…you can’t tell the difference between society and government:
When a country seemingly on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons calls for one of its neighbours to be “wiped off the map”, the world surely has every cause to worry. When the country making the threat is vast, volatile Iran, and the object of its hostility is Israel, the worries multiply. … Yet Iran is a complicated and confusing country, as visitors to Tehran soon become aware. The stern, black-browed visage of Ayatollah Khomeini, the deceased revolutionary leader, glowers down from huge murals all over the capital, but in the streets below, fashion-conscious girls in tight jeans and heavy make-up trip past. Other murals proclaim official hostility to America, the “Great Satan”, but the capital’s youth are well up with trends in American movies and R&B music. Even though it is Ramadan, when the entire populace should be fasting from dawn to dusk, it is common to see people eating or smoking in cars or discreet corners of city parks. [my emphasis - dff]
For the record, I’m fairly certain that Ariel Sharon is not in the slightest bit worried about being nuked by Iranian prostitots. The psychopaths who actually run the country, on the other hand, are another thing altogether.
And when you look more closely at the political rhetoric, the picture is also less monolithic than at first glance.
As if states can only act when their entire people march in lockstep with unanimity of purpose. I somehow doubt that when Iran finishes building its nuclear-tipped missles (assuming it hasn’t already), it will poll a couple of million of its 18-34 year old hip-hop-listening BLT-scarfing well-up-with-trends reasonable citizens before it considers launching anything westward. Now, it may be that the Iranian thugocracy is perfectly capable of enlightened self-interest; we’ll see.
The article even quotes:
“There used to be a pretty flexible line between the people and the government, but now it is completely rigid,” said Ali, a middle-aged government employee in a mainstream suburb of Tehran. “I don’t feel as though the government pays us any attention at all any more.”
…but, in one ear and out the other, apparently.
(via)
UPDATE: other media idiots reveal themselves.