More protests Against The Theocratic Regime in Iran

[The Grand Nudger]

You cant have peace on earth while a tyrant sits on the throne of heaven.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Both were very strong expansionist powers with a population that was completely brainwashed into and irrational nearly mad ideology.

The fact that the government had to kill at least 7,000 citizens to quell their protests rater undercuts this point of yours. "Brainwashed" people don't take to the streets. That makes Iran very different from Germany and Japan.

[Leonardo17]

Both were very strong expansionist powers with a population that was completely brainwashed into and irrational nearly mad ideology.

The fact that the government had to kill at least 7,000 citizens to quell their protests rater undercuts this point of yours. "Brainwashed" people don't take to the streets. That makes Iran very different from Germany and Japan.

Well, I am not so sure about that. We still live in 2026 not in 1936. My grandparent’s generation (the generation before baby boomer) would often say things like “Of course it is true, it’s written in the newspaper” or “of course it is true, how can you doubt the prime minister”.
 

Again: We (the Gen X) are the first generation with access to the internet. We are also the first generation with access to international TV stations etc. So the control of information was stricter in the past. Today, probably 90% of Russian know that everything the Kremlin says is BS. But they probably choose to act like they believe it because things are much easier that way.

Still: there has to be 10 to 30 % of Iranians who (still) believe in this political Islamic state. They would go to the grave for it and they wouldn’t simply run away like Saddam’s or Kaddafi’s soldiers.

So the situation is quite unique here. This doesn’t change the fact that some 200,000 people gathered in Munich today to support the pro-democracy movement in Iran.

 

What is happening is this: The overall energy of the planet is changing. Many people are less tolerant for things like the invasion of Ukraine by Russia or the existence of a highly repressive, misogynic regime in a part of the world they probably will not even travel to once before they die. We are more sensitive on environmental issues too. I think the number of people who worry about the melting of the glaciers in Greenland must be higher than the number who are scared of increased Chinese and Russian activity in that region.

 

/And that’s where these populist politicians are getting it wrong. If the likes of Trump knew and understood what was coming they wouldn’t have sent ICE agents to Minnesota in the first place.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

The fact that the government had to kill at least 7,000 citizens to quell their protests rater undercuts this point of yours. "Brainwashed" people don't take to the streets. That makes Iran very different from Germany and Japan.

Well, I am not so sure about that. We still live in 2026 not in 1936. My grandparent’s generation (the generation before baby boomer) would often say things like “Of course it is true, it’s written in the newspaper” or “of course it is true, how can you doubt the prime minister”.
 

Again: We (the Gen X) are the first generation with access to the internet. We are also the first generation with access to international TV stations etc. So the control of information was stricter in the past. Today, probably 90% of Russian know that everything the Kremlin says is BS. But they probably choose to act like they believe it because things are much easier that way.

Still: there has to be 10 to 30 % of Iranians who (still) believe in this political Islamic state. They would go to the grave for it and they wouldn’t simply run away like Saddam’s or Kaddafi’s soldiers.

So the situation is quite unique here. This doesn’t change the fact that some 200,000 people gathered in Munich today to support the pro-democracy movement in Iran.

 

What is happening is this: The overall energy of the planet is changing. Many people are less tolerant for things like the invasion of Ukraine by Russia or the existence of a highly repressive, misogynic regime in a part of the world they probably will not even travel to once before they die. We are more sensitive on environmental issues too. I think the number of people who worry about the melting of the glaciers in Greenland must be higher than the number who are scared of increased Chinese and Russian activity in that region.

 

/And that’s where these populist politicians are getting it wrong. If the likes of Trump knew and understood what was coming they wouldn’t have sent ICE agents to Minnesota in the first place.

I think Thump nailed it - brainwashed people are notorious for not taking to the streets to protest against a regime. That’s pretty much what ‘brainwashed’ means in this context.

Boru

[The Grand Nudger]

/And that’s where these populist politicians are getting it wrong. If the likes of Trump knew and understood what was coming they wouldn’t have sent ICE agents to Minnesota in the first place.

