dagblog - Comments for "Handy Guide to Iranian Political System."

I think the median age is

acanuck — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:26:13 +0000

In reply to Isn't Iran a relatively young

I think the median age is even younger. Mousavi put much of his faith in the energetic support of Iran's youth, but it looks like he only won over the university students. The country's upwardly mobile future elite bought his message, but not the high-school dropouts facing bleak jobless figures. The more populist Ahmadinejad claimed to be standing up for the little guy in the face of Western sanctions. Looks like it worked.

There are some fanatical ideologues, even among the youth. But my gut feeling is that most Iranians voted for what they believed were their own best interests. Even though Ahmadinejad invokes piety and religion, he is at the same time a secular counterbalance to the religious establishment that has produced most of Iran's presidents to date.

Although he comes from a far humbler background, Ahmadinejad reminds me a lot of George Bush -- that same cocky self-confidence, based largely on ignorance about the wider world, a similar creepy smirk, pious religiosity, obliviousness to the image of his country he projects. Thank God for term limits!

Isn't Iran a relatively young

Larry Jankens — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:56:58 +0000

In reply to One nugget from the

Isn't Iran a relatively young country? I think their median age is around 25 or so. That bodes well, does it not? Or are the young people even more crazy and dogmatic as the older people?

One nugget from the

acanuck — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:50:49 +0000

In reply to Handy Guide to Iranian Political System.

One nugget from the Washington Post poll I mention downthread is that four in five Iranians would prefer to change their current hybrid system so the Supreme Leader is directly elected. They'd also like a freer press. So there is long-term hope, based on the Iranian people's democratic instincts. It's short-term hope that's hard to find.