Economic pressure in Iran

[asiaticdarkperson]

I'll be blunt, things really suck here. I mean really SUCK. People aren't starving or anything, but times are rough for the middle- and lower classes.

Everything from milk, meat, bread, gas and even opium has doubled (tripled really) in price since last year.

As far as I can tell, the general population is blaming the US. There are no demonstrations or anti-govt movements happening at this time. "I'd rather starve than let the US win" is a very common sentiment here nowadays.

I'm sure if the American people were subjected to price hikes and inflation like what we're experiencing, they would have overthrown the government by now. It's clear this is exactly what the US is expecting/hoping will happen in Iran.


And it's not just a matter of prices, everything is more expensive sure, but domestic product quality has also declined sharply. Everything here is now a cheap knockoff of what it used to be a couple of years ago. (Seriously, everything.)

Everyone's just so weary.. it's kind of depressing.

I fully expect that people here will indeed starve before bowing down to american imperialism. It's sad cause young people are the worst hit; mostly they've just accepted that they're never gonna move out of their parents' houses.

1Liter of gasoline 3 years ago = ~70 tomans; today = 1000 tomans. How's that for a price hike?

1USD 3 years ago = 800 tms; today ~3100 tms.

What's worse is, the government is now demanding that everyone pay shitloads of taxes. Everything used to be subsidised, now everything has a sales tax!

Personally, I haven't been all that affected cause I'm just one guy. But a lot of people have families, wives and kids to feed.. It seems damn near impossible from where I stand. I really don't know how they do it.

Actually, what's really incredible I think is how one man's salary could have ever fed a whole family!

[asiaticdarkperson]

If Iranian government people are reading this then listen good: (or type this into google translator:) YOU SUCK!!

I think you should build nukes quickly and fuckin fry the US and Israel so we can live in peace for fuck's sake!

Well.. maybe that's not the best idea for peace. But come on! Do something! We're dying here.

And for the US spies masquerading as Guests (you know who you are).. Kiss. my. ass.

[asiaticdarkperson]

www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/26/us-iran-gulf-idUSBRE8BP02L20121226

I'll try to make this very very simple because apparently the people over at reuters are really dumb.

Bahrain's government, backed by the US, is killing its citizens. (Mostly the Shiites, but I don't think they actually discriminate between protestors.)

For the past couple of years Iran has been demanding that its tiny southern neighbour stop killing Muslims. (Muslims are not supposed to kill other Muslims according to Islamic Sharia; a Muslim who kills a fellow Muslim automatically forefeits the right to be called Muslim.)

Iran kept insisting to its brothers in the Bahraini government to stop what they are doing or Iran will be forced to protect the threatened Muslim population of Bahrain from their corrupt non-Muslim government.

The Bahrainis didn't stop. The US probably told them to keep it up so as to provoke a response from Iran. I suppose they were hoping that Iran would invade Bahrain and so the US would be forced to defend its ally. You know how it works.

So, Iran found covert means of fucking with the Bahrainis and now they're crying that Iran should stop interfering. What interfering? Do you have proof? And your evidence is what?

Here's my conclusion: Bahrain wants Iran to stop whatever hindrance they're causing so the Bahraini US-owned government can kill everyone who is opposed to American dictatorship in Bahrain.

Dear Bahraini government: It seems you are hereby excommunicated. You, and only you are responsible. And I am proud that Iran is trying to help oppressed Muslims.

Over here we've got refugees in the millions right now. Afghans, Iraqi Kurds, Iraqi Arabs, Bahraini Arabs, Syrian Arabs, etc. etc. If the Arab nations keep this up, Iran is going to have more Arabs than Persians.

[asiaticdarkperson]

Last night was walking past this auto dealership in our neighbourhood and I got a big shock. They had a 2012 Maserati for sale. I went in and asked for a price estimate if I were to pay cash.

The nice man said "Oh, umm... around 1 billion tomans.. give or take"

[asiaticdarkperson]

www.nytimes.com/2012/12/28/world/middleeast/irans-only-female-cabinet-minister-dismissed.html?_r=0

To be fair, Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi was under-educated and way under-qualified for the job. The article claims she's a gynecologist, but she's actually a GP afaic. And the only reason she got the job IMHO is because she wears the burqa and not the many forms of modern hijab which is so prevalent among the Iranian educated classes today.

But it is sad that there's a shortage of medicine.

P.S. In Iran, you can tell how 'cultured' or enlightened a woman is by the type of hijab she wears. Generally speaking, in Iran, the burqa is a trademark of rural, low-class, illiterate women. (This is a fact.) There are new forms of hijab which are quite hip and don't make the woman look like a black shadow.

[From Mitchell]

asiaticdarkperson! How are you? I was wondering a while back whatever happened to you. How have things been? Are you alive and well and happy?

