State-Sponsored Murder And Vigilantism? Another Iranian Nuclear Scientist Murdered

“When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” – Martin Luther King

 
Giant triplets of racism, materialism, militarism

I thought I would put up a more philosophical post on for Martin Luther King day.   Is this an economic and markets-based post?  I guess in a more fundamental  way it is relevant to both.  But, it’s also a philosophical post about the state of the state and therefore, the state of humanity around the world as it pertains to the endless struggle of good versus evil.  A struggle that King gave the ultimate sacrifice to support; that being his life.

There are few things I find as frightening as a theocracy.  To be ruled by someone claiming divine authority over others or over the rule of law is an afront to someone’s  spirituality or the truthful meaning of religion.  It is an afront to human dignity.  It is an afront to reason.  It is an afront to the rule of law.   It is an afront to freedom. 

Claiming divine authority over anyone for any reason then leaves those under this dynamic in a constant state of “unknowingness”.  When does anyone ever truly know when their economic or personal liberties are going to be taken from them?  Taken under the guise of divine authority in lieu of the rule of law and reason.  Cronyism and corruption defines this type of bureaucracy void of accountability and oversight.  Providing for oneself or one’s family under a theocracy requires the abandonment of one’s core being.  Frankly, it requires the abandonment of one’s spirituality.  It paradoxically defeats the truthful intent of religion and instead mandates a state-driven, fear-based ideology upon all of society. 

Any time daily decisions and personal responsibilities for our lives are outsourced to, or taken by, any type of authority, our existence becomes a lie that is not driven by our own meaningfulness and our own worthiness.  We give up our authenticity in order to participate in any system driven by authority.  In essence, people become emotional slaves in a state of endless bondage.   This not only defines Iran’s theocracy but the U.S.’s corporatocracy. 

Often people find methods to resist this type of tyranny.  We saw that in Iran a few years ago with protests.  And, there are countless dissidents to this type of tyranny who are jailed for their resistance.   Or even murdered as was Martin Luther King.  Most people recognize that hate begets hate and employ peaceful and constructive methods of resistance.   King was one such example.   And, for that, he was criminalized, demonized and targeted as an enemy of illegitimate authority. 

I am no fan of the theocracy in Iran.  It exist substantially because of the blowback to decades of American and British meddling as we have pointed out before.   (Once again, for every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction or karma is a bitch.)    When the U.S.-backed puppet police state in Iran collapsed, the theocracy arose to fill the power vacuum in what once was a progressive, secular government.   The rise of the theocracy was in some ways akin to the rise of Nazism in Germany.  They both preyed on the repressed and base animal emotions of the crowd.  But, the Iranian people themselves  are a peace-loving culture.  How do I know that?  Well, it’s not because of hollow rhetoric used by authority everywhere.  Iran hasn’t invaded anyone in hundreds of years.  Actions speak louder than rhetoric. 

Does any peace-loving person want the Iranian theocracy to get a nuclear weapon?   That’s a ridiculous question.  Obviously, no one of reason wants anyone to have a nuclear weapon.  Especially illegitimate power.  But, I do understand there are some arguments that having one can be a deterrent.  That is why the United States has nuclear weapons.  There is some validity to having a bigger weapon than any potential enemy that cannot be trusted to abide by the rule of law.  Especially with belligerent enemies who are constantly testing and often attempting to overturn the limits of the rule of law.  There will always be belligerent enemies around the globe until humanity achieves some new level of consciousness.  (By the way, until relatively recently, Iran’s only nuclear reactor was given to them by the United States when we supported the brutal police-state puppet the Shah of Iran.  A little of that karma thing going on?  The foundation of Iran’s current nuclear program is courtesy of the United States.)  

Now, with reference to deterrent, who does Iran view as the only belligerent enemy capable of actually destroying it?   That would be the United States military-industrial complex.   Forget about any rationality of whether the United States would ever invade Iran.  The question is a valid one as it pertains to the paranoia of the theocratic state in Iran.  Given that reality, is it possible that we just might be using the wrong strategy to deal with Iran’s theocracy?  That  we might consider some tactic other than the nonstop rhetoric of invasion, shock and awe or making Iran a parking lot?     The United States has the capability of destroying Iran a few thousand times over.  Does it actually buy us anything to constantly remind them of what they already know?   This strategy clearly increases the Iranian theocracy’s paranoia.  Paranoia often leads to the paranoid feeling as though they must take irrational measures based on said paranoia.

