All I've been doing since Sunday evening is read live-blogs and articles about the situation in Iran ... and really, this is one of the few times in my life where I'm just left absolutely speechless. I'm going to try to say something, though.
Lately everything that I've been doing -- which has really been nothing more than practicing driving, sleeping, eating, etc. -- just seems so trivial because all I can think about is people my age halfway across the world, protesting an unfair election, fighting back against a sham democracy that facilitated this coup, and being on the run, going to prison, getting injured, and dying because of it. And on top of it, I feel like I have to do something but can't. All I can do is remain chained to my computer, constantly refreshing sites as new information comes in (the fact that I can afford to is sad in and of itself, but whatever).
The whole situation is confusing and enthralling and gut-wrenching and inspiring and heartbreaking all at the same time. And it's extremely important, too -- probably the most important thing going on in the world right now, and not just because whatever comes of this has dire consequences for U.S. policy in the Middle East. This is about millions of people wanting real democracy, real change, etc. The same things Americans fought for over 200 years ago and whose soldiers are still fighting for. It's easy to be cynical, it's easy to ignore this -- but just because it's not happening to you directly doesn't mean it's not important. And just because this has probably happened a million times before in Iran doesn't mean the people there are going to continue to take it lying down. We're also seeing how much influence social networking sites, especially Twitter, have on events on the ground and the crucial information being spread worldwide -- and how much the mainstream media have failed in doing the same (dropping the ball on coverage over the weekend; airing/printing the names of Iranian Twitter users, thereby putting them in danger; seeing Twitter as just another toy instead of the powerful tool it has become, etc.).
I know I can't make any of you care; all I can say is that I hope more people did.
For more information:
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
one_hoopy_frood has good write-ups here and here
Background information (w/ short "Iran: Nation of Bloggers" video)
Important people and events in the 2009 protests
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
ontd_political has a live-post here (old live-post here)
Andrew Sullivan @ The Atlantic live-blog
Nico Pitney @ Huffington Post live-blog (links to earlier live-blogs about 3/4 down the page)
National Iranian-American Council blog
The BBC is one of the few MSM sources to have good coverage; you can find it here.
The Guardian live-blog
The Lede @ The New York Times live-blog
All of these places have a lot of links to articles, images, and videos (some of them rather gruesome and NSFW), and there's a lot to wade through, but these are good places to start, and it's totally worth finding out more information.
Lately everything that I've been doing -- which has really been nothing more than practicing driving, sleeping, eating, etc. -- just seems so trivial because all I can think about is people my age halfway across the world, protesting an unfair election, fighting back against a sham democracy that facilitated this coup, and being on the run, going to prison, getting injured, and dying because of it. And on top of it, I feel like I have to do something but can't. All I can do is remain chained to my computer, constantly refreshing sites as new information comes in (the fact that I can afford to is sad in and of itself, but whatever).
The whole situation is confusing and enthralling and gut-wrenching and inspiring and heartbreaking all at the same time. And it's extremely important, too -- probably the most important thing going on in the world right now, and not just because whatever comes of this has dire consequences for U.S. policy in the Middle East. This is about millions of people wanting real democracy, real change, etc. The same things Americans fought for over 200 years ago and whose soldiers are still fighting for. It's easy to be cynical, it's easy to ignore this -- but just because it's not happening to you directly doesn't mean it's not important. And just because this has probably happened a million times before in Iran doesn't mean the people there are going to continue to take it lying down. We're also seeing how much influence social networking sites, especially Twitter, have on events on the ground and the crucial information being spread worldwide -- and how much the mainstream media have failed in doing the same (dropping the ball on coverage over the weekend; airing/printing the names of Iranian Twitter users, thereby putting them in danger; seeing Twitter as just another toy instead of the powerful tool it has become, etc.).
I know I can't make any of you care; all I can say is that I hope more people did.
For more information:
one_hoopy_frood has good write-ups here and hereBackground information (w/ short "Iran: Nation of Bloggers" video)
Important people and events in the 2009 protests
ontd_political has a live-post here (old live-post here)Andrew Sullivan @ The Atlantic live-blog
Nico Pitney @ Huffington Post live-blog (links to earlier live-blogs about 3/4 down the page)
National Iranian-American Council blog
The BBC is one of the few MSM sources to have good coverage; you can find it here.
The Guardian live-blog
The Lede @ The New York Times live-blog
All of these places have a lot of links to articles, images, and videos (some of them rather gruesome and NSFW), and there's a lot to wade through, but these are good places to start, and it's totally worth finding out more information.
