Salam Thanks for your article, however I think your approach to this problem does not not lead to a true conclusion. I think instead of illuminating people’s mind we should pray that an angel comes down and illuminates our mind. Still, we – self claimed intellectuals!- talk about “cultural poverty” and necessity of “a systematic study on the sociological composition of the society”, and to justify the 63% votes of Mr. Ahmadinejad we claim that “70% of the people live below the poverty line or on the boundary” which is definitely wrong. Believe it or not, we live in a religious society. People found Ahmadinejad more honest and loyal to their religion and also his goals. Let's give him a chance!

Sara, "Finding a practical strategy requires exchange of opinions and political experience of all Iranian intellectuals and university graduates from all over the world." Asking intellectuals and university graduates from all over the world to find a practical strategy... MMMMMMM... I think somehow you are putting too much weight on university graduates and intellectuals. Isn't Ahmadi Nejad a university graduate? In fact I think he was actually a professor. Does that make him an intellectual, or someone you want to discuss this strategy with? This elitism of people who have somesort of university degree over the rest of the population may be one of the reasons why none of us understood the outcome. Why do you (we) seperate ourselves from "the people"? just because we have an extra year or two (or some power of two :)) of studies, which clearly didn't teach us much about the real world... [more at the permalink of the entry above]

Thank you for the nice article. Even some internet-savvy Iranians I know have voted for Ahmedinejad, out of their frustration and anger against Hashemi, and due to their belief that Ahmedinejad will do more for the poor than Hashemi. This might be true, but it might come at the cost of basic civil liberties and personal freedom. Afghanistan under Taliban comes to mind: people were so fed up in the early 1990s that they chose the extremist Taliban who they thought were austere and honest. History proved that such a choice is often wrong :(. In any case, Iranians faced a really bad Hobson's choice. I hope everything goes on okk, despite this tragic result.

"What have we done to illuminate the people’s minds? How can we talk to them in a convincing manner?" What underlies here is that "we" know better than people, so we should try to set them right. I don't feel right about this part. If we preach democracy, we should practice it by respecting "ordinary" people's opinion. I agree with MF here. BTW, are the EU elites still pondering why the Dutch voted no?

As pointed out by previous commenters on this post, the basic assumption of this writing is wrong; that, the people are somehow incapable of thinking and analyzing and understanding their situation, and that this is only possible for a specific elite section of the society (wrongly referred to by the author as "intellectuals and university graduates"). This "elitism" is inherently pessimistic and ultimately incapable of curing our ills. In rejecting this view point it is not enough to "respect" people's opinion, but to go all the way and understand and accept the basic fact that all normal members of the human society meet the minimum requirements for understanding, analyzing and forming an intelligent opinion on matters of importance to them. There's no denying the fact that people do make mistakes, that is, they may choose things that may lead to a worsening of their condidtions. This may be because... [more at the permalink of the entry above]

another revolution might just be the answer, we tried to change the system peacefully, im not saying violence is the way, but might just work. though i worry of foreign interference, i see no good future for iran with this regime. The first thing iran should do is to find a leader, a person who can unite iranians into changing the system and the middle east, some one like Cyrus, ardashir, khosrow, abbas, zand, mossadeq, we need some one to unite iranians.

Alborz, I agree with you on the uniting part. But I personally think we are past the days when a nation unites behind one leader. More crucial is to first unite behind a common goal. Great leaders and great speakers will inevitably emerge afterwards. However, we need many great leaders working at different fronts in order to avert the possibility of a "national hero" , or "father of the revolution" , which can very well turn into another dictatorship of another form.

Babak S. "In rejecting this view point it is not enough to 'respect' people's opinion, but to go all the way and understand and accept the basic fact that all normal members of the human society meet the minimum requirements for understanding, analyzing and forming an intelligent opinion on matters of importance to them." On the contrary, it is enough to limit to respecting people's opinion. That's the basic of a vibrant democracy. The rest of stuff like anaylzing and blah blah are just nice to have if you want to remain an intellectual. It is only good for you and your personal curiosity. It doesn't do the scoiety or democracy any good. Your comment would have been suitable if the question had been how to have better intellectuals, but I think the question is how to help Iranians (which I think is wrong) and how to have a... [more at the permalink of the entry above]

