you might as well enjoy it as much as you can.

The more repressed the country, the wilder the (unofficial) parties.

Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#125

Post by derp_dee_derp »

knodi123 wrote: post #103
Mirioron wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is calling that propaganda misogynistic? Not everything that's against a woman is misogyny.

No, but saying "Diary of a Future President" must be propaganda for Michelle Obama does indeed smack of woman-phobia. "yikes, someone's giving girls the idea that they could be politically powerful. it's probably a secretive social manipulation cynically run by the most powerful woman I can think of off the top of my head." Also, the only two people listed were Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton? All the powerful peo…

The only person in this thread talking about gender is you. Everyone else is talking about her with the context of her as an individual human.

You are the misogynistic one in this conversation.

Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#126

Post by FabHK »

duxup wrote: post #4

The internal political wonkiness where the Guard makes their own policy and other departments don't want to play along is amusing.

I think it is important to realise that most governments are not monolithic. There are many factions and agenda at work that are hard to understand from the outside.

Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#127

Post by davidwitt415 »

yyyk wrote: post #119
davidwitt415 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The more salient questions are, a.) why would they think that way, and b.) why would you characterize their stance that way? Briefly, the anger felt by Iranians is due to their support for their fellow Muslims, the Palestinians, and their extreme mistreatment at the hands of the Israeli government. Note this support even though Iranians are Shia and Palestinians are Sunni. To answer b.) both Israel and Saudi Arabia v…

"Briefly, the anger felt by Iranians is due to their support for their fellow Muslims, the Palestinians, and their extreme mistreatment at the hands of the Israeli government." Yes, we see how angry they are when the extreme mistreatment of Syrian Sunnis or Chinese Uighur. Ah, wait, they even take part in the former. They do a fine job of making it appear the real issue is religious. "For example, Iran was abiding by…

MEMRI is a well-known neocon propaganda outlet, so your arguments merely reflect this.

From Sourcewatch: "Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an Israeli propaganda organization that selectively translates materials from the Arab/Muslim/Iranian press purportedly demonstrating hostility against Israel/Jews."

https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Middle_East_Media_Rese...

Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#128

Post by m0zg »

benbreen wrote: post #89
maverick2007 wrote: post #9

All these politics and political games are such a shame. The Tehran that the author describes seems like a really vibrant city that I'd really like to visit and experience. But I never will for fear or something like this happening, becoming some tiny pawn in a much bigger game. And I wish that Iranians could come to the US and visit NYC or SF and see our culture. Then we might realize that the other side is somethin…

I'm an American citizen and visited Iran back 2017 with no problems. I was nervous about getting questioned but surprisingly, it turned out to be one of the smoothest border crossings I've ever experienced - when entering Iran and the US I literally got no questions at all. (Getting an Iranian entry visa as an American without a government minder was bit trickier, but I was also pleasantly surprised by how smoothly t…

>> synagogues

Do they still operate or are they remnants of pre-revolutionary times? I don't see how they can operate in a state whose publicly stated goal is to "wipe Israel from the face of the Earth".

Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#129

Post by detaro »

m0zg wrote: post #128
benbreen wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm an American citizen and visited Iran back 2017 with no problems. I was nervous about getting questioned but surprisingly, it turned out to be one of the smoothest border crossings I've ever experienced - when entering Iran and the US I literally got no questions at all. (Getting an Iranian entry visa as an American without a government minder was bit trickier, but I was also pleasantly surprised by how smoothly t…

>> synagogues Do they still operate or are they remnants of pre-revolutionary times? I don't see how they can operate in a state whose publicly stated goal is to "wipe Israel from the face of the Earth".

They still operate, Iran doesn't seem to make it easy but also doesn't totally suppress them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Iran#Is...

Re: Trapped in Iran: My Summer as a Guest of the Revolutionary Guards

#130

Post by m0zg »

detaro wrote: post #129
m0zg wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> synagogues Do they still operate or are they remnants of pre-revolutionary times? I don't see how they can operate in a state whose publicly stated goal is to "wipe Israel from the face of the Earth".

They still operate, Iran doesn't seem to make it easy but also doesn't totally suppress them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Iran#Is...

Can you imagine the courage it'd take to go to one under the circumstances? Wow.
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