06.16.09
Letters from the Front
I’m just catching up with Nico Pitney’s live-blog of the ongoing protests in Iran. (Funny enough, I’m seeing him being interviewed by Rachel Maddow in a repeat of today’s show right now.)
In his 2:21PM ET entry, Nico reports a reader’s communication with family in Iran, an excerpt of which follows:
He said that probably half the stores are closed, but that unemployment is 40% anyway, so its not like protestors have anything better to do. These people are mostly young, unemployed, have poor access to higher education, and no foreseeable future prospects.
My thoughts while reading this were (in this order):
- 40% unemployment?! No wonder they’re rioting!
- It’s about time we saw some masses of young, unemployed, under-educated men in the Middle East with no future prospects fighting for the forces of good. In that respect, I guess thanks are deserved to Iran’s oppressive theocrats.
