A REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE

(….blowing in the wind) 

As so often in human history, there comes a point when authoritarian rule becomes so unbearably oppressive revolutionary change begins blowing in the wind, as the mass of the people react against it – violently so – much like a volcano blowing its top. 

And nowhere do such pressures become more explosive than where an otherwise highly evolved and sophisticated society, with a long, long history of being wide-open and free-wheeling in its ways, has been kept in the strangling grip of a theocratic regime for years. 

Such is Iran today. Ironically, the theocrats who’ve ruled Iran for the past thirty years now face the same generational spirit of revolt against the same pattern of oppression as under the autocracy of the former Shah. A pattern of oppression by which both regimes employed the same methods to retain and stay in power. That is, arbitrary arrest, torture, and judicial murder, to eliminate any kind of opposition. The only difference between the former Shah’s secret police – SAVAK- and that of the Ayatollahs is the name. One might even consider the probability that many of the former SAVAK psychopaths operating under the Shah were simply re-cycled, given new uniforms, and put to work to continue with their former practices, but now in the name of an Islamic Republic….and God. 

It’s a situation that has been brewing for a long time. The Ayatollahs’ regime has proven to be just as corrupt, and just as oppressive as that of the Shah. Thus, living daily in fear of being accused of deviation from restrictive rules of conduct is a particularly strong motivation for rebellion by any society’s youth. And Iran’s youth is particularly restive because, thanks to modern technology, it is able to see how other parts of the world are enjoying lifestyles forbidden to it. At the same time, that technology also provides it with an easier way to strike back against the oppression of its clerical elders. 

The real question, however, is whether such revolutionary impulses might result in a relatively non-violent and progressive change in Iran; or, will such impulses, once unleashed, spin out of control and go off the tracks only to end up with some other form of oppression and tyranny?

Our own revolution was one of the few that didn’t (just barely). The French went through a frenzied blood-bath, and dictatorship, before being able to settle down into some semblance of a civilized society. The Russians, also failed, suffering almost twenty years of civil war and massacre, before ending up with one of the vilest tyrannies in history. The Germans, as well, fell in sheep-like behind the blandishments of another maniacal and murderous Pied Piper of hatred for everyone not of their kind. So did the Chinese, with the same tedious repetition of bloody floods, yet ultimately, somehow, managing to morph into some form of an open and relatively free society (still evolving, as economic freedom slowly erodes hardcore ideology).  

It’s a pattern that always seems to follow such upheavals. The initial euphoria and wild enthusiasm, especially by youth, soon brings in its elders, all with great expectations of something better, something freer, for their future. Unfortunately, it also seems that the more rabid and extreme elements in such revolutionary convulsions always seem to be able to worm themselves into positions of power; and, once entrenched there, to cleverly camouflage their thirst for such power, by setting themselves up and beginning a new cycle of oppression and tyranny hiding behind supposedly “righteous” ideology. And nowhere is that more extreme than when such ideology is theocratic. Nothing in human history has ever engendered more crimes against humanity than theocratic rule….of whatever ilk….in the name of “God”. 

We here in America should be eternally grateful to the founders of our republic for having had the wisdom to design a constitution and system of government that has kept such fires of sectarianism and religious tyrannies well-banked and under strict control of the principle of separation of church and state. It has spared us from the likes of such places as Iran, Saudi Arabia, and others in this world. Granted, we have problems of other kinds, but that has been the bedrock of our success as a free and open society. Which perhaps explains why so many come here seeking refuge with us. 

So, regardless of our individual beliefs, we should consider that our career politicos are truly being sincere and not lying through their teeth whenever they close one of their public utterances with that familiar conventional phrase – God bless the United States of America – 

May it ever be so. 

CENTURION