Selling Fear, Promising Rescue

A company, or even a government, often relies on two broad ways to promote itself and keep its position secure. The first is to magnify its supposed achievements: 'Look what we've done. Free gas and electricity! We support the poor!' The message, in short, is that we are wonderful and no one could do better. The second resembles an insurance advertisement. It shows you a danger, perhaps a car trapped in a flood, then promises: 'If this happens, leave the car and save yourself. We have you covered. Insure your car and we'll replace it.' At first they appear to be your savior. Then you look around the city and see that some of its grandest towers belong to insurance companies. I have no quarrel with their success. My point is elsewhere. For forty-five years, in my view, the Islamic Republic has combined those methods. It began with sweet promises. Later it displayed the specter of separatism and presented itself as the guardian of Iran's unity. Really? Must we sit down and discuss the Caspian Sea and the concessions to Russia and China? What about the Persian Gulf? Now it uses warnings about separatists in Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, the south, and Khuzestan, including through media outside Iran, to plant the fear that the country will break apart without it. No, my dear. To treat a cancer, you have to remove it at the root, not keep cutting away pieces wherever a symptom appears. And what of its talk about the oppressed? To secure a large base of supporters, it needs a large group that depends on it. In my view, it makes society poorer and weaker so more people are forced into that position. The judgment is yours. For me, the only solution is to bring down the whole system.