Dear Friends,
It seems to me, people are people and if you push them far enough, they will erupt. Even a rabbit will bite. I have to wonder if that’s what’s happened in Iran? The recent turmoil with hundreds perhaps thousands of protesters carelessly shot by the regime to regain control… shows that things are getting out of hand. For once it appears the ruling elite there are feeling the terror they inflict on the people. Almost everyone will tolerate insanity fluttering around them, as long as it doesn’t directly interfere with their lives. Once it starts interfering with their lives they notice it. When that interference becomes life altering, it infuriates. If you have ever dealt with an angry person, further infuriating them is a suboptimal strategy to calming them down.
Most people couldn’t care less what system, rulers, or government they live under, as long as it stays out of their hair. That’s where most governments get it wrong. The ideal government from the citizen’s point of view, is one that is the least intrusive possible. The masses want laws that no one is above and the assurance that they are not below its protections. In this at least the appearance must be kept up. If those appearances fall, the people will see the hypocrisy and can’t but be incensed. Regular people really hate it when the elite are not only above the law, but if they profit from being above the law. What really gets people’s goat, however, is when a man’s wife or daughter comes home beaten or molested because a lock of hair fell out of her scarf. That really irks people at a deep level.
More often than not the elite in the center want to plan everyone’s life. So they set themselves to hobble the productive, subsidize the lazy, and flip incentives upside down. This kind of system can’t but interfere with people’s lives. The more licenses, permits, and hoops to jump through, the more people notice the government. Next comes the grift that’s bound together with red tape. As the regulations grow, so does the grift and at the same time, the economy falters. This yields poverty. Those in an ivory tower don’t see let alone feel the pain they inflict. They only feel the glee of power and the joy of abusing it. They gift themselves the luxury of inflicting suffering. That suffering, in and of itself, is a source of great societal pressure.
In most despotic governments there is a relief valve… emigration. The angry can leave. In others emigration is limited else everyone would go. The Soviet Bloc erected razor wire topped fences and machine gun guarded gates to keep people in. North Korea punishes people’s families for three generations should someone flee. So in many places that pressure relief valve of emigration is closed. This can only lead to a rise in pressure and temperature. The more trapped in an intolerable situation people feel then, the more likely they are to explode in anger. The sweetest dog can be made into a vicious mauler by his environment. So too can people be made into beasts by their government… especially if it leads by example.
So we have the example of the Iranian Regime. A group that usurped power in a coup, has ruled the Persian people by terror, and drove insanity down their throat’s, with the barrel of a gun as a ramrod. Clearly, they were following Mao’s advice. As those once wealthy people watched their fortunes dwindle, their sons killed in stupid wars, and their government bent on destroying the universe, their wives and daughters came home beaten and molested for some infraction of an absurd law… I’m sure anger grew. One reason I am very careful never to allow myself to experience blind anger is because I know how dangerous I am in that state… just as every other human being is. Terrorize, abuse a loved one, then corner a person and he or she becomes something else. They could become a revolutionary.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Lessons From Iran
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, people are people and if you push them far enough, they will erupt. Even a rabbit will bite. I have to wonder if that’s what’s happened in Iran? The recent turmoil with hundreds perhaps thousands of protesters carelessly shot by the regime to regain control… shows that things are getting out of hand. For once it appears the ruling elite there are feeling the terror they inflict on the people. Almost everyone will tolerate insanity fluttering around them, as long as it doesn’t directly interfere with their lives. Once it starts interfering with their lives they notice it. When that interference becomes life altering, it infuriates. If you have ever dealt with an angry person, further infuriating them is a suboptimal strategy to calming them down.
Most people couldn’t care less what system, rulers, or government they live under, as long as it stays out of their hair. That’s where most governments get it wrong. The ideal government from the citizen’s point of view, is one that is the least intrusive possible. The masses want laws that no one is above and the assurance that they are not below its protections. In this at least the appearance must be kept up. If those appearances fall, the people will see the hypocrisy and can’t but be incensed. Regular people really hate it when the elite are not only above the law, but if they profit from being above the law. What really gets people’s goat, however, is when a man’s wife or daughter comes home beaten or molested because a lock of hair fell out of her scarf. That really irks people at a deep level.
More often than not the elite in the center want to plan everyone’s life. So they set themselves to hobble the productive, subsidize the lazy, and flip incentives upside down. This kind of system can’t but interfere with people’s lives. The more licenses, permits, and hoops to jump through, the more people notice the government. Next comes the grift that’s bound together with red tape. As the regulations grow, so does the grift and at the same time, the economy falters. This yields poverty. Those in an ivory tower don’t see let alone feel the pain they inflict. They only feel the glee of power and the joy of abusing it. They gift themselves the luxury of inflicting suffering. That suffering, in and of itself, is a source of great societal pressure.
In most despotic governments there is a relief valve… emigration. The angry can leave. In others emigration is limited else everyone would go. The Soviet Bloc erected razor wire topped fences and machine gun guarded gates to keep people in. North Korea punishes people’s families for three generations should someone flee. So in many places that pressure relief valve of emigration is closed. This can only lead to a rise in pressure and temperature. The more trapped in an intolerable situation people feel then, the more likely they are to explode in anger. The sweetest dog can be made into a vicious mauler by his environment. So too can people be made into beasts by their government… especially if it leads by example.
So we have the example of the Iranian Regime. A group that usurped power in a coup, has ruled the Persian people by terror, and drove insanity down their throat’s, with the barrel of a gun as a ramrod. Clearly, they were following Mao’s advice. As those once wealthy people watched their fortunes dwindle, their sons killed in stupid wars, and their government bent on destroying the universe, their wives and daughters came home beaten and molested for some infraction of an absurd law… I’m sure anger grew. One reason I am very careful never to allow myself to experience blind anger is because I know how dangerous I am in that state… just as every other human being is. Terrorize, abuse a loved one, then corner a person and he or she becomes something else. They could become a revolutionary.
Sincerely,
John Pepin