Here's

September 17, 2001 9:57 AM

Here's an interesting take on the whole western ideals v eastern ideals idea. The collapse of the Soviet Union as harbinger of the collapse of the west? Well, maybe not from the perspective of your average neo-libertarian. From the perspective of someone who didn't buy into the Enlightenment, from where springs both liberal democracy and marxism, then it may just look like one process. Interesting article from the 'Other Side of the Hill'.
posted by vbfg (4 comments total)

Sorry folks, I forgot I'd already posted this as a comment here.
posted by vbfg at 10:06 AM on September 17, 2001

Anyone read the open letter from the Iraqi-you-love-to-hate Mr. Sadaam Hussein?

Minus the paragraph about killing the American infidels, there's some intelligent arguments for how the Western world should apply its same ideals to its handling of the Middle East (i.e. use a court of law, not a series of bombings and assassination attempts which wouldn't fly within its own borders).
posted by mlaaker at 10:12 AM on September 17, 2001

I make it a policy not to agree with people who have moustaches but, in this case, and if you can see past the rhetoric, he most certainly has a point. He sounds like a long term MeFi contributor.
posted by vbfg at 12:28 PM on September 17, 2001

It's a good piece -- though hard, scholarly reading -- simply because it gives a sense of the intellectual climate in Iran: something which challenges the usual cliches of an introverted, ring-fenced Islam, and raises hopes that Iran is headed in the right direction.
posted by holgate at 7:23 PM on September 17, 2001