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419 Comments
- Hetman, on 04/15/2009, -36/+521That is sad. Hopefully religion never takes hold of america like that. I do not want to go back to being a puritan.
- MarkBrent, on 04/15/2009, -4/+283Pretty interesting to see another version of Iran
- mitikomon, on 04/15/2009, -16/+205on those days illiteracy rate was 75%. 45% of people were considered poor(after 1974 oil price boom), today it's 10% percent. (source:http://djavad.wordpress.com/2009/04/09/184/#more-1 ...
today 7 of every 10 college students are women.
I'm not defending any regime, just want to show both sides.
anyway it is really odd that non-Iranian are interested in these photos too.
there is a lot of them in this forum (Persian):
http://forum.persiandown.com/thread3413.html - inactive, on 04/15/2009, -11/+1821- The pictures in this blog show 1% of the truth. Putting them all together and saying this was Iran before revolution, is at the very least propaganda.
2- The private lives of people has not changed, outside, well, they have to go by the laws. So yes, today's not-public pictures will look similar (updated of course)
3- Shah and his father really pushed it on some aspects of westernization while going backwards on democracy's part. The society in large was not prepared for the big changes, as there was a rather huge body of religious people who couldn't adapt so they turned against him.
The absence of political freedoms, put every political block from liberals to communists in opposition to Shah as well.
4- Lastly, the above were just the triggers for the revolution. But the prominent factor that made the masses to revolt, I'm afraid was a simple human characteristic: greed. It gets very very little attention in history books, because us Iranians really hate ourselves for it, and don't want to admit it in the open...
Explanation: Yes, political activists of a multitude of ideologies and religious traditionalists wanted Shah to go, but they simply didn't have the numbers. They needed the masses of people, those who just went on with their daily lives and didn't bother with politics or any religious ideals.
That's when Khomeini came up with his biggest deceit, he started advertising that "Shah is stealing oil's income for himself" and if Khomeini takes over from Shah, he will "Bring oil's money to people's tables"... "We are a rich nation, people should not pay for any utility bills, government will provide it all for free"...
They kept saying these until the masses believed that if they take it to the streets, they will be rich overnight. Liberals, while they knew this is not possible, didn't mind it as long as it meant more support for removing Shah, so they went with the lie. Traditionalists, of course, didn't mind an Ayatollah leading the country, in fact they quite liked it, so they were ok with the lie too.
And it happened, in a matter of weeks, thousands turned into millions, Shah's security was overwhelmed and the rest is history.
(PS: Of course none of that "free meal" happened. Today, on average, people are by far poorer than they were under Shah, so yeah, we screwed ourselves in more than one way.) - floort, on 04/15/2009, -21/+189Very limited. As the comment says, this is a narrow minded view from inside a big city. The country was poor, uneducated and impoverished.
- Hetman, on 04/15/2009, -8/+138I just do not think it has become that bad yet. Even though when I do watch stuff like Jesus Camp it does scare me.
- relaxeder, on 04/17/2009, -10/+112We really don't have it all that bad here.
- lazycat, on 04/15/2009, -4/+82"The revolution was, at least in part, a conservative backlash to the Westernizing and secularizing efforts of the Western-backed Shah. The perception that the Shah was beholden to — if not a puppet of — a non-Muslim Western power, (the United States), whose culture was contaminating that of Iran's; and that the Shah's regime was oppressive, brutal, corrupt, and extravagant. Basic functional failures of the regime have also been blamed for the fall of the Shah — economic bottlenecks, shortages and inflation; the regime's overly-ambitious economic program; the failure of its security forces to deal with protest and demonstration; the overly centralized royal power structure. Also blamed was the extraordinarly large size of the anti-Shah movment which meant that there 'were literally too many protesters to arrest', and that the security forces were overwhelmed." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Revolution
- laubscher, on 04/15/2009, -3/+77For all those wondering how such a radical change could have taken place in such a short amount of time I'd recommend reading Persepolis, the graphic novel - about a young girl living through the Iranian revolution and on.
First graphic novel I've ever read which was written by a woman (Marjan Satrapi), and it was a very good read. - murocan, on 04/15/2009, -7/+66That is probably what the Secular Iranians were thinking...
