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The Greens may attack Ahmadinejad economically from the right, but just because Ahmadinejad is posturing economically to the left of the Greens, doesn’t mean that Ahmadinejad’s govt is not enacting reactionary economic policies.
It’s the left/right dance that we see often in the US. The republicans weaken the working class, and the Dems come in for a knockout punch when they are least expecting it. The democrats’ war policy is based on sanctions, UN resolutions, starvation, the Republicans come in for the knockout punch and invasion.
1. Reagan weakens workers and goes Union busting.
2. Clinton comes in and takes a bite out of Welfare
1. Clinton pushes UN sanctions on Iraq, bombs daily, isolates them
2. Bush comes in and goes for the knockout punch and invades.
1. George W Bush tries to attack Social Security but huge public outcry and has to stop.
2. Obama comes in and now is planning to make the SS cuts that republicans have tried for so long.
1. Obama pushing sanctions and isolation on Iran.
2. ….To be continued.
In Iran:
1. Khatami and Rafsanjani could not touch the subsidy reforms.
2. Ahmadinejad, with his populism and support amongst workers and poor, takes out the subsidies in place for 30 years with relatively little backlash.
What is interesting in iran, if prices rise and the lower classes start feeling the squeeze, a new opening will be created in Iranian politics for the youth pushing for more democratic freedoms and social freedoms to create a coalition with the the poor and working classes. Such a coalition has potential for big changes
“the youth” – the only “youth” that anti-Islamic Republic types care about are those who are anti-Islamic Republic. The rest, the vast vast majority of “youth” in Iran who support the Islamic Republic are not even considered “youth” – they are called all kinds of lousy names.
The reason why khatami/ rafsanjani did not care about subsidies is because it benefits their upper middle class and upper class types much more than the working class. In fact it was and is much more of a regressive tax than anything “progressive.”