http://tinyurl.com/dyukj
"Driving back to my hotel after interviewing the band, I think about the different aspects of Iran that I've been exposed to so far: the traditional image of a fiercely conservative Islamic nation whose newly elected president has openly called for the destruction of Israel as well as denied the Holocaust. A man who, some say -- even in Iranian power circles -- is writing checks with his mouth that the country can ill-afford to cash. But there is also some broad and legitimate anger toward the West. It's fueled by Western support of the dictatorial regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, as well as the West's initial support for Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War, even though Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein clearly started the fight. Underlying that anger and anti-Western political pose, however, many here, it seems, yearn not so much for Western culture but for the ideals of Western freedom. (Persia, after all, was a historical center for science and the arts going back thousands of years.) Iran is a nation, one reader e-mailed me, that lives in two worlds: "The way we live outside our homes is very different from the way we live inside." Interesting where they say that people yearn not for Western Culture, but the **ideals** of Western Freedom. Something which I sometimes misinterpret in articles. They don't want our Culture, but they want the freedom to express themselves as they wish, same as we do. However, through the article I see that the influence of American Culture is extremely pervasive, with Iranians youths embracing Heavy Metal, and US Basketball. They don't sing Calypso, or do the Riverdance in other words ;-). How are they exposed to so much American culture, as opposed to culture from other parts of the world such as Europe. I mean I know why we in Trinidad are, we're close to the US. But why is it the same in the Middle East? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:191851 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
