4 ms·

It’s almost as if members of the society support dictatorships, making governments a reflection of those societies. I am originally from a former communist soci

It’s almost as if members of the society support dictatorships, making governments a reflection of those societies. I am originally from a former communist society and 30 years after communism fell people still vote strongmen in power.

emilsedgh 7y ago
Absolutely. After all these years, a humongous chunk of Iranian society would be more than happy to have another King/Leader/Dictator who is on the same page with them "right now", not understanding that the whole concept of a single person holding power is flawed, not the current policies of the current dictator.
- anovikov 7y ago
  Maybe it's wrong for civilized nations and OK for not so civilized? Also, Iran is nowhere like a dictatorship. Mr Ahmadinejad who was labelled as a dictator by the west, just lost an election one day. Can a dictator possibly ever lose an election? As for the Ayatollah, they aren't really politicians. More like Kings in the constitutional monarchies or say Japanese emperor - a figure of authority who has a big weight in taking decisions, but not an everyday ruler.
  - msoad 7y ago
    President doesn’t hold much power in Iran. It’s the supreme leader that has all the power and has been in power since the previous supreme leader died.
  - everdrive 7y ago
    I'm not sure that Ahmadinejad was ever credibly called a dictator. Most analyses out there measured his power based on his standing with the supreme leader.
  - emilsedgh 7y ago
    Iran is a hybrid. It's not democratic because: 1. Supreme Leader has all the power and President's power is very limited. 2. Candidates are "vetted" by the regime. Therefore, people can elect but the choices are limited to a few people regime has accepted. 3. During Ahmadinejad, even the vetted candidate who was popular and got the vote wasn't really acceptable by the regime so they completely ignored the vote and just named Ahmadinejad as the winner. Basically, the real government is the IRGC. Elected goverment is the one who does the legwork and also the blame because officially they are in charge but practically they are not. It's like you have a boss who delegates you all the responsibility but none of the authority. You will be responsible but you cannot make any calls.

emilsedgh 7y ago

Absolutely. After all these years, a humongous chunk of Iranian society would be more than happy to have another King/Leader/Dictator who is on the same page with them "right now", not understanding that the whole concept of a single person holding power is flawed, not the current policies of the current dictator.

anovikov 7y ago
Maybe it's wrong for civilized nations and OK for not so civilized? Also, Iran is nowhere like a dictatorship. Mr Ahmadinejad who was labelled as a dictator by the west, just lost an election one day. Can a dictator possibly ever lose an election? As for the Ayatollah, they aren't really politicians. More like Kings in the constitutional monarchies or say Japanese emperor - a figure of authority who has a big weight in taking decisions, but not an everyday ruler.
- msoad 7y ago
  President doesn’t hold much power in Iran. It’s the supreme leader that has all the power and has been in power since the previous supreme leader died.
- everdrive 7y ago
  I'm not sure that Ahmadinejad was ever credibly called a dictator. Most analyses out there measured his power based on his standing with the supreme leader.
- emilsedgh 7y ago
  Iran is a hybrid. It's not democratic because: 1. Supreme Leader has all the power and President's power is very limited. 2. Candidates are "vetted" by the regime. Therefore, people can elect but the choices are limited to a few people regime has accepted. 3. During Ahmadinejad, even the vetted candidate who was popular and got the vote wasn't really acceptable by the regime so they completely ignored the vote and just named Ahmadinejad as the winner. Basically, the real government is the IRGC. Elected goverment is the one who does the legwork and also the blame because officially they are in charge but practically they are not. It's like you have a boss who delegates you all the responsibility but none of the authority. You will be responsible but you cannot make any calls.