Sure, it would be a question of prior context vs. engaging with a movement on its current terms I guess. It’s not diminishing the previous movement even, it’s just a question of how you evaluate the relevance of a past movement to a current struggle. Which is admittedly hard to do from a distance.
Yeah there’s some weird heat to our conversation here that I don’t think either of us believe we are bringing so it’s probably a tone-over-text issue.
I don’t believe they’re mutually exclusive either, to be clear. But I do think the point of the sanctions regime is precisely to keep the population discontent. In a context where the US is openly weaponizing its economic heft to promote regime change I think there is an economic motivator that we can’t disregard. Further, I think media in my country prefers a rights narrative if it can get one, which maybe unfairly predisposes me to suspect that the economic motivator is predominating.
Granted I’m not in the country or on the ground. It’s fair to contest that all my information is mediated by motivated actors.
No of course not. I think the article is interesting and is a good warning against ignoring organizers on the ground and the real conditions behind a movement.
I’m actually agreeing that it’s important to engage on terms that are relevant to the current situation. I’m not sure the conditions of 3 years ago are the current conditions.
Well my contention is that this article is about something besides the current protests, which I believe to be about the collapse in material conditions within Iran.
Your contention is that these are not economically motivated and that the article is relevant to all instances of protest against the Iranian government?
Edit: I’m not being snarky, I’m asking because I remember these protests in the media and I remember them being framed by the same media outlets as about human rights and womens rights.
Did you actually see when this was written? You are writing as if you believe it’s current.
Has advancing US interests in the region helped LGBT people and women in any instance? I mean I guess arguably the Zionist entity would count if you have a very contained understanding of what it means to support the community.
Also this strikes me as opportunistic, given that this is not the context of the current movement we’re talking about. The current protests are, at least as far as anyone I’m aware of is talking about them, economically motivated by the collapse of Iranian currency from snapback sanctions.
Mind, I’m not saying this was your goal, but I wonder about how it came back in circulation and who is pushing this years old article about a different situation right now.
Aw man didn’t see myself going out that way. It was inevitable.
Everyone needs it, doesn’t go bad, expensive in the store so you can flip it fairly easily and still make money.
How do you have a proxy war with China? Who are their proxies?
Hey I appreciate being engaged with sincerely! In my experience it’s always best to check because either you defuse a situation or the other person will very quickly make it clear that the heat is intended.
I agree with your conclusion too, especially since when you remove the bogeyman of US imperialism you are creating new conditions where it’s easier to engage with movements on their own terms, one less factor to muddy the waters.
That said I’m really worried that the US is repositioning assets because it believes it can change the regime by force. After Venezuela I think they’re ready to make big swings, it at least that’s how it feels. So yeah, pretty bleak for our Iranian comrades at the moment. I hope I’m wrong.