Totalitarianism and Pahlavi

It amazes me how many people fail to grasp just how hard it is for a people to break free of totalitarianism. It isn’t simply oppression from above; it’s a societal-level sickness — a social mania gone chronic, enforced bottom-up as much as top-down, and capable of lasting indefinitely. It’s a massive Prisoner’s Dilemma, and the math strongly favors its persistence.

Only a rare, unpredictable spark can upset that math. And when it does, the narrative that emerges — the rallying cry for freedom — is not something designed or selected by an elite committee or some imagined “freedom command.” It bubbles up from across society, leaderless and unengineered. All one can hope is that the narrative is healthy, not merely another flavor of collectivism or fascism.

Iranians are extraordinarily fortunate that this rallying cry has become “Javid Shah” and has coalesced around Reza Pahlavi. It is hard to imagine a better transitional figure than this Pahlavi.

Which is why the notion that we should hesitate, or shop around for alternative symbols, or avoid “jumping to one leader,” is deeply unwise. It shows no respect for the depth and durability of totalitarianism, no appreciation for how rare it is for an oppressed people to unite behind a single revolutionary narrative, and no recognition of just how lucky Iranians are that their symbol is Pahlavi — rather than any number of leftist, Islamist, or other fascist forces waiting eagerly in the wings.