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Post by asiaticdarkperson on Mar 10, 2012 14:29:44 GMT -5
I think the problem with the US is too much freedom.
In the US people like mr. tobacco king, bill gates and mr. pharmaceutical king were allowed to become so rich and powerful until they started to dominate the state.. no man or company should be able to dominate the state IMO.
In Iran there are plenty of filthy rich people. There are countless people in Tehran who make upwards of a million dollars per year; these people occupy the north (uptown) Tehran where many homes on average are worth tens of millions of dollars..
I know that a good percentage of Tehran's population don't really work anymore because their money works for them. They just sit back while their money increases. Honestly, rich people are very common in Tehran and other big cities in Iran. But none of these people (or groups of them together) could ever become so wealthy as to dominate the state and the government.
The state controls oil, and they also control half of the global heroin/opium market. The Iranian state makes so much money from Afghan opiates that it's just crazy.. I'd say it might even equal what they are making from oil. I'm pretty sure that Iran has been controlling the flow of opiates from Afghanistan to Europe for at least a couple of decades now; billions of dollars of opium and heroin are sold in Iran's domestic market for dirt cheap every year and probably ten times as much is sold in europe and the US. Many Iranians today believe the US motive for attacking Afghanistan was to take the trillion dollar a year heroin market out from under Iran's thumb, and judging by what I've been seeing here the past years I would say that Iran still firmly controls the Afghan poppy industry.
Think CIA and the south american cocaine cultivation/processing.
I think the richest people in Iran would have to increase their wealth by many orders of magnitude in order to rival the state; and I believe this is how it should be.
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Post by asiaticdarkperson on Mar 10, 2012 14:46:38 GMT -5
tv.nytimes.com/2012/03/10/arts/television/shahs-of-sunset-on-bravo-about-iranian-americans.htmlDid you guys know that by some estimates there are up to 3 million Iranian-Americans living in the states, and that 1 million of these live in southern cali? I think anyone who has lived in LA knows that Beverly Hills is essentially a Persian neighborhood. I think the reason so many Iranians live in socal is probably because the climate and the environment is so much like Iran that they feel right at home..
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Post by asiaticdarkperson on Mar 10, 2012 14:57:39 GMT -5
And personally I think the estimates are pretty accurate, considering ~80 members of my extended family live in the states. And the majority of them live in southern california.
Though for some reason Persian-Americans (they don't like to be called Iranians) seem to get very little publicity..
But I completely agree that Iranian Americans who grew up in southern california are the most shallow materialistic douchebags I've ever met. Just like it says in the article, these people walked out of Iran carrying the country's entire wealth (numbers have no meaning) with them to LA where their children grew up as possibly the richest ethnic community in the world.
I know that the public very rarely get a glimpse at the lives of Persians in the american southwest, but I will tell you that what goes on in their circles is some of the most bizarre extravagance that exists on the earth today IMO. I think normal people would be ashamed and disgusted to watch these people's lives. Most of their kids get a $100,000 car on their sweet sixteen, and then they proceed to get a new car from daddy practically every month. Iranian men generally believe that they have to spoil their daughters as much as they possibly can, and Iranian girls tend to be very hard to please; but the Iranian American girls in LA are just uber-spoiled IMO.. I mean, when a girl's dad pays millions of dollars for clothes and for trips around the world all before her 18th birthday, how is any other man ever supposed to compete afterwards?
I think I can sum up their entire existence in: high-class parties every other day (like what we middle-class folk only see on TV) plenty of gossip, expensive clothes, expensive cars, plastic surgery and sex.
All in all their lives are a joke IMHO, and I would much rather be here in poverty.. But what's absurd is, they think I'm the one who has lost it!! Try making these people understand that there's more to existence than material wealth..
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Post by asiaticdarkperson on Mar 11, 2012 14:51:05 GMT -5
The mandatory military service in Iran is about 2 years long and boys have to enlist once they finish their education. The higher their academic degree, the higher their rank will be in the military.
The first 2-3 months are actual combat training where they teach you how to run, march, hold and shoot a gun, how to survive, how to take orders, etc. etc.
After basic training, the soldiers are essentially civil servants. Some of them guard flagpoles out in the middle of nowhere, others stand in crowded streets making sure it's safe, still others work in offices and some become drivers.. These soldiers are basically unpaid workers who are running part of the Iranian society. During this service period they learn how society works, more than they learn any military skills.
