I was reading
JJ's blog the other day, and as I was reading his rendering of his new life in Peru and the comments that followed, some thoughts started flowing through my mind:
It seems that JJ also retains some nostalgic bittersweet memories of a time gone by, when Shiraz was peaceful, green, and full of life. I remember those days too. I was there. We lived in Qasr ol-dasht. The entire neighborhood was covered with dense baghs. A true oasis. I used to play with our neighbor's kid, an American, whose dad probably was training some Air Force pilots. The Shiraz river in those days was full and pure, straight out of the mountains, and people would take their families out every evening to some hamburger place in their new fancy Chevy Blazers. Those were the days.
But it was not to last. A vile form of political Islam descended upon us. And soon the war started, the gasht and komitehs started patrolling the streets of afif abad, and everything went downhill from there. Shiraz died a slow death after the revolution. Nothing of it remains today but vast forests of concrete apartment high rises, smoggy skies, and long lost memories. No more intoxicating yaas or narenj fragrances as you stroll by in the koochehs. The Islamist fuckers even changed the names of all the streets as if to wipe clean all memories of those days from existence. If Cusco has any remote semblance to my old beautiful Shiraz of the late 70s, then I'd like to visit it. The mountains in the Google pictures certainly do look similar.
I can see where JJ is coming from. He's tried to escape the commotion. The craziness. The endless conflicts and wars. The judgemental people. The fast paced mechanical world of robotic employees working like slaves. You work, you eat, you sleep, only to repeat the same cycle next day over and over again. What's the point of it all? JJ wants to experience the finer and simpler things in life before his time is up in this world. I suppose we all do. I certainly do.
But I can also see where folks like AO come from too. He calls JJ "lazy" for choosing the path he has. One must remember that AO comes from a hard core science background, like myself. For folks like us, the whole point of being alive is to contribute to our compendium of knowledge. We all live and die, and after only 2 generations, no living soul will remember our name. Who we were. What we did. As if we never even existed. The only thing then that gives meaning to life is the few things we helped accomplish to help the lives of others. Even if small and trivial.
My life perhaps is the life JJ has escaped from. I run 3 hospitals and a dozen clinics in 2 states. If I were to leave my job for one month, everyone would start getting nervous about losing accreditation to The Joint Commission, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the state dept of health services, and several other agencies. I often have to work after hours. Weekends. Whatever it takes. All to keep things going. I direct 3 medical residency programs. Im responsible for passing their boards. I'm constantly trying to figure things out that the normal docs can't or won't address. Do we use the newly FDA approved Ga-68 for our PET patients? How do we validate our Fe quantification method for patients with liver transplants? Why are technologists sending such shitty L-spine images from our sports medicine clinic? How do we measure glomerular filtration rate for our hem/onc patients? It's rewarding in a way, I suppose, because the decisions I make directly help with the WellCare of many people out there.
But my life is stressful as fuck, and it's slowly costing me my health. Even though I make close to 200k, I have 400k of private and public student loans to pay off over the next 25 yrs. So my entire monthly paycheck goes toward paying these loans, bills, mortgages, and baby expenses. I therefore have no savings. And no retirement funds saved up. Can't afford to. There's nothing left of my paycheck every month to save up. Once I retire, I will probably die poor like Tesla. And for now, I'm practically a slave to my student loans. Can't go to Cusco. Can't do shit. Who knows, maybe Senator Warren will think of something. Or maybe agha will zohoor, as my mom loves to say, and "dissolve" all of Wall Street! (Shias are delusional as fuck. I know). But the point is, I'm stuck. I can't move. I can't break free of the bonds of servitude and go somewhere far and peaceful, like JJ has. I wish I could. But so can't many many others. Such is life.
So to JJ I'd like to say congratulations. Enjoy the freedom you have secured for yourself. It's very precious indeed. Enjoy the colors, the smells, the sunlight. Enjoy the markets and vegetables and street vendors. I hope you won't grow tired of it. I mean, even Mohammed in all his holiness grew tired of Haraa (the cave) and Gabriel's free nehzat-e savaad amoozi classes, and eventually returned back to Mecca from his solitude.
And for the rest of us: we're fucked. If Trump becomes president, things will go to shit, and it will prove the country has completely lost their mind. If Hillary wins, the backlash will become more visible, generating even more hatred. The Ann Coulters and Sean Hannitys will multiply and things will continue to spiral into chaos. Who knows, the republic might even break up, and states might start seceding. As for Iran, the Islamic republic will rule for another 150 yrs, replace all universities with howzehs, continue to blame all evil on the west, and cook up another war for us and call it 'Defaa'e Moqaddas'. And dumbass people will continue to follow and vote for new 'reformists'. Every. single. time.
