Iran's protests strike chord in US

By: Madison Shelton

Posted: 7/3/09

Events that affect both society and the world at large in life-altering, unprecedented ways are rare to witness. For previous generations, the influence came in the form of depression, war, liberation of the society on political, social and sexual levels, the power of free speech and being able to change the world with direct action. Our generation has been thought of the information generation where all of our contacts, media and products are interpreted and directed by our technology. Just the way information is transferred around the world at lightning speed is a testament to the general knowledge that we are able to absorb and distribute every second of every day. I can find out about a devastating earthquake in Japan while sitting in my small dorm room in West Philadelphia minutes after it has happened. I can send an e-mail to my friends in Belgium and Paris telling them a funny story and have it spread to their friends all across Europe just by word-of-mouth. In the U.S. we have the ability to move mountains with the click of a mouse and the tap of a button. However, mountains are moving in front of us, and people are taking the effort to do something about it.

On June 12th 2009, the nation of Iran conducted its second presidential election with the highest percentage of country participation in history. Unfortunately, this positive moment in history has been clouded by protesting and backlash from voters over the election results after conservative candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the victor with 62.6 percent of the vote. The reform candidates have launched complaints that the votes were "manipulated" and that these results are not just. This has caused the Iranian people on both sides of the political spectrum to protest in the capital city of Tehran. With this protesting there has been violence, destruction, police brutality and an unreported number of deaths. The controlling political forces have placed a news media ban on the protests but that has not stopped footage of these moments leaking out onto the Internet with the usage of cell phones showing the true state of Iran.

With this turmoil going on in one of the oldest civilizations on our planet, many Americans have been outraged by this display of injustice and disregard for democracy. The one question that comes to mind is: why does the world feel so strongly about this? Some believe that America cannot afford to help anyone when we are in our own state of recession, war and political transition with our new president. However, I feel that the very essence and spirit that America was founded on was this ideal of freedom. No matter how clouded and distorted this image has become, it is ingrained into the image of every American that resides in its borders. This urge and ability leads us to understand that people should have the right to choose whatever life they want to lead and live it in peace. Seeing how the Iranian people may have been ripped from their chance at change and reform angers the inner freedom fighter inside all of us. I think of the 2006 movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" in which Will Smith's character is talking about a quote by Thomas Jefferson, who, while writing the Declaration of Independence, referred to the English as "the disturbers of our harmony," how this formulation of words can resonate generations after it was written and still hold true. How the foundations of our nation are based on a desire to be able to experience tranquility and harmony for all people. I think that the participation of the American youth in the rest of the world has been a long time coming. We could feel that people wanted to join the movement in the '60s with Vietnam, and the '80s with Live Aid, and we have followed suit with the social phenomenon of Live 8, the Go Red movements, Feed the Children, AIDS Foundations and so on. I think that with all of the factions around us to help, along with the technology, we feel it would be a shame not to stand up and notice it. This Iranian movement, even being called the "Green Revolution" was spread even further along the highways of Facebook and Twitter with people changing their backgrounds and profile pictures to the color green. I am not sure why we as humans are compelled to help those in need, whether it is a compassion that we are born with or the Judeo-Christian values of "do a good deed to get into heaven." Whichever reason it is, I feel that the subject of our compassion is always changing due to the flavor of the month, but the true roots of our love of the world and the people in it runs deeper than time itself.

Madison Shelton is a senior majoring in anthropology. She can be reached at op-ed@thetriangle.org.