My 21st Century Dream
Martin Luther King had a dream in the 1950s that all American citizens would one day be equal in standing regardless of race, colour, religion or socio-economic standings. Nelson Mandela's most famously shared saying about dreams is: “A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.”
A dream is only a dream until you make it come true.
Before becoming president, Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years for standing up to human rights abuses committed by the South African apartheid government against black South Africans. Released in 1990, Mandela addressed the people at Cape Town City Hall, saying:
“...I greet you in the name of peace, democracy, and freedom for all. I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you - the people. I place the remaining years of my life in your hands.”
What has happened in the last 40 or so years that has changed the world politically, economically, and socially to where it is today - a “hot pot” of conflict, lack of trust, loyalty and respect for others. And a world filled with individuals whose sole goal is money and countries led by Japan and the USA who for many years have simply spent much more money than they have received.
A. Historical Facts
1. After World War II, America replaced the UK as the new superpower of the world.
2. Its objective was to first and foremost establish military bases around the world to keep the peace.
Today it has around 800 such bases. After 2 world wars and the use of a nuclear bomb to win World War II, an American presence was seen as “good security” in what during the first half of the 20th century was an unstable geopolitical world.
3. But social and political “insecurity” disappeared after World War II, and rebuilding programs and the advent of the aeroplane and then computers saw much of Europe and Asia and the Americas prosper economically.
4. But America made its first big mistake in the early 1960s when it promoted communism as a threat to its capitalist society with propaganda it continues to promote to the Western world today - the threat of communism.
It is this basic perception-belief today that I dedicate my remaining years to study and write papers to the citizens of the world which allays the fears and dismisses the propaganda.
5. Since the Korean War in 1950, capitalist political systems have lived happily with and traded efficiently with socialist and communist political systems without any issue.
Simply put, it is American-inspired propaganda of an imminent Chinese threat to world peace that until recently received support from American citizens and the administrations of many countries around the world.
6. But it is a furphy. During my lifetime, China has had internal issues with Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet and the Uyghurs population in the Xinjiang region of far Northwest China.
But they are all internal issues for China and only China to resolve.
7. China has not involved itself directly in any war in my lifetime. Indirectly, yes, with the supply of weapons and strategic information only.
8. By contrast, America has gone full on into war against communists in Korea and Vietnam in the 1950-60-70s and then political terrorists in Afghanistan in 1980 against the Taliban terrorist administration, Iraq against Iran in the 1980-88 war, Kuwait against Iraq in 1990-91 (the Gulf War), Somalia (1992 - 94), the Balkans conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo (1995-99). Afghanistan (2001-21), Iraq (2003-11), Libya (2011), Syria (2014-26 against the ISIS terrorist administration), Gaza (2023 - 2026), and finally the Iran war (in 2026 and continuing).
And then indirectly involved in supplying weapons in the Iran-Iraq War in 1980-88 and a number of other conflicts.
9. The problem for America is that the younger generations of Americans and other citizens around the world are not into “war games” - today they all want to live in peace.
10. Moreover, a review of the results of the wars America has fought since 1950 - every war has been lost if you value human life and value money. I shall leave it to the reader to research, but the human life lost in the Vietnam War, the war with Iraq, on the call of Iraq possessing “weapons of mass destruction” but never found, and the departure in January 2021 of troops from Afghanistan with people literally “hanging onto the wings of aircraft”. And now a “pathetically planned war” with Iran during a time it was ostensibly renegotiating a non-nuclear arms treaty it had signed in 2014 only to “tear up” in 2018 under Trump and renegotiate in 2026 again under Trump.
11. So America is on a “collision course” with the rest of the world - it has only 2 strategic advantages left as a superpower -
(i) Military bases and continuing to play war games (for the financial benefit of the unnamed super rich).
(ii) The US$ dollar which carried a current-day burden of 40 trillion US debt but a new digital currency US$ dollar supported by a crypto currency “stable coin”.
Both will fail as America and Israel become isolated from the rest of the world from now.
Hopefully with Trump's departure and a new president who is a statesman and who seeks peace and takes a Mandela vision of the world will take the “reigns” in 2029.
Meanwhile the Chinese currency, courtesy of the BRICS arrangement, will gain popularity and increasingly be used as the preferred international currency and take over by 2030.
Then surely it will be time for America, China, Russia and the UK to come together as a “consortium” of a leadership group combined with a rotational smaller group of countries who together form a day-to-day executive of a new chartered United Nations. This newly created “superpower” group should lead for the benefit and Plato public good of all people of the world.
12. International law recognises only 5 countries to possess nuclear weapons under the Non-Proliferation Treaty for Nuclear Weapons (NPT); USA, Russia, China, France and UK.
