Re:Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';
by denkmoon on Tuesday September 30, 2025 @10:30PM
(#45433713)
I wouldn't call it whataboutism, it's thinking about things from another perspective. It's easy to say other people should take action when things get out of hand, it's entirely another thing to actually take up action against an entity which can crush you and everything you love without a second thought.
I would never expect the average Iranian to take up arms against the Revolutionary Guard, for example. I wouldn't, if it were me. I don't feel such patriotism that I feel responsible for my country's actions. I don't feel that I am personally culpable in any way for, for example, the extrajudicial murders of Afghanis by Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan.
A citizen of any country should feel responsible for the actions of their government, vote, and take action when things begin to get out of hand. Dictatorships are rarely created overnight, they usually begin slowly by gaining support within the population, with the opposing part of the population doing nothing (or not doing enough). And taking the United States example, we are at an interesting point where indeed it seems it is time to do more: organize opposition, demonstrate, organize strikes?