Community mapping applications come in all shapes and sizes. There are apps to help drivers avoid speed traps, maneuver around traffic jams, and find cheap gas. And now there’s one that helps people avoid being pulled from their car by the Ershad – Iran’s morals police.
Anonymous developers in Iran recently released an Android app that is intended to help young Iranians share intelligence about Ershad checkpoints. Called “Gershad,” the app depends on crowdsourced reports from users to help others avoid being stopped, harassed, or even possibly beaten or arrested for failing to adhere to the Ershad interpretations of Islamic morality.
Fascinating what technology can do for people.
We might need something like that in Poland soon…
Is it going to be as bad? No doubdt that the new polish government is a bunch of A-holes (greetings from Czech Republic) but are they Iran-level A-Holes?
On latest CCC, 2 guys gave a brilliant speech about how we lost the surveillance wars, what’s going on, etc. But at one point the guy says something along “totalitarian regimes, such as, um, Hungary… or Poland”.
This is dishonest to the audience and disrespectful to people who actually suffered or are sufferring in real totalitarian states. If you are comparing Poland[*] to inhumanely oppresive places like N.Korea, Cuba, Russia, Saudi Arabia, etc. then you need to stop sipping your mocha over pakistani beheadings, russian radium poisonings and n.korean work camps.
The ruling party are not that great, I get it, they try to catch up with surveillance like other western countries but come on! Children die in diamond mines in african banana states, but poland is totalitarian. Germany has a satelite relay to transmit US drone steering to cut down on latency to allow smooth killing of people in the middle east, but yeah, Poland is totalitarian… Dishonest to people dying elsewhere.
[*] Rougly 50th out of 150 on development, corruption, growth, digitization, poverty, etc. rankings. 66% of other states are worse than we are.
Being totalitarian wrt civil liberties (Poland) cannot be compared to being (or being best friends with) criminal imperialist warmongers (what Germany is doing in your example). Both things often come together, of course.
I mean, no matter how bad we are, we will always find someone worse than us, but that is not good enough a reason to call ourselves “good”. Get what I mean?
Criticising the Polish or Hungarian government can only do good to Polish or Hungarian citizens in the end.
There are liberticidal governments paving the way for totalitarian regimes (Poland) and then there are criminal governments killing innocent people (many many others), but their existence does not make the Polish government less totalitarian. Or at least it can be said that they aim at a totalitarian State. I am pretty sure that if the structure of the contemporary Polish State was weaker than it is they would have already turned it into a dictatorship.
Many totalitarian regimes in history developed after the ruling party won regular elections.
You’re right. My argumentation was a bit unaligned.
I still fail to recognize Poland as totalitarian or going totalitarian. What makes Poland totalitarian? Surveillance, media and judicial tribunals captured by a small group, causing some outrage? In such case I’d argue that, sadly, we’re all quite totalitarian with US being a prime example. In this frame bashing Poland looks like singling out. And that makes me think this is utilitarian use of the word which is unfair to people in worse conditions, while keeping a blind eye to same issues where this name calling starts.
I’m not trying to defend by pointing to something worse. It’s just feel unfair just on its own – living, working and raising kids here.
I don’t know, what do you think?
No more words…
I have a few Iranian friends. They tell me that alcohol (expensive) and narcotics (cheap) are freely available in Iran. Educated Iranians are fully aware of the outside world. They can travel overseas reasonably easily and have access to Western media.
Indeed, having been there it’s perfectly possible to get your hands on such contraband as alcohol. However everyone is always very cautious about it – avoiding car journeys with alcohol in their possession unless they’ve had someone ahead of them confirm that the route is free of checkpoints. Things like this app are great for situations like that!
Yeah, “[American] Democracy is hypocrisy”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNfAFfu6VD0
When I watch immoral behavior on this documentary channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUBoIo2p7GSRMt1YcSswDEw
^aEUR| I always think there must be someone to put these jerks on their place.
As far as I can see it can’t be done 100% right. If the state close eyes on what’s happening on the streets, jerks become a greater problem than the state. If the state controls the situation, then state representers might go wild as well.
At least the state follows some orders. Jerks have no rules, they do whatever they want until someone stops them. They are first to demand their rights and last to follow responsibilities.
Please note the Iranian situation is not hooligans vs police. It’s a fight for personal and social freedoms. This app will not ultimately change the situation, but it’s a sort of non-violent protest and making fun at backward, stupid, crude and violent Iranian security forces.
It has nothing to do with “freedom”, It’s about “American lifestyle versus Iranian lifestyle”.
And as an Iranian on OSAlert, I should say that not all of Iranians are obsessed with American lifestyle. There are some guys who have nightlife, but those are not ordinary Iranian youth. Those are usually from parents who loot their own people and have bank accounts in Switzerland, and DREAM about a western style life in future.
Having the right to speak your mind, wear what you want, and not living under constant fear of a brutal police, is exactly about freedom.
Social and political freedom is not a “lifestyle”, it’s a human right, that you don’t have in Iran.
It’s the mastery of the Iranian regime that can fool a portion of Iranian society into thinking that the sources of their problems are “America”, “The Enemies”, “Westernized, rich, young people with corrupt parents”, etc.
In reality, the source of all your problems are A) your government, and B) your political illiteracy, which is in turn because of your government, blocking you from seeing the world as it is, for 3 decades. You were born into that big prison and die in that prison, without ever seeing the world.