Dear Fesenjoon, I am not as important as you are to the world around me, so with a little planning, I can disspare in the mist and it wouldn't matter to the world. The key, I suppose is to disenge from the structures we have erected around us that keep us on the path we are in; whatever the path is -- easier said than done, no?
I also believe that age is the main culprit here. We tend to separate "important" from the "essentials" as we get older. That is the key to deciding what to do with ourselves and our lives.
As for Hilalry vs Trump fisaco, I am afraid you may be right, so the next 4 years and beyond may be the start ofo the "American Revolution" Book Two .................
I think you work too hard. Its one way trip you know so don't kill yourself!
regardless of trump or clinton, U.S is in decline now. just like any empire preceeded before it, a time will come that things will fall aprart completely. we are all hoping it won'thappen for two decades while most of us are still alive because once this place collapases due to economic and social pressure it would look worse than Md Max movies!
I'm just waiting for the Zombie apocalypse to put an end to it all.
Seriously though, great blog Fes! I have to say to really can't just sit somewhere and do nothing. Perhaps when I'm older...but now now. In all honesty, I don't think I can do it when I'm older either. I'm like my mom. She keeps going, going and going....
And I work in Mahattan. I KNOW about masses of humaity rushing to and from work.
And on JJ's blog, I was talking more about cultures than JJ per se, but as usual, the peanut gallery didn't get it. So, I got bored and exited the discussion. In certain cultures, life is that way, and if you want to live that way, you need to live in those places. Here, we value hard work. That's why we're number one in hi-tech companies and number six in the world in overall innovation. I'm posting a link to the article below. Do you see any Peru on that list? Or Iran for that matter, with their afternoon naps (I'm sure there's Jewish conspiracy there somewhere)?
Life is short. I can't waste it napping. Plus, most of us won't be remebered for much after our deaths. All we can do is to strive to do something that will contribute to future generations. Another piece of research...one more piece of data that can solve a puzzle...something that we can do to make a difference...
Here's the link:
http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-innovative-countries/
COP:
Ive always said to myself, if it weren't for the baby (responsibilities), my student loans, and constant bills I need to pay (i.e. debt), I'd have gone the same way as JJ. This world isn't worth the pain and trouble. I suppose it's the 'saalek' gene within us all Persian folk.
MRX:
I shudder at the thought of a world without America (or a weak toothless one). I'm not sure people realize that the alternatives to a world dominated by Uncle Sam may turn out to be far worse than they imagine.
AO:
Don't you love it that Israel is so high near the top on that innovative list?! Actually, I'm not surprised. We bought a $650,000 gamma camera not long ago. Made by GE. Fully American company. But on the bottom of the scanner, it says in tiny print "Made in Israel". The 'najes' Jews are all over the place in advanced medical technology. They're literally the best. And what do we do in return? Give sermons about whether it's ok for women athletes to hold the flag in the opening Olympics parade. Fucking pathetic. I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that Iran (in its current state) is beyond saving.
Dude. Iran is beyond hope. 40 years of arbadeh keshi, hochi gari, and laat baazi has created a whole generation of lost souls. It will take a century to rebuild Iran culturally. On the Israel thing...yeah...that's part of the reason that some of the characters you see here tear their koons about it every day. It's part of their oghdeh complex. For 40 years the have been promising themselves that Israel will be destroyed any day...and now, much to their chagrin, it's still there. I'm really no fan of Israel, or Palestine for that matter. And I couldn't give a rat's ass if I wake up tomorrow and read in the news that both of those places are gone (without the people dying. I don't want to see anyone harmed). But just to see Israel getting under these losers' skins is a lot of fun. I always say that for these guys to criticize Israel and not be hypocrites they must first get rid of all the Israeli made products, starting with their computers, which they use to write their stupid comments, and which probably has an Intel chip in it. They next need to get rid of the stents in their chelo kabab clogged arteries. Let's face it. These guys are in their fifties and sixties. They must have one. And then there are countless other products. Israel is a hotbed of innovation, a lot of it in life saving medical procedures, devices and technology. Kudos to them for being so smart and industrious.
Sometimes I wonder, did the Mongols do more damage to Persia or did the Islamic Republic do more damage. I'm inclined to think the latter. At least the Mongols tried to emulate and integrate upon the culture they replaced. (Architecture and astronomy). These idiots today are only proficient at building Imam zadehs, complaining about everything, and have tons of ede'aa about everything in the universe (dar hadd-e teem melli, so to speak).
The thing with the IR damage is that it's done from within. One thinig that the mullahs undertand--and therefore can manipulate endlessly--is Iranian culture. After all they created the contemporary Iranian culuture through the all-encompassing modern Shia doctrine during the Safavid era. Shah had no clue about what made Iranians tick. That was his biggest flaw, and it led to his downfall. The mullahs are re-shaping Iran (again) from within. In that sense, their form of damage is more extensive than the Mongols.