I wasn’t around in 1979, but from all the video footage and photos that I have seen, books and articles that I have read, and the stories I’ve heard, it looks like the majority of the Iranian population had turned into a violent lynch mob that was hellbent on deposing a weak, secular, patriotic Middle Eastern monarch and replacing him with a violent, anti-Iranian, vengeful, illiterate cleric whose image they have collectively seen on the moon--at any cost. Iranians had all turned into living reincarnations of Che Guevara. Some had even apparently dressed like him and donned the barrette. Some more “sophisticated” ones even trained in Palestinian and South Lebanese terrorist camps in Lebanon and Libya—getting ready to gun down innocent Iranian conscripts on the streets of Tehran, Shiraz, and Isfahan. Some got training and weapons from Russia. The organizers of the uprisings even brought professional Palestinian terrorist to Iran to shoot soldiers and police. Shah had to go at all costs. They burnt buildings, attacked army barracks, and had a mass execution machine set up immediately that continued its barbaric work for years.

Now, fast forward 40 years. A brutal, unforgiving, murderous theocracy rules Iran. Unlike the time of Shah, where a robust, logistically sound, yet unofficial, political opposition thrived—with almost all the leaders of opposition parties residing freely inside Iran and continuing their activities—all opposition to the Islamic Republic has been decapitated. So, what’s the resolution offered by the Che Guevara wannabes of 40 years ago? Civil disobedience, ala Gandhi and Martin Luther King! Yeah…that should get rid of a theocracy that doesn’t hesitate for a minute to put a bullet in your head in response to the smallest level of opposition. At first I thought they were just stupid for saying that nonsense. After all, in case of Gandhi, we had a giant country colonized by a foreign nation roughly 1/20 of its size with even a bigger population ratio. MLK, of course, resisted in a democratic system with an independent judiciary, which is what ultimately got rid of most of discriminatory laws. Oh, they also mention Mandela, which again is not comparable to Iran because in that case there was a minority racist population trying to rule over a majority of the population. But now I realize that these folks aren’t stupid. There are other factors at work.

First, a lot of these guys are leftovers of the “revolution” days. Back then they were young and energetic. Now, they’re old, fat, and tired with a big chelo kabab belly. They just want to relax. “ki hal dareh baba?” Also, a lot of them own property in Iran, and enjoy their trips there, where they partake in a little “taryak,” whiskey, and a prostitute / sigheh here and there. So, they’re comfy. Why rock the boat? Revolutions are messy. They’re also cowards and chikenshits. They know that Shah wasn’t a murderer, so they felt safe in violently challenging him. But they know that this regime won’t think twice about cutting your head off—ISIS style. So, they cower before it and are very “lateef” toward it! Lastly, the revolution for these losers was perhaps the most significant event of their otherwise unremarkable lives. So, they don’t want to let go of the memories of the good old days.

Now, some may ask why is this important? These guys are old anyway. The answer to that is unfortunately—and mainly due to the effectiveness of IR’s annihilation of political opposition—these fossils still control much of the political discourse on Iran. After all, a lot of these guys immediately escaped the revolutionary paradise that they had created and came the West, where they became college professors and political pundits. Just look as the Farsi language international outlets and see who opines there as “Iran experts.” It’s the same characters. And what’s worse is that they instill the same BS in the minds of their children and grandchildren, almost all of whom have never lived in Iran, and who only see a sanitized version of the IR. So, the cycle continues.

Uprisings take sacrifice. It can’t be done on the cheap. One also cannot play chess with a gorilla. This whole “civil disobedience” thing as a method of opposition to the IR is a sham and a ruse to keep the status quo. People who advocate it know that too. They’re just lying.