Now, here is an even more fundamental question along the lines of these tactics of belligerence and control.  What value is created when we see state-sponsored murder of Iranian scientists?   Where the rule of law is thrown under the bus in some rationalization of state-sponsored vigilantism?

Can you imagine if another nation was killing a number of scientists working on nuclear power plants or working in key military programs in the U.S.?  People who have families and children?   People who have arguably committed no known crime?  People who may be devoutly peaceful, religious or even possibly pacifists?   We really know nothing about these Iranian scientists other than they were murdered.  Most certainly murdered through some effort of state-sponsored  vigilantism. 

If these scientists have committed a crime, should they not be brought before a court of law to face their accusers?   Whomever is murdering Iranian scientists, many in Iran are tying it to the United States.   And, now we are starting to see a backlash building against the United States in the minds of many peaceful, non-violent Iranians who otherwise have no grievance with the United States.   This would be no different were the same to be happening to scientists in the United States.  One thing is most likely certain.  The United States has knowledge of who is killing these scientists and probably has the ability to stop the it.    That is, if the CIA isn’t directly involved itself.  Where is the rule of law and respect for human life? 

Since when is breaking the law to enforce a vigilante’s perception of what the law should be a rational and reasoned policy?  To the contrary, it is this type of rationalization that leads to the crumbling of civilizations.  Is this really any different than the endless vigilante murders and lynchings we experienced in our own country in our not too distant past?  Acts that were often blessed by illegitimate authority.

Now, Leon Panetta, our defense secretary, said last week that Iran is not trying to develop a nuclear weapon but that we clearly don’t want them to develop one either.  Well, that was new news to me.   Seemingly, all we have heard for years out of Washington is the drum beat of the war state that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons.  What is truth and what is military-industrial complex propaganda of fear and terror that allows men to rationalize vigilantism that has no basis in the rule of law or reason or justice?   What is actually going on in Iran?  And, if they are trying to develop a nuclear weapon, is some of it meant to be a deterrent to a paranoia created by endless threats from the United States?   I sure as hell am not siding with an Iranian theocracy but is there any reason or respect for human life left or have states around the world usurped every last ounce of our humanity? 

Does Iran’s government really function any differently than the corporatocracy in the United States?  Corporate lobbyists in the United States regularly manipulate, write and dismantle the rule of law?. For the rest of us, there is a never-ending stream of red tape and corruption to sift through in order to create economic determinism and to have a self-determined life.  Or to sift through to protect ones personal liberties.    I would say that is a common condition in both countries. 

Both countries have some modicum of a rule of law but it is constantly being manipulated and dismantled by the whims of man.   Iran has a theocracy.  We have a corporatocracy.   In Iran the ultimate “decider” is …… George Bush.  Just kidding.  The Ayatollah.   (I couldn’t pass up Bush’s decider remark.  Our politicians often believe their authority is not granted by law but by their beliefs as the Ayatollah does. )

I  look at it this way.  In the United States, most often the primary authority is the rule of law and the penultimate authority is the whim of man.  And, that rule of law is often manipulated or written to serve the whims of man.    In Iran the primary authority is the whim of man and the penultimate authority is the rule of law.  And their rule of law is often manipulated or written to serve the whims of man.  Both states are similar in the regard that there is no rule of law that is above the corruption of the whims of man.   There is no ultimate, reasoned authority in a rule of law in either country that cannot be destroyed by a rigged system corrupted by power and influence.  

But, what I think should concern people more than all of this belligerent rhetoric in both Iran and the United States are people who believe they get their guidance from God or a voice in their head or some deluded interpretation of ancient religious beliefs and then abuse their privilege as a public servant with this as their prerogative.  Who then beat the drums of fear, terror and war to foment the crowd or because they believe somewhere deep in their deluded mind that they are doing God’s work.   This type of behavior is common in both Tehran and Washington.  My God would never endorse such policies.  That’s why spirituality is a personal journey and should never be allowed as a tool of government or the state or anyone serving as a public servant; what you believe is for your journey, it’s not to be used to control me.   That is a reminder why politicians, the state and unaccountable bureaucracies everywhere must be legally compelled to adhere to the rule of law in lieu of what beliefs are running through their mind. 

