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The media pundit's pundit. Written by NYC insider Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine covers news, media, journalism, and politics.

America

12 comments on America

America
: Blue Bird Escape — the teen who just a week ago returned to America from a visit to her native Iran — gains more perspective and writes:

American life

Saturday mornings people go to the mall and spend their morning and part of their afternoon shopping.

The road is clear. Not too many cars. Not too much traffic. It is a joy to drive.

At home music can play loudly.

At the movies people quiet down when the film starts.

People are not allowed to smoke in public places.

Choosing a comfortable outfit is not a problem.

Writing is not a crime.

Speaking is not wrong.

Dreaming is allowed.

Success exists.

Freedom is a word.

Love is a reality.

12 responses to “America”

  1. Amir Avatar
    Amir

    Iran is not so bad & America is not so good. Be fair.

  2. a hell-dweller Avatar
    a hell-dweller

    mr jeff,
    thank you for informing us that in paradise saturday mornings people go to the mall and spend their morning and part of their afternoon shopping.

  3. bluebird Avatar
    bluebird

    Amir,
    Yes, you’re right. Iran does have some good things and America is not perfect, but do the things I named really exist in Iran?

  4. kathy Avatar
    kathy

    Dear Hell Dweller, I take it from your o-so-hip and cynical name that you begrudge others the pleasures you either reject or can’t afford. Would you rather spend Saturday morning in Iran or America? No ifs or buts: just a straight answer. Lighten up or leave.

  5. happy hell-dweller Avatar
    happy hell-dweller

    dear kathy,
    i would rather iran, HONESTLY.

  6. BF Avatar
    BF

    “i would rather iran, HONESTLY”
    Please do.

  7. careless hell-dweller Avatar
    careless hell-dweller

    BF,
    “I would rather spend my Saturday morning in Iran, HONESTLY.” Any mistake? Take it easy.

  8. rose Avatar
    rose

    Hell-dweller,
    I’m genuinely curious: What about Saturday mornings (or any other time) in Iran do you find appealing? I tend to side with Kathy and BF, but I’m interested in hearing why life with mullahs is better than life with malls.
    When I was a kid I visited family in (the then) East Germany, and it took me years to understand what was so wrong with life there: There was no street crime, the sidewalks were clean, and there were modern hotels downtown. I didn’t find out until much later that my family’s farm and business had been confiscated by the government, that they suffered horrible food shortages in the winter, and that my uncle was visited in the middle of the night by men with machine guns because he had written a mildly critical poem. Those discoveries led me to reeavaluate my teenage disgust with malls and American culture. That reevaluation was further developed when the Berlin Wall came down, largely because people in the East wanted those malls and that consumer culture I had so despised. I realized that people here could opt out of the consumer culture if they wanted to, but people over there had *had* no options, neither commercial nor political .
    Would you maintain that Iran’s government is less oppressive than, say, East Germany’s?

  9. Jim Bennett Avatar
    Jim Bennett

    This line:

    People are not allowed to smoke in public places.

    seems oddly out of place in this list. It reminds me of one of those quiz things you used to see, “Which item does not belong with the others? Eagle, sparrow, trowel, starling.” To drive the point into the ground, a restriction amid a list of freedoms. I’m probably looking for too much consistency from a teenager. Thanks for writing, Bluebird, please continue! But there’s some resonance with rose’s point about littering.

  10. hell-dweller Avatar
    hell-dweller

    Dear Rose,
    You talked about your experiences in former East Germany, now let me tell you about my experiences in Iran (though writing in English is difficult for me).
    I was 10 years old when Iran

  11. bluebird Avatar
    bluebird

    I’m sorry you had to go through all of that. I wish I could stay in Iran too, but at this point I have more opportunities in America. The reason I wrote about American life was not to say I’m there because of its pleasures. I just wanted to point out that with all these freedoms some never understand what life without freedom is. And some don’t realize that life is more than going to malls or having fun. Life is understanding each other and accepting reality.
    I love Iran with all my heart and I will never forget my life there.

  12. rose Avatar
    rose

    Dear Hell-dweller,
    Thank you for your moving reply. Forgive my denseness; it wasn’t clear from your first posts that you are Iranian (as wonderful as this blog is, it gets its share of trolls, too). Of course your feelings are much more understandable to me now.
    Like a lot of concerned people, I’ve been watching events in Iran with mixed feelings, and hoping that the US will choose a wise course of action (or even inaction, should that prove to be the better path). I wholeheartedly wish you and your fellow Iranians the very best.