It's not that they get it wrong Leo.  You're over there talking like we're discussing an honest mistake, lol.  Like they're trying to aim for the thing and missing.  

They aren't.

[Thumpalumpacus]

The fact that the government had to kill at least 7,000 citizens to quell their protests rater undercuts this point of yours. "Brainwashed" people don't take to the streets. That makes Iran very different from Germany and Japan.

Well, I am not so sure about that.

If the IRI is "brainwashing" the populace, they're failing miserably. Brainwashed people are complaisant and obedient, not violently protesting. You may wish to look deeper into what "brainwashed" means in English. I know this isn't your first language and that word has connotations which may not be clear in Turkic.

I should also add that in the aftermath of WWII, the Germans and Japanese were brainwashed into previous thinking -- Naziism and Imperial dogma -- which had to be undone by occupation forces.

[Leonardo17]

Well, I am not so sure about that.

If the IRI is "brainwashing" the populace, they're failing miserably. Brainwashed people are complaisant and obedient, not violently protesting. You may wish to look deeper into what "brainwashed" means in English. I know this isn't your first language and that word has connotations which may not be clear in Turkic.

I should also add that in the aftermath of WWII, the Germans and Japanese were brainwashed into previous thinking -- Naziism and Imperial dogma -- which had to be undone by occupation forces.

Don’t worry about the language issue. If I miss some meanings I’ll use this opportunity to learn them
 
/ But I know what “brainwashed” means. I know the psychology of people in Imperial Japan. They were brainwashed into thinking that their emperor was a living God. That’s very similar to the IRI or to Afghanistan. These are people who can kill you in the blink of an eye because you (or me) for them are “less than” whatever it is that they see themselves as.
 
And there is a nice movie in theaters called “Nuremberg” this year. I think it tells us a lot about fanaticism and brainwashed mobs.
 
What I meant in my previous post was that information is moving more quickly today. So today we have this ability (unless you live in a place like North Korea) to use things like mass media to form our own opinion about stuff. Today’s Russians know what is being done to them. So do the Iranians know what is being done to them. But some of them are choosing to believe in those lies because this allows them to avoid the immense social pressure and government crackdown that is imposed on dissidents in almost every area of their lives.
 
/ All of this was to say that there is no “talking” to these guys. I’m not going to write a spoiler here. But that’s one of the things you really feel within you and understand at the end of the movie “Nuremberg”. I think everyone who can see this movie should see it somehow

[Thumpalumpacus]

If the IRI is "brainwashing" the populace, they're failing miserably. Brainwashed people are complaisant and obedient, not violently protesting. You may wish to look deeper into what "brainwashed" means in English. I know this isn't your first language and that word has connotations which may not be clear in Turkic.

I should also add that in the aftermath of WWII, the Germans and Japanese were brainwashed into previous thinking -- Naziism and Imperial dogma -- which had to be undone by occupation forces.

Don’t worry about the language issue. If I miss some meanings I’ll use this opportunity to learn them
 
/ But I know what “brainwashed” means. I know the psychology of people in Imperial Japan. They were brainwashed into thinking that their emperor was a living God. That’s very similar to the IRI or to Afghanistan. These are people who can kill you in the blink of an eye because you (or me) for them are “less than” whatever it is that they see themselves as.

Yes, I get what you're saying, I just don't agree with it. If the Iranian populace is so thoroughly brainwashed, how is it that the government is so horribly unpopular that citizens are risking capital punishment for calling for death to the mullahs? Why are so many willing to sacrifice their lives in protest if they are as obedient as the Japanese analog you compare them to?

There's a similarity in that religion and government were/are intertwined, but brainwashed people don't pursue violent overthrow.
 

So do the Iranians know what is being done to them. But some of them are choosing to believe in those lies because this allows them to avoid the immense social pressure and government crackdown that is imposed on dissidents in almost every area of their lives.

"Some of them" is very vague. Let's see some numbers and sources, please.
 

All of this was to say that there is no “talking” to these guys.

I think you're dearly underestimating the IRI's ability to practice realpolitik.