For some context on Iran, the US (with Britain on behalf of what would later become part of British Petroleum) violently overthrew and imprisoned a democratically elected PM in Iran in 1953, reverting the country to a brutal anti-communist monarchy.
The reason for the coup was because BP was unfairly extracting Iranian oil, leaving the Prime Minister no choice but to nationalize (☭) their oil. That would be too economically liberating and socialist, so Britain and the US had to intervene.
The brutal rule of the Shah eventually led to The Iranian Revolution where leftists and right-wing Islamic nationalists worked to overthrow the Shah. As we know, the Islamic nationalists took power.
Now, under crippling US sanctions, Iran is going to be part of a major trade route in China’s Belt & Road initiative.
Iran has also applied to join BRICS, a trade alliance specifically for developing countries. It started with Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as a response to the 2008 financial crisis. These countries want to have their economies be less reliant on the US economy. These moves are a threat to US economic hegemony.
With all of the exaggerations and fake news swirling around the protests in Iran, our neoliberal media want us to hate the regime so much that we don’t care what neoliberal might take power after. That, or they want us to welcome indefinite instability, which would be a wrench in China’s plans to unify the developing world with mutually beneficial trade agreements.
References:
I recently came across F. William Engdahl while watching a CGTN (Chinese state news) program he was a guest on. His analysis was refreshingly factual, so I went to his website that has really great pieces he’s written despite its old-school, not compatible with mobile design layout.
Here’s a now 6-year-old interview promoting his book “The Lost Hegemon.” I have yet to read any of his books, but in this interview alone, I felt parts of the un-compelling Western narrative being peeled off from my lens. Simply moralizing the enemies of the US as bad, hateful, and terroristic because of blindly destructive motives never satisfied me. In this interview, we can start to investigate the origins of conflicts of power and see them as ongoing, not sporadic outburst events floating in history.
I am only beginning to form my own historical analysis of the middle east, understanding how powers like Nazi Germany, The US, and Saudi Arabia propping up the far-right anti-communist groups. And Engdahl has been helping me to navigate the region’s confusing, conflicting history.
Last, I want to point out the spot-on analysis of the conflict in Ukraine here. Coming from 2016, to criticize Obama for having no plan for Russia other than to demonize its president is prescient to say the least. When Henry f—-ing Kissinger says you’re being reckless, you know it’s bad.
This is a fantastic video that will give you not only an introduction to past socialist states but also good-faith criticisms of them. These examples will give you plenty of substantive topics to think about and talk about when you discuss Socialism with skeptics.
This is a very important documentary that shows the genesis of the idea that people are poor or a burden on society because of their individual problems. It’s all a self-serving sham built on pseudoscience and rich people’s pride.