13. The NPT was effective from the 1st of January 1970 - it drew a line based on who had tested a nuclear device before January 1st 1967. Every other non-nuclear signatory is legally barred from acquiring or developing nuclear weapons.
14. Other states with nuclear weapons are; India, Pakistan and Israel (none of these 3 countries have signed the NPT). The only other country with nuclear weapons is North Korea. North Korea signed the NPT but withdrew in 2003 and subsequently manufactured nuclear weapons.
The above are the relevant facts. Then Iran comes along. Iran was a signatory to the NPT in July 1968 and ratified it in February 1970.
15. From 1971 when the American administration did away with the gold standard and replaced it with fiat money “debt”, money has been simply printed and debt has exploded.
16. In 2026 the total GDP of all states in the world is US$100 trillion dollars and the total debt of all states in the world is US$300 trillion.
17. Initially, with the discovery of oil and gas in the Middle East in the 1950s, the US$ dollar became the world reserve currency (at the same time as it became the policeman of the world and a military power) with the petrodollar arrangement. Whereby oil and gas from the Middle East was bought and sold in US$ dollars and Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries used the US$ dollar receipts to buy US government bonds and other securities. This arrangement has continued until this day and provides the past and current-day strength to the US$ dollar. Without it, the US$ dollar with its massive 40 trillion dollar debt would be much lower.
At such time Iran was under the control of the Shah of Iran (the Shah replaced a democratically Iranian government in 1953 with the direct support of the US administration and CIA and England and its M16).
A revolution in 1979-80 replaced the Shah with the Ayatollah Khomeini. This revolution was caused by a combination of:
(i) Intense political repression
(ii) Economic instability
(iii)Power of various religious groups and networks
(iv)Forced westernisation
(i) Political Repression
Banned opposition parties. Controlled the media. Developed a “secret police” force (SAVAK). This force routinely imprisoned, tortured and executed political dissidents. The force infiltrated and crushed secular and leftist political parties and saw communism as a greater threat than religious differences.
Foreign Influence
Many Iranians saw the Shah as a puppet of the USA. This was a sentiment that stemmed from the 1953 coup d'état.
Forced Secularisation
The Shah's rapid westernisation programs known as the “White Revolution” alienated the traditional and religious sectors of Iranian society from its political power base.
(ii) Economic Instability
Extreme inequality of its population. The 1970s oil boom brought immense wealth to Iran that primarily benefited the ruling political elite. The gap between rich and poor grew dramatically.
Inflation And Recession
Massive government spending triggered severe inflation in the mid-1970s. Subsequent prosperity measures led to high unemployment and wage freezes (stagflation).
(iii) Power Of Various Religious Groups (Ousted By The Shah)
The Ayatollah Khamenei speaking from exile successfully united the fragmented opposition by framing the anti-Shah movement as a “holy struggle” against tyranny and foreign corruption. He used populist anti-Shah rhetoric (including secular liberals, students, and concealed plans for a strict Islamic-run government.) He promised freedom of speech, political pluralism, and economic justice and failed to deliver on all.
So against the background of the above facts, it is clear to me that the US has simply “meddled” in Middle East social, economic and political issues in Iran since 1953. America should have shown much more compassion and tolerance with and to Middle Eastern countries and its people who had lived in isolation from the rest of the world for around 1000 years and until the discovery of oil and gas in the Middle East after World War II. And from that time it was all about money for America.
America is hence a major reason behind the “evolution” of Iran as a state as it is today for the following reasons:
a. It replaced the democratically elected government in 1953 with the Shah - its “westernising” of Iran led to the imprisoning/murdering of persons in leftist organisations by the newly established Revolutionary Guards under Khomeini.
b. Secular politicians were purged from political office.
c. Iran's first president (Bani-Sadr) was impeached and forced to leave Iran in 1981. d. Millions of secular, educated middle-class Iranians, professionals and leftist intellectuals fled Iran in 1981.
e. Merchants (bazaaris) were pushed aside and the new regime “nationalised” major industries, banks, and foreign trade by forming large tax-exempt religious conglomerates (bonyads) that controlled businesses and the economy.
f. The merchant class found themselves restricted by state price controls, strict labour laws and corruption which transformed them from a core revolutionary pillar into a quiet, heavily monitored opposition group.
g. Political and economic power was consolidated entirely within Khamenei's inner circle of hard-line religious clerics with Khamenei the supreme leader with absolute power. h. A war between Iraq and Iran from 1980-88 in which the USA fought with Saddam Hussein and Iraq against Iran (but still, with its greed or hidden political objective, the US provided weapons to Iran and thereby continued the war for a longer period).