I think democracy presumes a lot of things (some of which our society seems to lack) and one of these assumptions is that a good democracy is self-sustaining, that is to say it doesn't turn its back to democratic ideals: It is conceivable that people vote a to dictator who once in power put an end to democratic processes and practices such as elections. The mere fact that human beings have the ability to think is not by itself sufficient to guarantee that they all deserve to be given the chance to choose their leader. I think people who live in a democracy, if that democracy isn't to turn to its own opposite, should have first reached a minimum level of political sophistication. In other words, they shouldn't just have the ability to think, they should have actually put some thought into relevant issues. But of course if they're... [more at the permalink of the entry above]

Babak S I told you in my previous comment that the intellectuals tend be arrogant in a degree that they perhaps tilt towards being dictators. You popped out that tendency very early on by saying: "... is not by itself sufficient to guarantee that they all deserve to be given the chance to choose their leader." You use the word "derserve" for their rights? I make no comment on this one. C'mon, man. All of this squabbling is because at the end of the day people get "busy having fun". The problem is that you guys underestimate average people's intelligence. Nothing is more transparent --free from intellectualism's smudges-- than the judgement of an average family who is worried about the upbringing of their kids. The judgement of an unemployed or a hungry person is even more transparent since their problems are more real. They don't have time for nonesense... [more at the permalink of the entry above]

itchy, I do not disagree with the fact that many intellectuals are arrogant. Just a little confused though, you don't think I wrote those words you quote, do you? I don't have the mental stamina to write any more right now, but just for the record: it is my understanding that you and I in fact agree on this issue and the difference is superficial. I disagree completely, however, with SG.

My bad, Babak. My previous comment should have been directed at SG.

Today I decided I would find out what these popular "blogs" are all about and as I read on I am disappointed. I am dumbfounded that the discourse revolves around who is more capable to vote the intellectual or the uneducated lower class. The Iranian clerics and pseudo-election seems to have accomplished its mission - make the world think we had a legitimate election and then have people debate its outcome. There is no explanation for ilegitimacy....You guys can talk for hours about the "election results" but where there was no democratic election - candidates were hand picked by the cleric elite (whether intellectual or not - they are the elite in Iran)and votes in the original election were also handpicked by the cleric elite. Instead of headlines sprayed with "Iran's Election Results" it should have been called "The Big Joke that is Iran." It is thus an utter... [more at the permalink of the entry above]

I agree that it was all a sham and those who advocated voting must be really really ahsmaed by now. But the debate is not useless. It can help us understand many things, including the present condition of political power and their influences upon each other and the people better. This opportunity should be used.

I agree with you Iranian Student and believe in discourse and support discussions but lets talk about what really happened - not what they would like us to believe happened.

A few questions my friends if I may. Was the turnout enough that it represents the will of the people? What do you think was the turnout in the first election and the second? Do you trust the government’s reported 30 million turnout in the first election? Other bloggers report empty polling places. At Iran Hopes 2005 It is 10.30 am, Tehran time. I just came back from a short trip around my place in downtown Tehran. I visited a number of poll stations: one around Vali-Asr square which was fairly busy. Another one in Felestin Street (Kakh) was rather quiet, I was there for almost 30 minutes, but I saw only 6 people turned up to vote! At Regime Change Iran. Reza from Tehran: This is 10 am in northern part of Tehran. There is no body in the site and I hope officials would announce the number... [more at the permalink of the entry above]

Salam, I am fascinated with Iranian culture and people, I think it has an amazing history, however I don't find places where to meet Iranians online. Internet is the preferred mode at this point. I am from Spain and wish to make friends from Iran, so I may practive my rusty Farsi as well :-) . I would appreciate if anybody can give me links of forums, chats or other online places I can get to mee Iraninas, preferebly from Iran. Thank you!! Khodahafez, Friend

I agree and disagree with Babak S and itchy thoughts. I agree on what they say about arrogant Iranian "intellectuals" (I don't have a problem being called "arrogant", but I just can't stand the other charge, that is, being an intellpffrrrt) and how some think that by getting a stupid university degree they understand the social phenomena better than a mere manual laborer. Great is the number of doctors and professors I have met and they say in private parties things that Mr. Hakha would say on TV. Even those who more or less deserve to be called intellectual, showed how out of touch they are with the reality of Iranians' world. So here I agree. I disagree however, that in the long run people make choices that will automatically benefit them. Do you deny the fact that a minimum of civil education is necessary for living under democratic... [more at the permalink of the entry above]