By Ramin Mazaheri and cross posted with PressTV
Iranians shop at the Grand Bazaar market in the capital Tehran on April 20, 2020, as the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic lingers ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. (Photo by AFP)
So it took a pandemic-plus-lockdown for some in the West to realize that classic economic liberalism on a global scale – i.e. the narrow hyper-specialization of Adam Smith’s division of labor and David Ricardo’s caste-forging theory of competitive advantage – makes a nation economically vulnerable? This epiphany is not novel for those countries which imperialists forced to precariously rely on a single cash crop/cow.
It is interesting to watch American television these days: almost never openly discussed is the financial impact of the Great Lockdown on the lower classes. What the average American is bludgeoned with instead is a constant stream of doctor-worship, technocrats, electioneering politicians who cannot stop sniping despite such a crisis, and high-class analysts telling them to stay home at all costs – the financial condition of those who don’t even have $500 to cover in an emergency are ignored, even though they compose 63% of the US.
Even pre-corona, US TV is a realm where lower-class Whites who speak with a twang, poor-but-not-hustlin’ Blacks, and Latinos who don’t sing/dance/clean simply cannot be found. American Indians are so entirely absent they may as well not even exist.
If we had to define Iran’s economy in one brief sentence it would be: All are considered, but the needs of the lower classes must come first.
No Iranian would deny this has been the case since 1979, and it really became eye-openingly apparent after the end of the War of Sacred Defense (Iran-Iraq War): there has been a constant decrease of slums and absolute poverty, and a constant increase of infrastructure, education and production and diversification. Not only does this explain the country’s huge jump in seemingly all economic metrics since 1989, it also explains why Iran could rally 300,000 volunteers (propaganda alert: The Wall Street Journal’s “water cannons” were actually “disinfection cannons”) to go door-to-door to inform, help and prevent the spread of coronavirus – there is support, trust, unity and two-way dialogue.
When corona first hit many Iran-ignorant commentators assumed it would devastate a backwards nation governed by an unfeeling totalitarian state: while over 5,000 have died, Iran’s proportional death rate is better than almost every Western nation.
Of course, I know you’ll say “Iran is lying” – you have been indoctrinated to say that in response to any claim made by any Iranian. Ever since the 2011 triple sanctions (US, EU, UN) were deployed the Western Mainstream Media has added doubt indicators such as, “Iran says….” to every headline stemming from Iran. I used to get annoyed by it, but it’s old news now – if the government said the sun came up today the headline would be, “Iran says sun rises in East”.
So the skeptics/Iranophobes will remain eternally unconvinced, and I respond with habeas corpus – produce the body. Indeed, this is a demand for proof which Western epidemiologists – and their technocrat-worshipping promoters – are scrambling to come up with: It turns out their direst forecasts were far less accurate than modern weather reports (usually because they underestimated the influence of personal responsibility initiatives), and perhaps shouldn’t have been hysterically and uncritically relayed by Western corporate media.
As the Iranophobes scour satellite photos for secret mass graves (How many people do you think Iran is hiding – 50,000, 100,000 dead people? How many more would have to be silenced, and in a nation full of personal media devices? The idea that such a thing is possible is absurd….), and while the West employs more draconian measures than Iran ever did (due to worse health care, lack of volunteers due to fears of expensive health care, a stressed/unhealthy/obese population, the lack of existing lines of national coordination, an acclimation to “states of emergency” and other factors), Iran is ending curbs and going back to work. And they are also back to work being honest political truth-tellers: US imperialism is indeed a worse virus than the coronavirus, per President Rouhani. No body count comparison required on that one because it’s not even close – Western epidemiologists can relax.
Iran is returning to work slowly: many are working from home, women with young children are given priority to decide who works remotely, the government is asking everyone to use common sense, but the resumption of normal activity comes after many in the government openly displayed common sense by saying that an economic crisis simply should not be added to a heath crisis.
Undoubtedly, if Iran had not been so harshly attacked with such an inhuman blockade they would have had more oil-money savings to pay people to stay at home like in some nations, but they were cruelly denied this chance by the West, along with medicine, justice, peace, etc. The West’s governments are demanding that their lower classes commit economic suicide over corona fears, but Iran’s lower classes know that the biggest, most reliable patrons they have are the Iranian government – that’s why after taking sensible measures they are encouraging a sensible, safe return to work.
Everybody must use common sense, and a recent fatwa from the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei only reminds us how revolutionary Iran has decisively chosen to be inspired by Islam and is NOT a fundamentalist/Salafist/Wahhabi Islamic nation: it is OK to abstain from fasting during Ramadan (which starts April 23) if you rationally believe it may cause a sickness. As wonderful as Ramadan is, and while the science is not 100% clear, long-term fasting appears to lower one’s immune system – that does seem rational, to me.
Ramadan will simply not be typical this year, sadly. I hope many Iranians (and Muslims everywhere) use common sense this year to protect the vulnerable and reduce the number of second-wave infections. Anyone living with vulnerable and elderly people should remember that Muslims have a full year to make up missed Ramadan days.