(iv) Forced Westernisation and Subsequent Retribution
In essence, the US established a state base in Iran from 1953-79. When overthrown the US fought with Iraq and Saddam Hussein from 1980-88 against Iran (thanks entirely to the US, as Iraq being much smaller and not as strong as Iran needed its support).
The Direct Consequences of the Iraq/Iran War:
A. Political
(i) Iranians all rallied “around the flag” - immense nationalistic fervour.
(ii) The Iranian regime framed the war as a struggle against foreign invaders and internal traitors. This allowed the state to ban all other political parties and silence the dissenting voices as acts of treason.
(iii)The rise of the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) created initially in 1980 as a small ideological militia to counter the traditional army.
Such grew into a massive, highly structured military force during the 1980-88 war with Iraq.
(iv) By 1988 the IRGC had evolved into a political and intelligence powerhouse that formed the backbone of Iranian state security.
B. Economic
(i) The war debt - hundreds of billions of US dollars.
(ii) Severe inflation and unemployment (stagflation).
(iii) To survive international isolation and US and Western sanctions, the Iranian government took total control over its economy. It introduced a strict coupon rationing system for basic goods and nationalised massive parts of the private sector.
(iv) The cult of martyrdom - this ideology used to motivate 1000s of volunteer fighters, including underage boys, to die for Iran against Iraqi heavily fortified lines (chemical warfare).
C. Social
(i) The Basij mobilisation. The 1980-88 war saw the creation of the Basij - a massive volunteer paramilitary force under the IRGC composed primarily of young, rural working-class religious youth.
It became a pervasive social force enforcing strict Islamic dress code (burqua etc.) morality laws and political conformity.
D. Conclusion
The war ended in 1988 - no borders had changed.
The political elite in both countries strengthened.
Peace settlement brokered by the United Nations.
Ayatollah Khamenei died in 1989. He had transformed Iran from an intense religious ideological state into an institutionalised, pragmatic autocracy. Defined by political factionalism and deep social friction between the conservative old elite and the young educated youth.
Then in 1997 the IRGC capitalised on the political deadlock (between the old conservative wealthy and the young educated poor students and younger members of society) and became the definitive power brokers for the supreme leader.
Economically, after 1997 there were structural changes including privatisation of state industries and reopening of the Tehran Stock Exchange. There were free trade agreements and “open door” agreements/treaties for imports.
There was also a currency crisis and inflation which caused a massive fall in the rial at that time.
Privatisation failed because the military entities and religious groups in control of much of the economy bought the most lucrative and best nationalised assets. Such created a highly corrupt
system of state-backed monopolies which starved the merchants and consolidated wealth within the political elite.
Social
By 1999 more than 60% percent of the Iranian population was under the age of 30 years. They suffered from economic stagflation and political micromanagement. There was a slight relaxation of dress code which created a huge backlash from the old conservative forces and in 1999 there were student protests in Tehran.
Since 2000 Iran has been a country locked in a permanent, systemic political deadlock between a young educated society and an old rigid military theocratic ruling class (a system of government ruled by religious leaders who claim divine authority with legal and social systems based on religious texts, doctrines and tradition rather than secular law and with no separation of church and state).
B. Solution
(i) A new charter for the United Nations - abolish the Security Council with a stronger democratically constituted executive responsible for the day-to-day management of world matters.
(ii) All political systems to be accepted. All religions to be accepted. All persons in the world are equal in standing regardless of race, custom, religion, socio-economic standing.
(iii) America takes a back seat in the “car” along with all other countries in respect to resolving disputes between more than one country and is replaced by the restructured United Nations.
(iv) A “consortium” of countries as agreed becomes the new executive of the United Nations with powers as agreed.
(v) The United Nations creates its own army, navy and airforce to be used primarily for disaster assistance and aid work to improve the quality of life of poor world citizens from the profits derived from international trade and a United Nations world currency (which by evolution will replace both the US$ dollar and BRICS currency).
(vi) America will dismantle all its military bases over a reasonable time - first and foremost the 20 or so military bases in the Middle East.
(vii) Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt will be responsible for working with the extreme Islamic groups including Taliban, ISIS, Hezbollah, Houthis, Hamas, Jihadists, and others and educate and retrain these people into a workforce where these people can provide an improved quality of life for its citizens.
(viii) The leading countries of the world generate an income stream to assist poor third-world and developing nations. All aid “financial and otherwise” is transacted through the United
Nations exclusively. The Management Committee of the United Nations establishes the aid objectives and timelines.
(ix) World peace and prosperity through a world entity of power with a charter to provide economic benefits to all persons and in particular food, shelter and medicine to all persons in the world.
(x) AI is regulated and controlled by a set of “world rules”.
(xi) Likewise, climate change and any other matter which by its importance becomes a “world issue” and not a country issue.