- DrummerDudeXT, on 04/15/2009, -2/+53you're
- murocan, on 04/15/2009, -3/+44We are currently facing a slight Islamist Uprising here in Turkey. But thankfully it is nowhere near as bad as Iran's revolution was. We look at Iran as an example of why we need to uphold Secularism as fervently as possible. It is a great paradox in Turkey that the military intervening in politics is undemocratic, but at the same time not doing so could leave the country in a greater undemocratic shape than before.
Incredibly Afghanistan was similar to Iran in those days. Hopefully the current bastions of Secularism in the Muslim world; including Turkey, Azerbaijan and other nations, can remain strong.
Long live the Secular Republic! Ataturk's legacy will live on forever! - btgoss, on 04/15/2009, -44/+82Really? Have you been watching? Or are you being ironic?
- ASfinkterSezWut, on 04/15/2009, -0/+37Very interesting view from the inside, Thank you for sharing that.
- nepidae, on 04/15/2009, -6/+40I'm sure they didn't think it was "that bad yet" either. Why would you want to wait till its complete ***** before you would do something?
- directedition, on 04/15/2009, -3/+37Indeed. They were quickly westernized in the seventies, but it was a very very brief and localized period. It was too bad it didn't have time to catch on and spread, but it's not like it's how things were for a long long time.
- amirman, on 04/16/2009, -6/+38then you have no clue what it's like to live in the bible belt.
- mitikomon, on 04/15/2009, -3/+34country's culture did not change radically. Shah regime and Islamic Republic are both dictator. our culture was not what Shah tried to show and is not what Islamic republic is trying to impose on us. the revolution was not considered to end like this. the 8 year Iraq invasion helped a lot to install a dictatorship in Iran. the 1st Parliament after revolution was considered the most democrat Parliament in Iranian history.
- simplicityiskey, on 04/15/2009, -1/+32I've said it before and I'll say it again: Iran has got some hot women, even with the head scarves.
- pstroll, on 04/15/2009, -7/+37Persian women are so ***** hot. No wonder they walled up their country.
- MadN, on 04/15/2009, -7/+35These photos remind me of when America was a beacon of freedom, before the "Drug War", before the "War on Terror", before the government declared war on the American people's freedoms.
The Right Wing approves of America going to a religious theocracy, the same way Iran did.
Now, we have no knock warrants, and country wide wiretapping. - smashblu, on 04/15/2009, -8/+36It's defiantly not as bad as other places around the world but I can see it getting very bad.
- macgarp, on 04/15/2009, -0/+28semi-famous quote... "if it weren't for the oil, Iran would be just like Japan."
- soogy, on 04/15/2009, -3/+29Heh, I know people who fled the country during the revolution. They were not "wealthy" by any means, they were from rural Iran. In fact, some of them are even Muslim and yet they still fled.
The Shah's regime was not even a quarter as bad as it is today. At least the Shah (and his father, the Shah before him) introduced proper and FREE schooling, women's suffrage, industrial modernization, among other things. Granted, there was quite a bit of corruption (there were a little over 2000 political prisoners in Evin prison), but that corruption only grew after the revolution, in addition to the widespread religious, political, and female suppression. - fuse13, on 04/15/2009, -2/+26he said it was "pretty interesting" where the hell did you get "one is better than the other" from his comment? seriously?
knee-jerk reaction, much? - crickey23, on 04/15/2009, -2/+24I looked up the film you just referenced and watched the trailer. Holy *****. I must watch this. Thanks for saying something.
- ranold, on 04/15/2009, -1/+23Where are the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in leather corset pics at?
- mitikomon, on 04/15/2009, -1/+23He had served his 2nd terms in office as a president. he could not run for presidency again.
- bztheman, on 04/16/2009, -4/+25I'm with Lynxpro.
Tehran was the Paris of today. The Iranian currency was accepted wherever the American dollar was, all around the world. Americans were in tears as they were forced out of the country during the revolution.
I get tired of these BS critical comments. "narrow minded view from inside a big city"? What a joke. Which country in the world has wealthy and educated farmers? When you talk to a foreigner about America, do you show off its farmland or its big cities where all the technology, entertainment, and fashion is?
Besides, this isn't a documentary or an idiot's guide to former Iran. It displays what was there during Shah's rule, which clearly isn't there now. Freedom. And lots of it. Who said anything about farmers? - eveccker, on 04/15/2009, -3/+23seriously thought she was a superhero at first:
http://tinyurl.com/d7waqt - To0pak, on 04/15/2009, -0/+20ok second picture right in the middle, is that Ron Jeremy?!
