No subject

the articles title =93The Stolen Elections=92 Hoax=94 [a ridiculous joke
presented by those who lost the elections (presumably the
reformists)].

Saeed Rahnema in his article =93The Tragedy of The Lefts Discourse On
Iran=94 (2) has offered a critique of the liberals and the left in the
west. He wrote =93the most stunning aspect of the Petras=92 piece is the
total absence of any sympathy for all the brave women, youth,
teachers, civil servant and workers who have been so vigorously
campaigning for democracy, human rights and political freedom risking
their lives by spontaneously pouring into the streets when they
realized they were cheated.=94

Elsewhere in his article, Rahnema express that Petras =93is telling
Iranian women, youth, union activists, intellectuals and artists, that
their demands and =91concerns=92 for political and individual freedoms,
human rights, democracy, gender equality and labor rights are not
=91vital=92 =85It seems he is telling the Iranian left: rofaga (comrades) i=
f
you are being tortured, if you are rotting in prisons, if your books
are being burned, if you are losing your jobs don=92t worry, because the
=91working class=92 is receiving subsidies and handouts from the
government!=94

Petras uses a socioeconomic analysis of the electorate in order to
conclude that supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are working class
families, who because of limited access to the media such as the
Internet and satellite TV, because they don=92t live in the cities and
since they are unfamiliar with the English language could not be
reached by foreign journalists. As a result reporters=92 analyses are
based on views expressed by the middle class, who live in Northern
Tehran and are largely Mousavi=92s supporters. He considers the reform
candidate as the preferred candidate of media, Western governments and
Zionists, and as a result directs his criticism at reformers and
Mousavi.

I don=92t know if Mr. James Petras has read Eric Hooglund=92s article
=93Iran=92s rural Vote and Election Fraud=94 published on ZNET (4) (which I
have translated in Farsi).

Eric Hooglund reported from a far-flung village, away from media
outlets. These were people who turned the town to a =93green=94 festival.
Even in the village of the 850 people, Ahmadinejad=92s supporters were a
minority consisting of government workers and those corrupted by
government aid. As Hooglund reports even if all rural Iran had voted
for Ahmadinejad, which is not realistic, it would be impossible for
35% of the population of rural Iran to provide for Ahmadinejad=92s
victory for 65% of the vote.

It is not necessary to rely on foreign reporters to proof James Petras
wrong. I live in Iran myself and I experience reality with my body and
soul in a way that those like James Petras cannot understand. I have
friends who live in poor neighborhoods and shantytowns of South
Tehran, who were organizing for elections. They didn=92t hesitate to
tell me that people=92s slogans rejected Ahmadinejda=92s claims that he is
their president. On the contrary, they are much more radical than the
reformer candidate. How is it possible that a populace that is more
radical than reformers would vote for Ahmadinejad, who has repressed
labor activists much worse than previous administration? James Petras
like many Iranian leftists see the ideological complexities of the
candidates with a reductionist view in relation to politics of the
West and the Unites States, and condom the reformers as a pro-western
wing of the system. This is an error not unlike the one made by
progressive Hugo Chavez, who gave a helping hand to Ahmadinejad in
condemning Iranian popular uprising.

Has Petras listened to Mousavi=92s speeches with any care? Maousavi has
repeatedly rejected the one-sided policies of WTO and has pointed to
the American agricultural =93policies=94 arguing that the embrace of such
practices would be ruinous to =93national economies=94 in less developed
nations. He has repeatedly expressed his displeasure with reforms
based on article 44 of the Constitution that in essence forms a
neo-liberal economic policy. Are these the views targeted by James
Petras? Similar reductionist views have afflicted the Iranian left who
without regard to the Iranian sociopolitical superstructure and merely
on the basis of the existence of =93exchange value=94 in economic
relations imagine the existing system and =93capitalist=94 and see the
main social contradiction between =93labor=94 as =93capital=92 and
exploitation of man by man. But is the basic contradiction in Iran
=93exploitation=94 and economic exigencies or is it =93autocracy=94 and
ultra-economic exigencies. If so, then what is the difference between
an Iranian sugar cane worker in Haft-Tappeh and a General Motors
worker in the United States?

In an analysis by Reese Erlich titled =93Iran and Leftist Confusion=94 (5)
Erlich Points to Pertars=92 conclusions about the results of elections
and comparison to elections in Argantina, Venezuela and Bolivia,
arguing that these leftist observers have not visited Iran. He was
himself in Iran during the recent event, though he points out that
lack of direct experience does not generally preclude one form
expressing views about a country. He suggests, however, that in this
specific case direct experience is particularly beneficial. In
relation to Petras and his comparison of Iran with countries in Latin
America he wrote: =93comparing Ahmadinejad with Chavez or Evo Morales is
absurd. I have reported from both Venezula and Bulivia numerous times.
Those countries have genuine mass movement that elected and kept those
leaders in power. They have implemented significant reforms that
benefited workers and farmers. Ahmadinejad has introduced 24% annual
inflation and high unemployment=94.

What we call =93inflation=94 has reached the highest level ever under
Ahmadinejad. Inflation is not just a number and a symbol, it is a
reality that afflicts the working class and charts their daily life.
The working class and the rural population may be pleased to receive
=93welfare=94, but as soon as they go to the market and see the increase
in the price of goods and realize that their conditions have not
improved they recognize the government=92s demagogy better than the
intellectuals and the elites. The people who have experienced this
inflation for four years on one hand, and have witnessed the demagogy
and populist politicking are not likely to vote for Ahmadinejad.
Questioning the assertions about election fraud and rejecting the
protests of millions of people of various socioeconomic classes is
tantamount to confrontation with the popular movement and is like
taking a position against the movement, standing with those who
repressed the public and reject the will of the people.

I am one of Iran=92s youth and I live in a mid-size city, and like James
Petras, I study sociology. But what I have learned so far is that I
have to adjust my theories to realities instead of adjusting realities
to be upside down in order to match with theories. Mr. Petras! If you
think that the Iranian public votes for the reformers who are the
representatives of the middle class and the urban bourgeoisie, and who
are in turn supporters of the West and Capitalism, you should doubt
your theories and have the courage to correct them. Perhaps you have
mistaken a pre-capitalist system that is still struggling with
under-development and ideological impediments, with a capitalist
system based on labor-capital relationship.

There are some basic conditions that still elude us here and you take
for granted. Fundamental rights like freedom of speech or women=92s
rights are not yet attained. The theories of far left that you use in
your analysis to criticize liberalism and its false promise of freedom
will not get us anywhere. Because we in Iran are faced with such
reactionary forces, which in fact prevent us from direct confrontation
with liberal tendencies and capitalist mechanisms.

Yes Mr. Petras we are not capitalism; we suffer from pre-capitalism =93reac=
tion=94.


Email: khosro.sadeghi at gmail.com