Salar Abdoh - American Vs. Iranian Ethics; Abdoh's Views

American Vs. Iranian Ethics; Abdoh's Views

Iranians had their golden age long before the Europeans first set foot in America, so they know their time in the sun is well over. Americans, on the contrary, think they are a thriving and politically sound country as of now. Looking at the connections between Iran and America within the last 50 years, it seems America has tried on several occasions to get Iran to change for the sake of the U.S. During the Cold War, for the Shah of Iran maintained good relations with the U.S. and spent great amounts of public money to buy modern weapons from the U.S. (worldiq, p. 4-6). Because the poor of Iran were thought to be the least westernized and most religious, and also the majority of Iran’s people (p. 9), the Iranian poor thought westernizing would increase the gap between the rich and the poor. In response to this, the Shah heavily censored Muslim and Marxist publications to prevent uprisings and the spread of ideas amongst the poor (p. 8). During that time, the U.S. maintained good relations with the Shah ( and even helped to restore him to power in 1953) because of Iran’s oil market which boomed between 1963 and 1967(p. 7).U.S. president Jimmy Carter did urge the Shah to improve human rights in 1977, however, backed with the threat of restricting limitation on weapons (p. 13). The U.S.’s partnership with the Shah angered most Iranians, thus leading to the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the Algiers Accords, cutting America off from Iran. America was offended when Iran refused to let go of the hostages, almost as if America did not expect any fallout for its actions in Iran. Why is it that the American government thinks it has the right to go into another country and interfere but the country cannot do the same to America? The answer is quite simple; America thinks of itself as invincible and perfect, and other countries as flaws that need to be pushed aside in pursuit of the American Goal. In other words, America fails to see its own flaws when dealing with other countries. It is the equivalent to taking two steps forward and three steps back. Abdoh explores this conflict in Opium; “Guys in Washington couldn’t put their finger in the map till yesterday and say here’s Iraq, here’s Yemen, here’s goddamn Afghanistan. Now all of the sudden they’ve all become real go-getting cowboys” (Abdoh, 140). Abdoh discusses the injustices of both American and Iranian government, the difference being most Americans find their country politically just while Iranians do not (question 7). Iran and America are both subject to poverty, unemployment, debt, and the like, so wouldn’t the American and Iranian poor both think negatively of their government? The Iranian poor differ from the American poor, however, in that Iranian poor have far less technology and are less westernized than the American poor. Americans suffering from unemployment, poverty, bankruptcy, foreclosure, etc. can receive unemployment checks where as the Iranian poor are left to fend for themselves more so then in America; an Iranian that is laid off from their job is only entitled to 30-60 day’s pay for every year of service depending on the cause for the termination of employment (ask.com, topic 2.5). Another cause for stress politically in Iran is America’s want for reform, as Abdoh outlines; “You can’t imagine how your country is stressing us these days. They’ve got their feet on the accelerator and are pushing hard. They want an end to guys in the desert with messianic dreams. We say okay to that. If we help them achieve this lofty goal of theirs, maybe they’ll leave us alone for a bit” (“Opium”, 53). The upper-middle class of America has to pay taxes and is exposed to other minor problems in their lives, but still buy into the fact that they live in a “Free Country” regardless. “There is a level of manipulation of the individual in America that is very advanced and quite sophisticated, thus allowing people to wave their flags and feel mostly good about where they live even when they have been downsized, lost their homes and allowed no reasonable form of social welfare” (Abdoh, question 7). The only thing that made the wealthy of America come even remotely close to the brink that the poor of Iran have experienced many times over was the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Abdoh describes the toll this event took on Americans; “Deserted roads, people ambling in the middle of once busy streets. The day after the end of the world might look something like this. But then you’d turn a corner and an improvised memorial would have been set up for the victims... people got gooey and hugged each other” (Abdoh, pg. 137). Even when America came so close to the brink of an apocalyptic-like situation, almost everyone banned together and their nationalistic feelings toward America only grew stronger.