the people's tyrant

Submitted by RN (Malaysia), Oct 24, 2011 at 04:25

As an Iranian living outside of Iran, I concur with some the above comments. Unfortunately, the reality of the middle east is far gloomier to get too hopeful with the death of one dictator. It is not really dictators who pose the real problem, it is the ideological upbringing of people. While Islamic militant ideology is currently the most significant threat against democracy and reason, it does not really account for the inherent proclivity of the middle east toward despotic and irrational agenda. ;

Take Iran, for instance. You can relatively uproot religion in Iran by offering people a nationalistic alternative rooted in pre-Islamic self-identification but that doesn't really guarantee the future. Down the road another sinister form of ideology can emerge. This is why confrontation with islamic terrorism in the Middle East should be concomitant with some sort of gradual yet extensive form of socio-cultural reform toward free thinking and most importantly, the ability for self-criticism which is absolutely lacking in the Middle East. But the question is that 'is such a change really feasible'?

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