People with phds and mscs are assigned to management positions as soon as basic training is over. People with high school diplomas are just lowly soldiers who do all the leg work and dirty work.
These young men end up as cooks, accountants, IT guys, etc. etc. based on their skills. And they are in charge of running their own operations for the duration of their service.
I think the Iranian state might be abusing things a little here.. 2 years of unpaid work hardly seems fair.. and yet these same soldiers are basically the backbone of the armed forces and the police.
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Post by asiaticdarkperson on Mar 11, 2012 17:10:58 GMT -5
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Post by karlsie on Mar 12, 2012 1:58:10 GMT -5
Personally, of all the things that "went wrong" in the US, i think the idea that Americans have too much freedom is the most in error. Americans have the delusion they are free only because they hold elections. Somehow, they think these elections reflect the majority opinion, even though this opinion is manipulated by misinformation, changing zoning regulations for favorable outcomes, and outright propaganda.
Basically, they have no idea what freedom really is. Mexico, before the advent of Condoleezza Rice and her misdirected war on drugs that was really a war on socialism that tore the country apart like a massive volcanic eruption, actually had far more freedom than you can find in the US. Cultural freedom? You can find entire towns in Mexico that are one hundred percent Danish, Italian, German or French. The people in these towns live by their own customs, have their own educational opportunities and pursue their own economic stability (at least they did - who knows what it's like now). They obeyed government regulations for tax purposes, trade and abide by common good laws, but received no outside intervention from the general progress and development of their towns.
Freedom of speech and assembly? You were able to go to any town in Mexico and find people up on their soap boxes declaring their political convictions. You could register for any one of the five leading political parties, including socialism and communism without fear of recrimination. Freedom of press? Brochures and alternative publishing was passed out at every corner. In the bookstores, you could find everything from "The Federalist Papers" to "Ho Chi Minh's Diary".
Your life style was your own. You could find your niche in a Colonialist town, a traditional province, a barrio, a village, or in the International flavor of the big cities. Town to town vendors and traveling bands of gypsies were the norm, not the exception. Free enterprise was exactly that. You could take your talents, your services or products to the streets, with your only real fear of reprisal being an occasional police raid of the stalls that operated outside the local open markets, primarily the crafts people who chose areas where there would be lots of tourists so they could sell their products faster and for more money.
When you met with a freedom fighter in Mexico (before the obnoxious war) that person was able to articulate exactly what freedoms were desired; freedom from hunger, freedom to work at jobs that would give them adequate shelter, potable water. What you find in the US is a homogenous blend of generalized regulations that crumble away individual freedom under the guise of providing safety. If we are to believe what the elective majority indicates, their greatest desire is freedom from fear. They believe if they pass enough laws, there will be no random accidents, no outbursts of violence, no disruptions in the ordinary daily rhythm of their lives, and maybe eventually, they won't even have to die. Americans have given up their basic freedoms for a delusion.
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Post by asiaticdarkperson on Mar 12, 2012 8:44:27 GMT -5
It's snowing heavily here today..
karlsie, what I meant was that too much freedom was allowed in the first place, and these freedoms resulted in certain people dominating the state through their wealth. Then these wealthy powerful people started restricting other people the same freedoms which allowed them to become powerful, so as to eliminate the competition.
The end result today is a population of zombies whose every move is controlled and pre-arranged by the powerful elite.
I think the US was probably alright in the 50s when the beats were roaming around. You know william burroughs, jack kerouac and alan ginsberg, etc.
But in the sixties with the advent of LSD everything went wrong IMO. You know about MK-ULTRA right? I think this was when the CIA was learning a great deal about "The Truth" through psychedelics.. And then they proceeded to use what they learned to dominate the masses..
IMO the illegalization of LSD in 1968 marked the beginning of the new era. The era of domination and control. And the USA seems to have been declining since then.
Really, I think the innocence and freedom of the fifties is the exact counterpoint of the fucked up heroin-flooded seventies.
And in the eighties there came people like Dave Mustaine and Chuck Schuldiner who were basically like gods to millions of people worldwide. I definitely recommend that you read some of Dave Mustaine's (megadeth) poetry/lyrics. I think today it is obvious that he was a prophet. So was chuck..
I think megadeth's music essentially sums up the entire era of the 80s and 90s with titles like "The system has failed" "Peace sells.. but who's buying?" "Killing is my business.. and business is good" etc etc.
And all this is in sharp contrast to the brain-dead generation of the 21st century IMO where there are no more dave mustaines. Just sell-out MTV whores.