Part 2 will explain why the necessary reversal of globalization is impossible in a West which is dominated by their 1%, and why Iran’s “Resistance Economy” is the perfect vaccine to corona & lockdown-related economic chaos.
Ramin Mazaheri is the chief correspondent in Paris for Press TV and has lived in France since 2009. He has been a daily newspaper reporter in the US, and has reported from Iran, Cuba, Egypt, Tunisia, South Korea and elsewhere. He is the author of the books ‘I’ll Ruin Everything You Are: Ending Western Propaganda on Red China’ and the upcoming ‘Socialism’s Ignored Success: Iranian Islamic Socialism’.
As shown in this article, the Deputy Attorney General in the United States wants to classify the purposeful exposure and infection of others with the COVID-19 virus as an act of terrorism:
https://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2020/04/covid-terrorism.html
At this point, Americans who protest en masse against government COVID-based restrictions, those who do not maintain a six foot distance from others or those who ignore other government-mandated restrictions including social isolation and self-quarantining could find themselves facing serious legal charges.
@Sally Snyder
In order to more fully understand what is going on with regard to the lockdown reaction of the corona virus pandemic, it is necessary to separate industrial capitalism from financial capitalism. At the top of the world power pyramid are the money masters, who own the central banks of most countries that create their money supply as interest bearing debt, so that:
no debts = no money
US individuals and industrial corporations must pay feudal allegiance to the bankers in the form of interest payments.
China is an exception to this rule, since their central bank is government owned, so that their domestic currency the yuan is created without incurring debt to private banks.
A country’s wealth is ultimately determined by the energy and expertise of its workforce, not by cranking out debt on a computer, and this is why China will soon overtake the US in terms of science, technology and infrastructure building. China has not allowed the financial capitalists to gain control of its economy, but uses industrial capitalism as the way forward, and this is why the US at the behest of the bankers denigrate China at every opportunity.
Russia’s case is somewhat different, since its central bank is privately owned, but exports its oil, gas, metals and agricultural sector to accumulate foreign exchange reserves. So far Putin has not resisted the power of the financial capitalists, but relies on industrial capitalism to promote Russia’s interests, but ultimately industrial capitalism is always subservient to the banks if allowed to dominate the economy. However, Russia can now avoid selling its exports in US dollars by increasing its bilateral trade with China using yuan-ruble exchange.
In the US the banks use their power of money creation to control Congress, who then agree to fund the military and its mercenaries in a continual push for world domination of natural resources by destroying any country that promotes any degree socialism as means of raising the living standards of its population.
The current lockdown is a deliberate policy of creating mass unemployment, where the ultimate objective is to put more people into debt servitude.
The ultimate aim is to created a civil war – WAR against the poor !
It is the only way to get rid of the ‘useless eaters’ as Henry Kissinger so eloquently puts it !
The poor will be the first to offend – that’s a given !
Hi Kapricorn4,
Good summarry, one thing though. You state no debt = no money. Sadly, if we use all the money in circulation there will still be debts remaining. This thanks to the interest having to be paid. The interest that has to be paid for the debt and thus currency is not created once the obligation is taken on.
Regards,
Hugo
Yes, the only way that the interest on debt can be paid to the banks, even more money has to be created as debt making the US financial system essentially a Ponzi scheme. It is also the cause of inflation of the currency, that is equal to the weighted average interest on all money in existence, plus bad debts that cannot be recovered. Since the inception of the federal reserve act in 1913, US federal reserve notes aka US dollars have lost 99% of their purchasing power. Debts are increasing exponentially and the interest payments will overwhelm the economy and it will collapse.
Now to cap it all Senator Mitch McConnell is proposing that all US states declare bankruptcy and renege/cancel state employees retirement pensions. This would mean that law enforcement, state prosecutors, teachers, state university staff, the judiciary, administration, and Medicaid payments would end abruptly.
Hello mr Mazaheri,
You may or may or not have my crititical comments on your articles. I am now happy to agree with you (smile). How a country, especially Iran after the horrible US / West imposted Shah, wants their country to be is their choice and theirs only. Crippeling sanctions and increasing them during this, mostly unknown still, disaster is a crime against Iran makes me sick emotionally. Just as my country illegally (as in war crimes according to the UN) bombing Syria. Ahem ISIS of course. What was I thinking (sarc alert)
I hope in part two you will elaborate more on the specialisation theme. On this planet there are no countries, not even North Korea, that can be self sufficient and be at least a bit prosperous. They need trade with China and Myanmar for exaple to gain more prosperity. The concepts of Adam Smith and David Ricardo (to a lesser degree vs the former) given us valuable insights to prosper as a world. Based on voluntary exchange of goods (and later services).
Since I am a true proponent of decentalised as much as possible I fully agree there. A country and ideally the people in that country should be as self sufficient as possible and be free to achieve that. But many things in this world cannot be changed now. For example, Holland has no oil (ok a tiny bit but near to zero compaired to what we use). We did invented the best computer making chips machine in the world. Why not trade x amount of oil for x amount of computer chip making machines? Makes both of our countries wealthier after all.