You can be angry about and hate “America”, “The West”, “The young people who like American lifestyle” as much as you like, and your government will be very happy because you are busy with these fictional “enemies” and don’t ever think of them, as the sources of all problems that brought to your country, being one of the poorest, most illiterate, unhappiest countries in the world with an oil-dependent economy, with polluted water and air, and destructed environment.
And guess who created a class of “young people with corrupt, rich parents parents”? Did they come from outer space? Or maybe the rich, parents are exactly the product of 3 decades of Islamic rulers?
> Fictional enemies…
:-))
Either Edward Snowden is lying or you, and I trust Snowden more than you.
> Having the right to speak your mind, wear what you want, and not living under constant fear of a brutal police, is exactly about freedom.
Going out bare-butt doesn’t mean political freedom and justice. It’s going out bare-butt. That’s it.
Muslims have no right to live in the way they like in countries like United States. They’re constantly under surveillance, and as Malcolm X said:
“Democracy is hypocrisy. If democracy means freedom, why aren’t our people free? If democracy means justice, why don’t we have justice? If democracy means equality, why don’t we have equality?”
“[American] Democracy is hypocrisy”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNfAFfu6VD0
> And guess who created a class of “young people with corrupt, rich parents parents”? Did they come from outer space? Or maybe the rich, parents are exactly the product of 3 decades of Islamic rulers?
The pro-west corrupts which came out of “comprador capitalism” have nothing to do with Islam. Just as I don’t relate the behavior of you to Islam. They have chosen the opposite path of Islam, so don’t blame Islam for what they do.
> In reality, the source of all your problems are A) your government, and B) your political illiteracy, which is in turn because of your government, blocking you from seeing the world as it is, for 3 decades. You were born into that big prison and die in that prison, without ever seeing the world.
It’s the mastery of “comprador capitalism” that forces some people to belie that closing down factories and importing shit stuff from west can solve all the problems of the country. In reality, it’s just about getting premium from imports and sending the family to the US and Europe to have fun, joining them later. Just like Mr. Khavari, who was involved in a 2011 embezzlement scandal, and right now is having fun in Canada after looting his own country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Reza_Khavari
After 3 decades of ruling with the iron fist in Iran, closing the borders and embassies and political rivals parties, it’s not acceptable to blame others for your systemic corruption and incapabilities. Your leader and his elected officials are fully responsible for what’s going on in Iran, including poverty and injustice.
Comprador capitalism is the product of lack of democracy, free press, and the dictatorship. Lack of democracy and freedom turns to lack of political transparency and accountability. Shah had this problem and the new Islamic shah has the very same problem because both are dictator regimes.
The choice of baring your body, or not doing so, just like the right to practice your religious rituals and ceremonies, unless it doesn’t limit others freedom and safety of, is freedom, yes, which you don’t have in Iran.
But you have bigger problems than that: You can’t read any newspaper or book you like, you can’t vote or become elected freely, you can’t speak your mind and as a journalist or citizen, you can’t investigate the same corruption you are talking about without getting killed or going to jail.
Iran is 2016 is less free than Britain in 1800. British Kings in 1800 talked more kindly to their people than Iran leader now, 200 years later.
It’s not Americas fault that your government is a team of corrupt, thieves and murderers.
America didn’t force you to hang people in streets, didn’t force you to execute and torture people in jail, and bury them in un-named graves overnight. America didn’t filter your Internet so you can’t have access to free information and judge for yourself.
You have a non-elected leader that’s ruling this country for 27 years! he is doing so without being questioned, interviewed, checked, anything. The very same “bad, bad, capitalist” America, at least, had 5 leadership changes in the same period. Good or bad, people had the chance to choose their elected leader and criticize him or her freely. Do you have the very same right? Go draw a caricature of Khamenei or criticise him for one of his mistakes (he is a human and make some mistakes, right?) and then come back alive and lets talk freedom.
It’s good that you believe in what Edward Snowden says. He is critical of his own country’s lack of transparency, espionage on citizens freedom of the internet, etc. which is a good thing. Your country has the very same problems 100 times more than the United States.
Stop blaming others for your illiteracy, backwardness and misery, and just look into the mirror: it’s a fact that Iran is now one of the worst countries in the world in many financial, economical, political, environmental and social aspects, and it must have something to do with its government and its people. America and Iran are not the only two countries in the world. There are lots of free countries with healthy economies and happy people in this world.
Malcolm X -at least according to himself- was a human rights, activist. He was fighting for a religious minority and ethnicity in America. In Iran not all religious minorities are free and you treat all other ethnicities with hate and contempt. You hate Arabs, Sunnis, Baha’is, Jewish people and lot’s of other religion who don’t like are illegal and punishable by death. So it’s better not to quote someone that is your direct opposite in beliefs. Iran’s jails are full of people like -or less aggressive- that Malcolm X, as we speak.
America or west or any country are not a heaven without any problems, but in comparison to Iran, which is a laughing stock
of all the world, you better take a deep look into the mirror before blaming others for your self-made problems.
Plain-clothes men and unscheduled, “random” stops. From there, things just get nastier.
It’s nothing new for Iranians, we had these since the revolution three decades ago. This software is more of a statement than an actual tool for circumventing police.
There are a whole bunch of apps like this one, which the creator of the apps is some guy in the US which thinks he can make our life better by getting rid of the police, getting rid of Iranian customs, getting rid of the government, etc.
The result is usually not a better life for the people, but an increase in the crime rate and new social problems.
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