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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 25-Jun-05
Ultraconservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wins Iran Presidential election

Web Log - June, 2005

Ultraconservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wins Iran Presidential election

I try to find humor wherever I can for this serious web site, and with this guy it's easy.

President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran<font size=-2>(Source: Mardomyar.ir )</font>

President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran(Source: Mardomyar.ir )

Start by checking out his personal web site, Mardomyar.ir, where you'll find the adjoining picture.

Lovely, isn't he?

Next, click on the word 'Flash', and watch the flash presentation. Enjoy the music, and watch him:

His thoughtful pose
His friendly pose
His working pose
Talking to the ladies

So, this is the man who swept to a landslide victory in Friday's presidential elections.

Yes, he may be 49 years old, but he clearly fancies himself to be of movie star caliber.

As I discussed a couple of days ago, Iran is in the early stages of a "generational awakening" period, which means a "generation gap," enormous political conflict between older and younger generations. America's last awakening period was the 1960s, one generation past WW II, and last year I wrote an article comparing Iraq today to America in the 1960s.

So Iran's society is changing rapidly, and the ultraconservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doesn't have a clue what's going to happen.

Ahmadinejad wants to return to what he views as fundamental Islamic values. He wants to return to "pure" Iran culture, and not permit Western culture "pollute" Iran. He wants men to grow beards. He wants women to dress modestly. He doesn't want men and women to speak to one another in public.

Now, he got away with a lot of that stuff as Mayor of Tehran because the country was in a "generational austerity" era, just following the genocidal Iran/Iraq war. During the austerity era, the people who survived the war are traumatized by the war and glad just to be alive, and they adopt strict rules to normalize society and make sure no such war happens again. (To understand this, think of the "Leave it to Beaver" world of 1950s America.)

But 15-20 years after the war ends, the kids who were born after the end of the war begin to make themselves felt politically. They rebel against the austere rules adopted by their elders, leading to the "generational gap," and political turmoil. Ahmadinejad won't be expecting the ferociousness of the rebellions.

Bra-burning in 1960s

Bra-burning in 1960s

A particular feature of most awakening eras is the rise of gender issues. Remember how American college girls burned their bras in the 1960s? Well, maybe Iranian girls won't do the same (or maybe they will!), but they'll make their opinions felt in other ways. And since Ahmadinejad obviously considers himself a ladies man, they're going to target him specifically.

Don't get me wrong: Ahmadinejad is a very, very bad guy. He sponsors terrorism and he violently suppresses dissidents. He was one of the masterminds of the Iranian hostage crisis which took Americans hostage for many years in the 1980s. He was involved in a plan to assassinate the Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie. His most famous one-liner is, "We did not have a revolution in order to have democracy."

But at least we can take some pleasure in his discomfort, and he's about to suffer a lot of it. (25-Jun-05) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 25-Jun-05 Ultraconservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wins Iran Presidential election

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 25-Jun-05
Ultraconservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wins Iran Presidential election