The pendulem of specialisation ofcourse swung way to far in the favor of specialisation. My favorite personal example. When I was a kid I always went on summer holliday to Spain (Holland here) since my parents loved it since met there.
I loved how the tomatoes there tasted. They looked bad though but hey, who cares. Produced by small independent farmers in Spain. Sadly, both by socialists and capitalists them small Spanish tomato farmers were destroyed. The end result, super bad tasting Dutch tomatoes. As they are called here water bombs. They are mostly the tomatoes sold in Spain now as well. The Dutch bank Rabobank was mostly behind this cornering of the market of tomatoes in the EU.
Was this the result of capitalism in the Adam Smit and David Recardo’s theory. A big no. This is what heppens when you have a big state and no voluntary decentralised system. No matter if it is capitalism, socialism or whatever ism.
I am perfectly able to tell what tomatoes I like to buy. All the socialists and capitalists alike in the EU thought it was great to destroy the small tomato farmers in Spain that made a superior tomato vs Dutch tomatoes. Just make rules and regulations, destroy thousands and thousands in Spain and thus control them. Just as that one tomato proder in Holland. That is in big financial trouble now btw.
Since both capitalists and socialists want power and contol and gotten it over you. You are now at their mercy. Ready for the hunger games?
Regards,
Hugo
” … On this planet there are no countries, not even North Korea, that can be self sufficient and be at least a bit prosperous … ”
I think that Russia can.
I stand corrected. You are absolutely right Corto.
Regards,
Hugo
Thanks Ramin.for this information. Really appreciated.
Esse homem é muito inteligente mas os seus murmúrios se parecem com os urros selvagens dos visigodos e vândalos. O ocidente fez ele mas ele não fez o ocidente e muito menos o oriente.
Translation. Mod:
“This man is very intelligent but his murmurs resemble the wild howls of the Visigoths and vandals. The West made him but he did not make the West and much less the East.”
Excellent piece, Ramin, thank you. I look forward to Part 2. You’ve been cranking out the commentaries lately! This one was very tightly written, which I personally prefer, since I am always short on time.
Your observations throughout this article are concise and penetrating and they resound as truth. And the information from Iran is priceless – many thanks again.
I really enjoyed reading this article. It is very good, and well written. I believe you have it, exactly. If my country would adopt even one of the positive principles that the Islamic Republic of Iran clearly, and quite visibly, follows, then our world would be a much better place.
I have to totally agree.
I was worried for Iran when they had such an early outbreak, but I too KNOW that they are socially cohesive and VERY, VERY clean.
The sanctions have of course made Iran run down in many ways – cars are old and some buildings could use a coat of paint and lack of funds has stopped many building projects before completion but unlike many other places, there are no signs of neglect. Even cars that are well past their use by date are clean and cared for and the mosques are a dream of well maintained beauty. Gardens are well maintained and beautiful- amazing for such a dry land.
I spent just 2 weeks there on the tourist trail but absolutely loved it. Scarcely anything to whinge about.
So while I feared for them, I am not at all surprised that they have acted in a socially cohesive way and fought the epidemic effectively. No half starved homeless or tenement dwellers to be seen. Oddly enough the sanctions may have helped a little, in that fresh not processed food is normal.
Iran’s real problem is of course its educated but underemployed youth, who yearn for the west and its supposed wonders.
Iran, like Russia and China, has history and tradition behind it, and from this point of view is superior to the US, which is incapable of understanding what history and tradition mean. The elite in the US thinks that populations in foreign countries can be remotely controlled like the one in the US.
As for the elite in the US, it does not represent 1 % of the population, as it would mean it had more than 3 million members. It’s actually less than half of 1 %. This elite, by applying legal and political machinations and controlling the media, has reduced the US to a feudal state, where banks and corporations are running the country. The current corona virus is, as things stand now, closing down small and medium sized businesses. Some analysts are stating that this is done by intent, giving banks and corporations even more power. They could well be right.
. . . if the government said the sun came up today the headline would be, “Iran says sun rises in East”.
West should be wary of claims, warn goverment analysts
Oy-vey, this one is a barrel of laughs, you might enjoy reading this one Hr Mazaheri. The writer manages to put a few truths in between her Iran bashing like the sanctions is holding back companies from exporting medical/drugs to Iran😂
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/trump-could-shock-the-world-and-actually-save-iran/
“Trump Could Shock The World And Actually Save Iran”
Do Iran want to be saved by the knight in orange armour?
Re COVID-19, being a native African (not from the coastal lands of the culturally Arab North or the European Settler State of South Africa), I couldn’t agree with you more. Habeas Corpus, ‘produce the bodies’!
I would sooner trust the governments of Iran and China before trusting my own American government.
All the countries that have been demonized and attacked by the yankie’s empire has suffered the same as Iran, that is the case of Venezuela. But in latin america this is the most reliable government to his population, because first the poor people.
I’ve been very well impressed by how Iran has handled this crisis within a crisis. A good strong country with a humanistic leadership–a credit to the good faith of Islam.