Yare Dabestani, By a free soul in USA

Yar-e Dabestani [elementary school friend] This militant anthem made famous by the late singer Fereydoun Foroughi (1951-2001) has become an important rallying cry for social action among our Iranian friends. It is a call to action in a context where the right to exist is being brutally suppressed by force. Like most popular songs it can be interpreted in many ways. On the surface, using a metaphor comparing the Iranian population to schoolchildren being disciplined, it basically says wake up my friend, look what has happened to us; we cant expect somebody to come along and save us. We have to liberate ourselves, so lets do it! It has great meaning for me personally because I feel it deeply as a general statement that I have to be an adult, face what is happening and not deny problems; then I have to find a way to solve them. Im not part of this Iranian struggle, but I want them to succeed. I need to see this kind of thinking prevail among my fellow humans no matter where they live, no matter what they believe and no matter what language they speak. When they succeed I will feel freer too. There is no end to it though. This cycle has been repeating all over the world for many centuries. Each new generation must fight its way out of the darkness all over again. After the Iranians finally put the current Islamic government in the trash where it belongs, they will be fighting similar battles on other fronts for many years until they let go of that old tribal habit of trying to find somebody to tell them what to do and think (a herder). Right now that herder is the religious guide--that infamous self-aggrandizing mullah known as the marja-e taqlid--but there is always somebody who wants that job, because the herder is so well paid and there are so many sheeple! The kind of self-reliance that can bring an end to that foolish search and put these ideological bosses out of business is very, very hard to come by. It is so much easier to stay safe and unnoticed in the herd until that bad day comes when we wake up and realize the whole herd is being exploited, selectively slaughtered and abused. Then we sing Yar-e Dabestani again!