The Dawn of the Integral Age

The Iranian regime eventually will collapse on its own 2010-Jan-03 at 20:31 PST

Iranian Filmmakers Keep Focus on the Turmoil, by Michael Slackman, 03-Jan-10

Iran’s government cannot silence the filmmakers.

It keeps trying. Films are censored. Directors are prohibited to leave the country and prohibited to return home, forced to cancel projects and threatened with punishment if their films are too probing or too critical of life in the Islamic Republic.

But the films keep coming, and so do the filmmakers.

I’ve been thinking a lot about non-violent protests, and where they work.  It seems to me that you can’t use non-violence against a (using Spiral Dynamics’ terms) RED or RED/blue insurgency… they need to be attacked and killed if required for the health and safety of the surrounding people.  In a nation that claims to have a constitution, like Iran (BLUE or even BLUE/orange), non-violent protests against the government are highly effective, showing the inconsistency between the laws and the way that they’re applied.

When I think about the two most famous non-violent movements in the 20th Century — namely, civil rights in America led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Indian independence led by Mahatma Gandhi — they were both examples of using non-violence against a government that had some laws from Orange… and that’s why they ultimately were successful.  The governments yielded to the inconsistency.

Iran is well on its way to regime change… and I’d love to see the United States and Europe lend more vocal moral support, and perhaps some resources, to the mostly non-violent movement there to see the government change.