Anecdotal I know, but I’m friends with several Iranian people, good friends with some of them. Every one of them and their families has nothing but bad things to say about that government. They’re a horrible dictatorial power that completely suppresses women’s rights, religious freedoms, and bodily autonomy. They rule on fear and terror and are genuinely awful.
They are still supported by small groups of extreme religious conservatives who will threaten and call the police on any woman exercising autonomy because that is what they believe their imaginary space friend wants.
This is not propaganda when it comes from people, especially women, who’ve lived their whole lives in fear of this regime and couldn’t wait to get out. Could my knowledge be skewed by only having spoken to Iranian emigrants? Yes, sure. But the facts they’ve talked about are still true.
I’m friends with several Iranian people, good friends with some of them. Every one of them and their families has nothing but bad things to say about that government.
I saw plenty of interviews with this kind of person at the CPAC rally. I even knew a few that attended. I periodically get AI Slop videos from a coworker, insisting that people are waving comically oversized Iranian flags in every city in the world (alongside miniature Israeli flags for some reason).
I have heard simultaneous claims that Iran has killed north of 90k of their civilian population in a matter of weeks, and that reports of the girls school getting bombed by the US are fictious or Iranian state propaganda.
This is not propaganda when it comes from people, especially women
It is absolutely propaganda. And it is being fed to people who hate the government and are that much more willing to believe crazy bullshit because they hate it.
Much like American liberals biting on The Pee Tape hook, line, and sinker, it’s bait for a population of expats hungry to believe the worst things about a government they hate.
I think there’s a little bit of conflation happening in terms of the demographics each of us is trying to talk about.
The conversations I’m talking about are pre-war, when there wasn’t even hint of the US or Israel attacking Iran. Some of these people are very new to my city at the time, they moved less than a year ago. They are currently devastated at what is happening to their home country.
The girls school was definitely bombed by the US and Israel. That is undeniable fact and anyone who wants to deny that cannot face the truth.
There is a lot of propaganda around this war, and around any war. But I do not appreciate you trying to invalidate the voices of people who were born and raised in that country, spent the vast majority of their lives there, still have family and friends there, and personally experienced the kind of hatred and violence that comes from a religious government. I don’t mean to attack you personally but you’re demonstrating a complete lack of recognition of the moral complexity. That the current Iranian government is terrible and has committed horrific crimes against its own people, but that does not justify foreign powers attempting a racist coup for their own benefit and spreading propaganda about it.
Anecdotal I know, but I’m friends with several Iranian people, good friends with some of them. Every one of them and their families has nothing but bad things to say about that government. They’re a horrible dictatorial power that completely suppresses women’s rights, religious freedoms, and bodily autonomy. They rule on fear and terror and are genuinely awful.
They are still supported by small groups of extreme religious conservatives who will threaten and call the police on any woman exercising autonomy because that is what they believe their imaginary space friend wants.
This is not propaganda when it comes from people, especially women, who’ve lived their whole lives in fear of this regime and couldn’t wait to get out. Could my knowledge be skewed by only having spoken to Iranian emigrants? Yes, sure. But the facts they’ve talked about are still true.
I saw plenty of interviews with this kind of person at the CPAC rally. I even knew a few that attended. I periodically get AI Slop videos from a coworker, insisting that people are waving comically oversized Iranian flags in every city in the world (alongside miniature Israeli flags for some reason).
I have heard simultaneous claims that Iran has killed north of 90k of their civilian population in a matter of weeks, and that reports of the girls school getting bombed by the US are fictious or Iranian state propaganda.
It is absolutely propaganda. And it is being fed to people who hate the government and are that much more willing to believe crazy bullshit because they hate it.
Much like American liberals biting on The Pee Tape hook, line, and sinker, it’s bait for a population of expats hungry to believe the worst things about a government they hate.
I think there’s a little bit of conflation happening in terms of the demographics each of us is trying to talk about.
The conversations I’m talking about are pre-war, when there wasn’t even hint of the US or Israel attacking Iran. Some of these people are very new to my city at the time, they moved less than a year ago. They are currently devastated at what is happening to their home country.
The girls school was definitely bombed by the US and Israel. That is undeniable fact and anyone who wants to deny that cannot face the truth.
There is a lot of propaganda around this war, and around any war. But I do not appreciate you trying to invalidate the voices of people who were born and raised in that country, spent the vast majority of their lives there, still have family and friends there, and personally experienced the kind of hatred and violence that comes from a religious government. I don’t mean to attack you personally but you’re demonstrating a complete lack of recognition of the moral complexity. That the current Iranian government is terrible and has committed horrific crimes against its own people, but that does not justify foreign powers attempting a racist coup for their own benefit and spreading propaganda about it.
:-/