This board has been inactive for a while, as we're trying to move more discussions over to the magazine. But I just happened to drop by and saw all of your posts...

[asiaticdarkperson]

Dec 28, 2012 23:33:20 GMT -5 @From Mitchell said:

asiaticdarkperson! How are you? I was wondering a while back whatever happened to you. How have things been? Are you alive and well and happy?

I'm absolutely peachy, Mitchell. How you doin?

This board has been inactive for a while, as we're trying to move more discussions over to the magazine. But I just happened to drop by and saw all of your posts...

What discussions on the magazine? ... It's OK. I understand. Forums and websites die too, just like grandma and grandpa. :/

[grainnerhuad]

As I was reading through this I was struck by the fact that your first entry describes exactly the same conditions we are experiencing here, in the states. While the world draws lines and tries to define and separate itself, it cannot really. We all are affected by one another. We too are not able to support families, fix broken vehicles, buy milk, take holidays. even seek higher education. Who exactly is it and where? Is anyone doing well? Not Greece, Spain, the U.K. Japan or Polynesia. And yet everyone thinks it's better somewhere else.

My point is this: If each one directed their energy inward, to fixing the circle they stand in, these problems would at least shrink. Of course America is a problem, Israel is a problem and Iran is a problem too. Everyone is a problem if they aren't looking inward. Actively attacking is deplorable. But inactivity in creating betterment is just as destructive.

[The Late Mitchell Warren]

Subversify is a little too smart for its own good, so it's hard to keep traffic even when we get it. Most websites are agenda-based, meaning they have a niche market that attracts people. Our angle is freedom of speech, which doesn't help endear us to loyalists...

[karlsie]

Actually, in some ways, Subversify has done its job. Many of the things that were considered novel and radical when they first hit Subversify have been discussed into the ground by the mainstream in recent times. We need to dig around until we find a point of view that hasn't been presented yet. I think, Shh, your discussions on Iran could present us with some fresh, new material.

[f4rz4n3]

Hi, everybody. This is my first post!
As everybody knows, economics is controlled by powerful politicians around the globe. Politicians are not just people playing with policy! They are so smart in most aspects, better than the devil!
Iran has gone through sanction till now. Everyone is having difficulty and nagging but no one wants disorder. Most people are sitting and just watching what’s going on (with suppressed anger).
Let alone the stories everyone knows! I think it’s a psychological conflict. Of course, no one to risk again! The population has died inside. They have lots of problems that there remains no energy to arrive home and start planning a revolution. The revolution has been occurred deep inside their beings! They are done or trying to distract themselves from reality. Those who have overcome the opposing veil on the eyes are in deep war deep inside their minds. People are fighting together. You know why? Because they want to relieve. They block each others’ ways just because they consider everything is done and there’s no hope. They don’t want their sons to be killed in the war again and again! All they say is; “Why me?”
Common wisdom says to choose the easiest and the best choice. So they hurt each other not to face the power or reality!
So I think it’s something beyond what it seems! The solution is not war. It’s peace of MIND! And it needs a strong cultural revolution by Iranian Intellectual who is taken away from the country by countries like US… Hey, stay home and accept that this is your family, friends, and country. Do something. 90% of Iranians are the inevitable prisoners of minds. They are haunted.
(I don’t know if what I say is logical or what! I wish I did well for my first time here.)

[grainnerhuad]

Hello f4rz4n3 and welcome. Don't worry about logic. Thoughts are what they are. Just keep coming through eventually, something you say will spark someone or something someone else says will engage you and you will be swept into the Subversify Super Dome.

[asiaticdarkperson]

Just came back from a short visit down south. I noticed that economic pressure was just simply the farthest thing from people's minds. Things might be a little tight in Tehran, but in rural chaharmahal people are prospering like _never_ before. There was a lot of construction going on in town. People were mostly excited because the town-council elections are near, and the political-types were ecstatically laboring to get their candidates elected. Turaj, for example, was busy "buying and selling" votes to make sure his nephew gets one of the five council seats, while his battle with the Ahrar development rages on covertly. The national presidential election seemed to be of much less concern to the village people, who all professed to knowing next to nothing about any of the candidates. In sharp contrast to the people of Tehran, the rural people were very happy with the current government. I did not hear one person complain about the economy. Everyone was just kinda full of hope, working hard to make more money than they did last year.

I talked to a lot of people the past few days. Got a ton of interesting stories. Rural Iran is so much more alive and vibrant than the city of Tehran, it's crazy. And one woman committed suicide in a small neighboring village like three nights ago. She hung herself from a tree. Various people, aged 45-80, whom I talked to all agreed that this was the first time a woman took her own life in the area as far as they can remember, "it was unheard of" they said.

My pen feels a little dull. I feel like I haven't written anything in weeks.

Edit: @f4rz4n3 I'm not sure what you're trying to say exactly, but I'm glad you decided to pop in.