I read the article "On The Road in Iran" by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times Up Front. The article was about how the younger generation in Iran is more educated and less conservative. Throughout the article as Kristof conducted mini interviews he showed how a lot of the older people in Iran have a much weaker education, like when he talks to a 38 year old man who he says has a 9th grade education. Later in the article Kristof talks about kids playing banned videogames like Battlefield 3 and Grand Theft Auto, showing how liberal the younger generations are becoming. Towards the end of the article Kristof talks about seeing a police officer yell at a women for rolling up her sleeves. "Finally, she covered her forearms a bit more, and he accepted a truce." The article showed a really strong contrast in the generations, and how the older generations are treated stricter whereas the younger generations are allowed to play illegal videogames.
The author wants me to feel hopeful for Iran. He talks about Iran possibly being the most pro-America country in the middle east, and interviews several people who are also very pro-America, many of whom are younger. Kristof is CLEARLY trying to point out how younger generations around the world are becoming consistently more and more liberal. Kristof is trying to show what a problem the older conservative generations are in clashing with the younger liberal generations by showing interview after interview with completely opposite views and opinions. Kristof gives much lengthier quotes/interviews from people who oppose the strict government which helps you to understand and connect with their views, which persuades you to absorb their views and oppose their conservative government.
I think that the conservative government in Iran should be more liberal, or just moderate. To be fair, they should let people live. I was disturbed when I read that it was illegal to play certain videogames, and that you could get fined for having satellite TV. "So they just take the dish and go away," without imposing the fine." I took away from the article that it's important to know how others live and how they treat things like TV that we take for granted, they have to hide and be careful about because they can get fined, or thrown in jail for having luxuries that we don't acknowledge.
http://upfront.scholastic.com/issues/02_18_13/book#/12
I think it's interesting how countries and governments can change so much over time because of different views from one generation to another. Iran could, as the author says, be slowly shifting towards a more liberal government. You made a good point when you were talking about how the older conservatives generations are clashing with the younger liberal generations. If Iran's government really does change, it's going to take a long time.
ReplyDeleteNice post!