The rule of law must protect us from the insanity of anyone who believes there is a great clash today between Christianity and Islam.    Because just as the unstable mind of many lobbying our government or many politicians who have contributed to creating a predatory, brutal and inhumane economy in our country, if left to their own delusions, they will continue to project the same deluded manifestation of an unstable mind onto our foreign policies.  They create a world that is a reflection of their paranoia, hatred, fear and need for control.  You know, just like feudal lords and religious leaders on both sides did by whipping up terror in the minds of the crowd during the Crusades.

When I watch some of these presidential debates and some of the idiocy spouted by clearly delusional beliefs, I wonder how some of these people are really any different than the insanity that exists in the Iranian theocracy.    How did the most mad, deluded and inhumane in the world get to where they are today?   And, then I am reminded.  Oh yeah.  A government for sale to its highest bidders.   Or a government not constituted by self-rule.  Those who will serve a system corrupted by power and money will always rise to levels of authority in such a system.   It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy until the chain is broken by We The People.

One cannot serve two masters.  Truth and money/power.  Once a system becomes inculcated with money/power, truth will invariably matter less and less.  There is never an exception.   Power and money are driven by a need to control.   One cannot control the truth forever.    Truth will always find a way.  The two intents of truth and control are diametrically-opposed.   Or, if I would draw this relationship using the logic of a Venn diagram or Boolean algebra, the commonality is an empty set.   Truth or control.  Which do you choose?    A theocracy/corporatocracy or the rule of law?

Very little in the world of statism today serves the search for truth and justice.  It’s about control, power, greed and money.   Wall Street’s avoidance of any investigation into legal wrongdoing for looting our treasury, destroying our civilization and destroying our economy is the perfect example of this.  There is no search for truth.  There is no transparent, nonpolitical investigation.  It’s purely about control.  Washington politicians are bought and paid for.  Their mission as toadies for the corporate state is to control and subvert the search for truth.  To stop any such investigation.  The same can be said for many of our foreign endeavors of power and control.  Just like in Iran.

I thought this an appropriate post for the holiday we are celebrating in the United States; Martin Luther King Day.   With this holiday we celebrate a man who was able to rise above the imperfectness of the human condition to share ideals of fairness, human dignity,  justice, acceptance, community, reason and the rule of law.  Shared ideals based on the search for truth over the attempts of control perpetrated by the status quo.

On that note,  I would bet most Americans have more in common with most Iranians than they have in common with the politicians who are supposed to be serving our country.    We both  love our families.  We both want to lead a life with freedoms granted by our creator.  We both want to become who we were meant to become.  We both want to appreciate the simple pleasures of daily life.  We both  want illegitimate authority out of their lives.  We both want economic democracy.  And, we both want self-government that serves society, community and truth in lieu of control. 

The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailers, constables, posse comitatus, etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. Yet such as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens. Others, as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and office-holders, serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the devil, without intending it, as God. A very few, as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men, serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it.-- Henry David Thoreau

Martin Luther King was a hero, patriot, martyr and reformer for all of humanity by any truth-driven definition of those words.  While we are able capable of being the change we want to see in our sphere of the world around us, we need leadership in government to restore the rule of law and democracy for all of society.   Successful movements, while always started locally,  need leadership on a larger scale to impact all of society and reform our government.   That leadership is never delivered by a politician.  Ever.  It might be a leader who infrequently holds political office and it may not.  It is the one component missing today in the rejection of the corporate state by untold millions of Americans. 

The United States needs  its next Martin Luther King or its next Susan B. Anthony or its next Mother Jones or its next William Lloyd Garrison or its next Theodore Roosevelt.  At some point, that leader will emerge and coalesce the community of Americans who hold ideals of peace, dignity, compassion, community, freedom and democracy above the ideals of control held by the corporate state.   We shall overcome…….. illegitimacy and control in order to create a world of truth and reason.

The murder of Iranian scientists continues.