Waves of doubt | Why are Iranians encouraged to be consumerists? / A dangerous bomb that threatens Iranian society!

Fars News Agency-Media Group: In the previous programs of “Waves of Doubt”, we discussed various issues about Persian-language media abroad. In the new episode of this program, which aired in collaboration with Fars News Agency and Radio Ghofgoo, the “behavior of foreign media in creating a tendency towards consumerism and extravagance and ways to deal with it” were discussed.

In this roundtable, Dr. Zohreh Sadat Nabavi (university lecturer and family counselor), Dr. Mohsen Hemmatinejad (documentary filmmaker, media activist and PhD in communication) and Hojjatoleslam Dr. Abbas Roozmeh (university lecturer and researcher in the field of culture and media) were interviewed. It follows:

** What is the reason for the strong promotion of Western and consumerist lifestyles in Iranian families by foreign media?

Hemmatinejad: When we talk about foreign media, we mean a media-military arrangement to impress the audience and a public media war that is a kind of behavior building. Part of the battle is to impress the audience to hit on energy resources. Just as in a military war the energy infrastructure of a country is destroyed, so it is in a media war; One way to eliminate energy resources in a country is to encourage the people of that country to abuse energy, because it increases energy consumption and therefore the need to produce more energy, which in turn leads to dependence and increased costs. And eventually that country becomes economically paralyzed. If we see the enemies focusing on promoting extravagance through the dissenting media, this is their goal in order to hit the energy infrastructure in the country. When we talk about culture, it includes a set of behaviors, actions, reactions, communications, etc .; Culture also includes proper production, distribution and consumption. The Western media starts from a series of cultures to destroy a culture and create a new culture, and over time, it gives a different shape and quality to our culture as a whole. As a result, the cultural situation becomes such that, for example, if in the past extravagance was in the consumption of an ugly thing, now it becomes a good thing.

Part of this change happens through cultural industries such as movies, series, programs, communications, and so on. Enemies, by studying and recognizing a society and the culture of a country, identify its vulnerabilities and understand how or with what behavior they can influence the culture and values ​​of a society. For example, using one type of makeup may be ugly and negative at first, but over time it becomes a common behavior and culture.

** Countries that happen to be among the developed countries themselves have a culture of contentment and pay a lot of attention to the culture of work and effort. When we pay attention to our own cultural past, we Iranians have had this culture as well. But why do not we see this kind of culture and lifestyle among our compatriots today?

Nabavi: Yes, basically the basis of our thinking as Iranians, who also relied on the throne of Islam, was that according to the wisdom of 57 Nahj al-Balaghah, contentment is wealth and wealth that never disappears, and this has been a dominant thought among Iranians. So we must first see where this vile and unbelievable souvenir has been imposed on us. It is the source of consumer culture from Europe and America. Of course, I will say that they themselves had a way of contradicting what their media giants are propagating to us. In 1907, a man named Pate argues in a book that you have no right to invite people to contentment and saving, and that you should encourage people to consume more. This method was formed under the shadow of the same post-Renaissance thinking that established a humanist and human-centered thinking versus God-centered; Humanism is that man must achieve whatever he wants in the material world without any limits. This thinking is below the capitalist thinking that profit must be provided under any circumstances. That is, the cycle of production, consumption, more profit, more production must be formed. To maintain this cycle, the media and advertising had to be used to change human tastes and symptoms in order to consume more. Westerners started these changes in their own countries, even though their energy resources are small and sometimes zero, and they have to import energy resources. Therefore, they came to the conclusion that they should change their target countries. As a result, they went on to lead their citizens to greater contentment and effort through propaganda and cultural packages, because with the power of the media and the propaganda giants at their disposal, they could easily achieve their goals through developing countries. کردن. That is why it must be said that consumerism is an uninvited guest in our lifestyle. But the question is, why are we failing in this area and not being able to return to our origin as we should and perhaps? The answer is that it comes from our cultural and media trends. The Europeans moved with the power to change us towards consumerism, the pursuit of capitalist interests and the fulfillment of humanistic thinking, and in contrast we are very weak and unplanned! Of course, I must say that European countries are far from consumerism, it is not an absolute thing in those countries and especially among the common people, but propaganda is in a way that has empowered people in this area. I think that our only solution is to return to the Islamic-Iranian way of life, and this will not be achieved unless with a careful and in-depth planning and study in the field of culture, in which the media can be very effective.

** What pests does the change of lifestyle towards consumerism and extravagance have in the economic and security fields, etc., and what are the effects and consequences, and what should be done to deal with it?