Now there's no more crazy long-haired people with guitars telling kids what's wrong with the world.. Just snooki and justin bieber.
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Post by asiaticdarkperson on Mar 13, 2012 13:59:59 GMT -5
Tonight is "chaharshanbeh soori." It is a celebration that takes place on the last tuesday night of the year. Next week is new years here, or Eid as we call it.
Tonight people are free to blow up as much fireworks as they possibly can. And the city is basically ablaze with people on the streets making loud noises and bright lights. Some of it is so loud that the houses actually rumble and shake. The whole city smells like gunpowder now.
I believe chaharshanbe soori, together with Eid, go back at least to Zoroastrian times. I think tonight used to be a kind of fire ritual in ancient times. Before fireworks became widespread, people would just gather in their neighborhoods, make a fire and sit around it all night singing and chatting and having a good time. (I believe before the Islamic era, alcohol and hasheesh were part of this night's festivities) The tradition used to be that at the end of the night people would jump over the fire, as a symbolic act of purification or something. These days they blow up the entire neighborhood instead. I'm not sure what the original ritual may have been when it started, but people still light big fires and sing and dance around it aside from all the fireworks.
You should see all these crazy kids on the streets though, armed to the teeth with all kind of fireworks. Some kids even make homemade fireworks for this occassion. It's really a strange tradition and it's the same all over the country tonight.
There are a lot of parties tonight in Tehran too, with loud music, plenty of dancing, lights, alcohol and drugs, etc. etc.
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Post by asiaticdarkperson on Mar 13, 2012 15:05:29 GMT -5
The new year starts on March 21 here. The first day of spring. And the Eid holiday generally lasts for 14 days.
Pretty much the entire urban population of Iran goes on vacation for at least a week during the Eid. The city of tehran with its normal population of ~13 million becomes like a ghost town. It almost feels like the city has been abandoned.
But these days are the busiest days of the year. Everyone is really working hard to get all their work done before the year ends, and the city is just really hectic and busy out of its mind. People buy more crap these days and weeks before Eid than they do any other time of the year. (Even more than when the school year starts.)
You should see these city-lunatics when they go out to the rural areas on vacation. They act like total morons who have never been outdoors in their lives. Every year on 13th of Farvardin (sizdah be'dar) the 13th day of Eid people go on picnics in the wilderness as they traditionally have for ages.
On this day the wilderness of Iran suffers more damage in one day than it does the whole rest of the year put together IMO.
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Post by asiaticdarkperson on Mar 14, 2012 8:29:24 GMT -5
Ok as of two weeks ago I've been trying to transfer a little money to europe. I went to every bank in Tehran and they said they don't do transactions with europe. Then I went to the private firms and they told me they don't usually work with small sums (ie. under $20k) but they told me they'd be happy to transfer whatever amount to wherever for a small service fee: 100 Euros. Right!! Thankyou.
Then I tried putting the cash in an envelope and mailing it. It was returned after 3 days with a warning that if I ever tried mailing money out of the country again I'd have to appear in court or something. Hey at least they didn't steal it!!
Then I thought I'd give paypal a shot. So I logged on to paypal.com and immediately got the message "Your country bad! Sanctions. We no business. Goodbye."
So I've concluded that there is absolutely no way to transfer money to europe.
Talk about globalization and shit.
I don't know maybe I should be happy that the europeans can't have my money..
And to top it all off, no western bank does business in Iran either.
I feel like I'm living in Somalia or the moon.
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Post by The Late Mitchell Warren on Mar 14, 2012 16:42:59 GMT -5
Wow that's horrible, ADP. What a bunch of dickheads the world is.
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Post by asiaticdarkperson on Mar 15, 2012 15:37:01 GMT -5
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Post by asiaticdarkperson on Mar 15, 2012 16:05:58 GMT -5
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Post by asiaticdarkperson on Mar 15, 2012 16:07:27 GMT -5
I think the Kurds in Iran are doing just fine. But it's thoughtful of these guys to bring up the subject.. I'm sure they really care about the Kurds. Maybe Canada should invite the Kurdish governors and officials to speak at the Canadian parliament.
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Post by asiaticdarkperson on Mar 15, 2012 17:37:33 GMT -5
Iran is pronounced Ear-On; not Eye-Ran.
(American government officials and presidential candidates, please note: There is no country called Eye-Ran. And while we're on the subject, there is no country called Eye-Rack either; it's Eh-rawq. Eh like Elmer, not Eve.)
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