Symmetrical Idiocy
One unfortunate result of the crisis in Iran has been a renewed interest in trotting out every demonstrator, exile or emigre who happens to agree with your perspective on the regime as a prop for scoring political points. Not only does this tell us nothing about the situation within Iran – who, after all, thinks either of these pieces offer a representative sample of Iranian opinion? – it’s also incredibly distasteful to have statements from brave protesters and exiles brandished like cudgels in yet another domestic political brawl.
The fact of the matter is that most pundits (amateur or otherwise) know shockingly little about the events of the past few days. My heart goes out to the demonstrators confronting the regime, but I don’t pretend to know anything about their opinions or intentions or What This All Means.
A few days ago, Sonny Bunch rightfully observed that we have remarkably little context with which to process the information coming out of Iran. And as fascinating as it is to watch demonstrations unfold in real-time or to follow every protester’s tweet, I don’t feel appreciably more informed about the situation despite all of the data at my disposal. The result of this information overload hasn’t been a clear picture of what’s going on inside the regime; instead, we’ve replaced traditional filters (media commentary, expert analysis) with ideological blinders, picking out stirring images or quotes that conform to our preconceived notions of how things ought to be. Many commentators seem to feel empowered by the flood of information emanating from Iran; I just feel confused and overwhelmed.
June 23, 2009 39 Comments
don’t just do something, sit there
Props on the title go to Eunomia commenter Grumpy Old Man who was commenting on the second of two very strong posts from Daniel Larison regarding the Iranian riots. Larison worries that too much enthusiasm over these elections will invariably lead to our doing something stupid – some statement or symbolic gesture, such as Obama wearing a green tie (the color of political Islam) out of solidarity and thereby further propagating the myth that he is in fact a Muslim. Obama’s a sharp guy, though. I doubt he’d do anything quite so silly, though he really ought to wear a green tie next St. Patrick’s Day. In any case, as Larison notes:
One of the great problems with a foreign policy that takes global “leadership” as a given is that it seems to compel the U.S. government to have an official view on every event and crisis around the world. The idea that there are events that have nothing to do with us, and which we have no business concerning ourselves with, is so alien to our policymakers that I am fairly sure that it never occurs to them. Certainly, if it ever did, they would dismiss it immediately as unacceptable “inaction” in a “time of crisis.” Discretion sometimes truly is the better part of valor.
Now, I admit to having been very caught up in these elections and the subsequent protests, riots, and so forth. I felt that a less hostile Iranian regime would put a damper on all this talk of invasion – both in Israel and in the United States. Then, too, despite my generally non-interventionist stance, I nonetheless feel a great deal of empathy for the people in other parts of the world who feel powerless in their political process. I sympathize with a populace who cares enough to go to these lengths after what they perceive to be a stolen election. Once upon a time Americans had this passion, but we’ve lost it along the way.
My enthusiasm, I think, was mainly one of contrasts. I was enthralled with the flood of information – however scattered and incomplete it may have been – that came in via youtube, twitter and the blogs. The silence on mainstream outlets was deafening. The lack of interest in so many of my fellow citizens was startling. Then again, I remember talking to a young lady just before elections and asking her who she was voting for and she shrugged her shoulders and said she wasn’t interested in politics. So apathy over Iranian elections is hardly surprising. [Read more →]
June 16, 2009 10 Comments
