If we don’t believe in reform, evolution and progress of the humankind, we may as well advocate mass genocide! After all, no other species has so far been more destructive and dangerous to the whole life and its entire sustainability on Earth.
Each group of humans have always worked under a dual code of ethics: “be good with us and be nasty with them”. What sets any group apart is their definition of “us” and “them”. For the most intolerant groups (Islamists, Communists and Fascists) “us” is a small circle of believers, comrades and Aryans. For the most liberal and humane, “us” not only includes all humans but also animals, plants and nature.
Hope for reform and progress is what makes most of us have any faith on the future. Otherwise, the specter of constant violence between groups with escalating wars and waves of terror, using more and more sophisticated weapons and ruthless tactics, only appeals to the most savage aspects of our psychology.
So the enemy is “us” and the friend can be “them”, if we can carry on with the act of reformation and evolution, through enlarging our circle of friends and becoming more and more inclusive and cooperative, despite the core savage psychology inside every man that wants to tear every other man a new one.
What sets us apart is not our drive to success and victory that is natural to all of us, but what we do as victors and how we behave towards the fallen enemy. Do we bulldoze their historical architecture and build mass graves instead, like ISIS? Do we construct Gulags and mass murder millions like comrades? Do we confine “them” to ghettos and apartheid and drain life and hope from their souls, like the Israelis? Do we build the Aryan dreamland, complete with Crematoria and gas chambers, like the Nazis?
The choice has always been ours: reform and tolerance towards a better future, or fighting to the bitter end like a bunch of poisoned rats stuffed in a shrinking cage.
Excellent article, Shazdeh.
Thanks for sharing.
"The choice has always been ours: reform and tolerance towards a better future, or fighting to the bitter end like a bunch of poisoned rats stuffed in a shrinking cage."
Can't agree more!
Thanks Souri khanom, and happy Sizdeh Bedar (more like the middle of winter here in Toronto)!
Hating our enemies (like the IRI) is natural, but I can't hate the Iranian people. They deserve a better future, and reform is more likely to help them, than war and destruction.
Good idea. start with reform and moderation yourself first then preach it to others!
I am with you Shazde jaan but don't think that reform is possible. Not in Iran, not in Saudi and not in Israel. Small minded people are in charge and are dragging the silent majority into disasters with their stupid plans.
Divaneh jan: then I have a question for you: would reform be possible for humanity?
If we don't have faith in ourselves to improve, then there will be no hope for the future.
Love and hope is what makes world improve and progress, not hate and despair.
LOL @ MRX ... I'm working on it ... It's a process!
I think humanity only learns from distasters but as you said we can only keep our hopes high. Lets hope reforms are possible.
Divaneh jan:
To avoid disasters, every good and constructive action should be rewarded, and every bad and destructive behavior punished. That is how evolution works and that is how reform can be fostered.
It is the difference between having a nuclear disarmenment deal versus waiting for a nuclear disaster to happen, so that humanity can "learn its lesson".
Excellent piece Shazdeh. I'm with you on this a hundred percent. I want to believe that YOUR article is the representative of silent majority on this site. Something constructive for a change. What have we gained in 37 years of pointing fingers at each other? Each camp preaching to their already converted followers while venting out their frustration and nothing else to show for. Thanks and keep up the great work.
Thanks Shazde. Although I believe that force has a place in confronting an enemy, but the real solutions come from negotiations and compromise, obviously not with a sworn enemy.
Iran will evolve and reform, but over time.
Kamal agha: thanks for your positive comment. Unfortunately, the silent majority has long left this site alone. HAMALs are in charge now.
Faramarz jan: agreed, but every good turn deserves another and force should be applied when misbehaving happens and proportionally too.