All the Shah's Men

I found our discussion in class about the All the Shah’s Men very interesting. It was interesting because most of us agreed that the United States’ government could meddle in other countries’ affairs in ways that contradicts with the state’s values. That is politics, we all say to ourselves but what is history’s purpose if great men always make the same mistakes. Clearly, working within the system or status quo will only get us so far, since abuses occur and no one is held accountable. The world we are living in is full of injustices that countless institutions are established to combat, however the institutions that are supposed to safeguard the people, are reinforcing the pattern by participating or enabling abusers.

When the CIA teamed up with the British intelligence, there was no stopping them. Now that religious extremists are in power in Iran and countless lives have been lost to corruption, torture, and nepotism, no one is held accountable. If reading books like All the Shah’s Men are supposed to enlighten us, what is supposed to strengthen us to take action. Is it the amount of evidence of the system failing the people? Is it the number of occurrences around the world? The number of deaths that have occurred? There is plenty of all three, however history does not seem to stir the masses into action, only a continuously decreasing quality of life will, which brings the next question: how bad does it need to get? I am grateful to have found a basis of proof for my existing biases against the western governments and the institutions they sponsor, now I believe more than ever that hypocrisy runs deeps in its veins.