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Comment by whatshisface | Hacker News Reader

Iran was not free under the Shah, just UK-aligned. It depends on what they're doing.

Still better than turbo islamists on virtually all fronts

Sure, but better for who? Most likely for the West I'd say. It's pretty bad for Persians as well but who knows what other leader would have done to them. If the regime falls I'd say good riddance but it's no guarantee for a better life or stability in the region.

better for these guys:

https://www.gettyimages.com/search/2/image?phrase=public+han...

Saddam did stuff like that and he was secular. The original Shah also did things like that. It's not wise to downplay the value of democracy.

> Sure, but better for who? Most likely for the West I'd say.

Do you think people go fight their armed government known for heavily repressing any kind of protest for fun after work ?

The people of iran will decide who it's better for, as is their right.

I hope to wake up to see a free iran any day now.

There is no going back to absolutist rule anywhere in the world, much less in a country which just tasted blood for freedom.

If Iran turns into a monarchy, it will be a very formal constitutional one, like Spain.

El Salvador seems to be a counterexample, at least to this casual observer.

The United States may well become one.

I meant an absolutist monarchy. This is really a dying form, though not yet totally dead.

Paradoxically, republics of today seem more vulnerable to authoritarian turns than the monarchies which survived the 20th century.

Probably because an elected leader has more legitimacy and thus can demand more political power, sometimes too much power. In a constitutional monarchy, there is always a psychological split between the sovereign and the prime minister or whoever gets elected to executive power, and one-man-shows are less likely to succeed.

There is no going "back" to absolutist monarchism because it was actually a highly evolved (over centuries) form of government that eventually became the political norms of Europe today. There are a lot of ways to go forward to an isolated dictator driven by a terrible fear of his own citizens however.

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