THE BARRIERS OF IRAN

The movement is made through rigid barriers. Barriers that not only refuse to bend or twist, but that push forward, that crowd in. The people conformed, and established a lifestyle that they made comfortable within their government’s molds. They exalted here, existed, found ways, even, to exhilarate, express and celebrate, and then the barriers would push forward some more, and interfere and quiet their ambitions, softly, urgently.

The heroes are the ones that, despite how high the odds are stacked against them, push back. They sacrifice their current and future freedoms (and no matter how limited they may be relative to ours, they are that; freedoms), and sometimes their lives, to instigate drastic change from the suffocating reality that imprisons their minds and bodies. These men and women of today, and throughout the annuls of history, should garner your respect and support as they mirror the efforts once made by those that fought for the rights you hold so dear in your country’s heart.

In what is now considered the polarized country of the USA, we have openly rediscovered something we, as Americans, have always agreed upon. That the people of the country deserve freedom of thought and expression, deserve for their votes to count, and deserve the right to protest against the powers that be without being beaten, imprisoned, or killed. We all agree with that.

Let us not forget, however, that there was a time, and times, when our government withheld rights from certain citizens (some would say it still does) and reacted just as violently to dissenters of policy, not very long ago. The radicals of the sixties were met with such an example of brutal government opposition; some would even put forth that departments of the government carried out assassinations upon its leaders. That even as recent as the latest unpopular Iraq War, dissenters were considered unpatriotic and non-supportive of the troops, when an argument can be made that they were the most patriotic; in practicing their free rights, and the most supportive of the troops; in not wanting their lives wasted in a war that was considered unnecessary, and justified under false pretenses. Here is where the polarization begins to ensue. But instead of letting it fester and boil, let’s look at the opposing sides a bit. One doesn’t have to agree with why they protested, but one surely can agree that they have the right to protest peacefully without fear of violence or imprisonment. That was easy, this one is harder. One doesn’t have to agree with why we invaded Iraq, but one surely understands that it was done for the future stability and development of the USA in mind, although carried out with a certain amount of corruption and deceptiveness. Also, that those in power had the right to attempt to protect America in the way that they thought best. If you do not agree that these two polarized sides have the right to think and act differently, whether you agree with their viewpoints or not, then you do not believe in America, you believe in Amerika; a totalitarian concept much akin to present day Iran.

Even though I think it is now plainly clear that the powers of Iran are indeed pursuing the development of a nuclear weapon, we cannot invade or even bomb them; else we unify them once again behind their totalitarian government. We must allow the people to revolt on their own levels, within their own time tables, at the pace of their own urgency. As an international body we can inflict penalties and embargoes, but we must not swing the mighty dick of our war machine at their unsolicited behest. If they were to seek our help as we once sought the help of France during our own revolution, then certainly we should aid them, although one can highly doubt that they would. Any action other than that would prove to be a devastating mistake.

The barriers are rigid and they push against the tolerance of the people, until their tolerance is slowly eroded down to anger, and then the people push back without concern for repercussion. The true heroes of this world sacrifice for the benefits of the greater good, for the people who are to live in these countries, upon this planet, in the future.