- Xihix, on 04/15/2009, -10/+30Don't be so taken into this... A lot of the pro-Shah people try to pull ***** like this. The Shah was a terrible man, just as bad as the over controlling Mullahs. Besides, do you think these pictures represent all of Iran? Outside northern Iran, ***** wasn't that great.
- pennvneff, on 04/15/2009, -29/+48Depends on what part of the country you're in. The Bible Belt is Christian Iran.
- Rhythmix, on 04/15/2009, -0/+19Dugg for hot Persian girls.
- murocan, on 04/15/2009, -4/+22Exactly. No matter how small the problem is it must be stamped out to ensure it doesn't get out of hand.
- RuSTeDs, on 04/16/2009, -0/+17What do you mean Allah's laws? Quran doesn't say women should be segregated. It doesn't say Hijab/Burqa should be enforced by authorities. It doesn't say women can't drive, can't do business or can't take part in politics. It doesn't say men should have fist-length beards. It doesn't say women should stay home all the time and dont get education. Turkey is secular, but that doesn't mean its un islamic. You hear to call to prayer five times a day and people over there are as devout a muslim as the ones in Saudi arabia.
But sometimes, Turkey can be too secular, such as banning hijab from Universities. I say let them wear whatever they want, be it kippah, hijab or a baseball cap. I hope other Arab countries follow Turkey's secular example. Its more Islamic than Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan for that matter. - pintomp3, on 04/15/2009, -2/+19We just had to go and overthrow an progressive democratically elected government and replace it with a dictatorship.
- immatellyouwhat, on 04/15/2009, -5/+22I like reading short comments.
- amirjpl, on 04/16/2009, -1/+18Many would say that this picture depicted a better time, but behind the westernized look there was great oppression from the Shah (king).
- BooLag, on 04/23/2009, -3/+19http://www.d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y.com/
- garagepunk, on 08/05/2009, -0/+16***** i miss the 70s . . .
- inactive, on 04/16/2009, -1/+17Or maybe it's just misrepresented. Two current examples:
- Ahmadinejad doesn't want housing costs to be included in Consumer Price Index, while on average housing costs form by far the largest chunk of consumer expenditure.
- Ahmadinejad also opposes defining a poverty line, and finds it useless. Well, maybe useless to 'his' agenda, even harmful. Unofficially, 15-35% of population are bellow the line. That is they live in extreme poverty.
Lack of historical data, and absence of trust in today's government provided information make it hard to make an accurate comparison. - pixelpimp, on 04/15/2009, -1/+17It is like the Kite Runner, Afghanistan in the 70's was great too! religion is no buenos. Except for christmas presents.
- kmoed, on 04/15/2009, -0/+16People in glass houses should only throw stones if they are trapped in the glass house. Then throwing stones is a necessity.
- inactive, on 04/15/2009, -0/+15Not really, Oil was nationalized by Mosaddeq's government in 1951, which led to CIA's 1953 operation Ajax to overthrow his secular democratic government.
After the coup BP and other western oil companies returned to Iran, but Oil was not de-nationalized and foreign oil companies never got back the crazy one sided deals they enjoyed before nationalization. - robosexy, on 04/15/2009, -3/+18The nationalization of oil influenced by the West has A LOT more to do with the anger than Iranians worried about cultural shifts.
Once again, religion is on the surface, but economics rules all. Most people are more rational than we give them credit for. - DrummerDudeXT, on 04/16/2009, -1/+15I found a review of it on a Christian website, they seem disturbed by this as well
http://christiananswers.net/spotlight/movies/2006/ ... - scoottie, on 04/16/2009, -1/+15well yeah the whole revolution happened because they were trying to stop the influx of western influence.
- Lynxpro, on 04/16/2009, -2/+16Taiwan had an oppressive regime but later became democratic. The same can be said for South Korea. Both of those places had routine student demonstrations back in the 1980s. The Shah's regime would've eventually moderated itself and the average Iranian would have a better standard of living - plus freedom - today.
Oh, and Iran's wealth would not have been wasted on terrorist organizations. - CoreyTamas, on 04/15/2009, -18/+31The Iranian revolution:
- Removed rights from women
- Removed free speech
- Broke diplomatic ties with the much of the world
- Failed to do anything about the trend towards truly gigantic mustaches which are black as the night itself, and the hairstyle that goes with it -
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