Abbas Rozmeh: In religious texts and narrations, there is a lot of advice to deny extravagance and consumerism; One of these hadiths is from the Holy Prophet of Islam, whose God deprives the extravagant of His blessings. But the social consequences of extravagance also affect the extravagant, and God has said in the Qur’an that God does not like extravagant people. This in itself should be a reason for us not to waste. Foreign networks understand this better than we do, and when a program is shown on a satellite network in which several models of food are served and all of it remains, this kind of lifestyle is formed subconsciously in the mind of the audience. And he tries to adapt to that style and thinks that extravagance and consumerism mean luxury and high-class life. But the extravagant, in addition to being tormented in terms of religious belief, must expect other consequences. Like famine and shortage of some food items. Many of us today are miles away from the religious lifestyle, even in how we consume water. Although economists have to comment on this, part of the cost is due to our high consumption. This is while even apart from Islam, Iranianness shows how much our people were opposed to extravagance in the past. Opposition media know that consumerism and extravagance are our Achilles heel, and if this behavior continues, there is no need to destroy our country with bombs and missiles, but consumerism itself is a cultural bomb that will destroy families and lives over time. . If we do not come to ourselves and do not understand where this behavior is hitting us, we may even suffer from famine. Before reaching this stage, it is better to practice moderation and moderation in consumption.

** Opposing media do their job according to their definitions and goals and no other is expected of them. But what happened that changed the taste of Iranians so quickly?

Hemmatinejad: This was not very fast, but it is like an iceberg, most of which is hidden, and it has taken years, and now it has appeared, and after its appearance, its speed has increased. This process, which is happening fast now, has a long hurdle that has worked in the long run with hidden and overt plans on people’s attitudes, thoughts and tastes. For example, some satellite networks broadcast a lot of ads in the middle of programs or movies. From cosmetics to drugs and whatever they can, they promote cultural aggression. One of the methods that Western and Eastern theorists have theorized for many years to attack Islamic countries is to normalize a series of issues through these programs and propaganda. They have been doing this for years, and today the ground has been prepared for dumping their products in the community. The more consumption there is in a society, the greater the need for raw materials. Raw materials are imported from a number of countries, and when you need them, there is domination. New colonialism is one of its methods through cultural products that has destructive effects. This even plays a role in a category like drought; Western media in the type of consumption and planting of agricultural products encourage products that belong to them. Due to the fact that our land has always been dry, we had rain-fed crops, but when we turn this crop into water, water resources are wasted and the problem of water shortage arises within a few years.

** What has happened that today we have made rapid progress in areas such as the use of cosmetics, cosmetic surgery, throwing away food, etc., and what is the solution to deal with it?

Nabavi: Perhaps some audiences think that Islam is opposed to welfare and comfort and pleasure. But the Qur’anic verses reject this notion. Islam is a religion of balance, and if we reject consumerism, we mean extremist consumption. If we say that we are against the Western networks, it is because they have emptied man of the lofty goals that have been created for him, and they have put only the season of al-Khattab for human life in more splendor and consumption.

To deal with any issue, we must first pathologize; For example, we have to see what the Western media and any phenomenon that has taken us away from the desired lifestyle have been targeted. One of the tasks of these media outlets is to first empty the person of his or her beliefs that give him or her character, and such a person is the best way to receive anti-values. The question is, what should we do in the face of such a current? The truth is that the media can reconcile human beings with themselves. Many of us are empty of ourselves and do not know what our purpose is. Usually, people turn to luxury life for pride, who are deprived of the transcendent existence and think that luxury life brings them personality. But if the transcendent position of man is established for many people and human society, the promotion of personality and human dignity can be one of the long-term solutions to deal with this issue.

** It seems that as Ms. Dr. pointed out, our media should narrow the field for foreign media and even defend the practice by using rich religious sources and going back to the various examples that exist in the Islamic and Iranian lifestyles. کردن. What is your suggestion?

Hemmatipour: We have a rich culture that is both Iranian and Islamic in which there are all the instructions. By referring to them, we will surely succeed. We certainly do not have to wait for the media to do this. Although the media is one of the sectors that can be effective, it should not be limited to that. Instead, guilds, industries, manufacturers, distributors, service providers and service recipients should make Islamic-Iranian lifestyle guidelines their top priority. If this is observed, not only can no foreign network and enmity infiltrate us and influence us, but we can influence other cultures and export our culture.

According to Fars, the program “Waves of Doubt”, which is a specialized discussion on the nature of Persian-speaking media, on Sundays and Tuesdays at 4:00 PM for 60 minutes on the network’s antenna at FM 103.5. Goes MHz.

This program is produced by Seyedeh Fatemeh Shaar, coordinated and narrated by Akram Oveysi, made by Elaheh Mostafavi and performed by Dr. Davood Faridpour with the participation of Fars News Agency’s Art and Media Service.

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