Supporting democracy through knowledge
: Hoder is trying to find better ways to support democracy in Iran:
I’ve been thinking recently about how could outside world give support to democracy in Iran, the best way. Blogger folks such as Jeff Jarvis, Pejman Yousefizadeh, Joe Katzman, Andrew Sullivan, etc. have increased efforts to make at least English speaking blogosphere care more about Iranian students who’ve been struggling for change for a long time, and I really appreciate their attemtion and support. But I believe we all can do much more than putting up an icon, saying that we support democracy in Iran. In fact, we first should know about what kind of place Iran is and how it differs from Iraq and other mid-east countries.
So I’d like to suggest a new approach to supporting democracy in Iran: “If you really want to support us, try to know more about us.”
He’s right. The single most important effect of making links with Iranian blogs has been that I’ve learned a lot more about Iranian politics, history, and culture; that makes the struggle there about people rather than just headlines; that gives the stories context and sense. The more Iranian bloggers explain in English, the more we will understand.
