Revolution Blog Response

With regards to the first question, I believe that I would have participated in the Revolution against the Shah. It is very difficult to say what I would have done if I were there, but if I were to pick, I believe that I would have joined the crowds in the streets in protests and rebellion and tried to overthrow the Shah. If I had the money and the means, I would do what my parents did and that was get the hell out of Iran. In other words, I do not think I would have been ready for such a large change and I do not think others really would have known what they are getting themselves into. With that being said, I would have been set on leaving and settling somewhere that is politically and economically stable, such as the US, England, France, Canada, etc. However, with no choice, I would have gone with the crowd that wanted to overthrow the Shah because, like them, I would have believed that the country needs a change and needs to get rid of the man who can't say "No" to the United States. I would question the Shah's dedication to his people and would believe that everything he did was for his or his own family's benefit. In other words, I would have believed that he abused his power for his own personal gain, instead of looking out for the people of the country that he was ruling. For that reason, I believe I would have opposed the Shah if I were to stay in Iran.

With the benefit of hindsight, my answer does change, but not entirely. What I mean by that is that if I still had the means to leave, I would have since a lot of things turned out to become pretty fucked up after the overthrow of the Shah. Nobody really knew what they were getting themselves into. The majority of those in favor of the Revolution simply wanted to overthrow the Shah and didn't think twice about how things would pan out under Khomeini's religious rule. In short, the Iranian people were shocked as everything that occurred did not meet their expectations. Part of the reason that explains that is because the Iranian people did not know what to expect and the other part is because they blindly went into protests without considering the possible downfalls of Khomeini's regime. With that being said, in hindsight, I would have never been in favor of overthrowing the Shah had I known the outcome of Khomeini's religious regime. But, the funny thing is that people often unite for a particular cause that many may regret in the future and only in hindsight can you really say what a terrible decision that may have been. So, with that being said, it's really hard to say what was right and what was wrong at the time because nobody knew and that makes the situation all that more difficult and complicated.