Freedom's Just Another Word For...yawn

Props to John for alerting me to this article on Iranian Youth.

American consumer culture is stronger than gravity. Much like death, it's unstoppable. It is a great truth in the world that if you present enough stuff to people and the means to own said stuff they will chase it with abandon. The French elite hate it. The Muslim clerics hate it. The post-modern collegiate followers of Derrida hate it too. That's fine, American consumer culture isn't going away and it's only getting stronger each day.

Apparently the latest victim of American consumer culture is Iran. The above article cites that the youth of Iran have pretty much given up on real reform (as will be evidenced by the low turnout on the June 17th elections). However, it is not from the bottle of despair that they drink, but rather the shot glass of consumerism instead. Iran has become, like America itself, the living embodiment of an Eddie Izzard joke:

Santa Claus: And what do you want for Christmas little boy?

Boy: Peace on Earth and goodwill towards men...

Santa Claus: (digging into his sack) Well how about a cardboard train?

Boy: Yes that's much better (playing with the train) You can keep the peace, I don't care.

It's a great strategy; keep the masses distracted with enough crap and they won't remember that they aren't free.

Eventually something is going to give. Once the monster of American consumerism is out of the bag it eats up everything in sight. Eventually it will eat the Mullah regime too but in the meantime those same Mullahs can continue to use it as an opiate for the masses, just like here in the US.

Anyway, gotta turn off the news, The Shield is on!