Jaber Borran

Category: Society

  • Capitalism vs. Socialism

    I know the following description is not very accurate or maybe not even fair, but sounded very poetic (paraphrasing an unverified source): Modern capitalism: defending and protecting the interests of a small group, an economic class that, while you do not belong to, aspire that someday you will. (Replace “economic” with “cleric”, and you will…

  • Autocracies Thrive on Indifference: A Personal Reflection

    Autocracies thrive on indifference not fear. And autocrats benefit more from those who don’t care than those who are scared. I know this first hand. It’s true that I was only 6 at the time of the revolution in Iran that ultimately toppled the Pahlavi regime and handed the reins of power to the Islamic…

  • Smarter, or Better?

    They say “God created human beings in his own image.” I will not opine on the meaning or even the definitions of the terms in this statement, nor on its implications. But one thing I can say for sure, based on the observations of the current state of humanity and how flawed us human beings…

  • Not Just a Right, But Also a Responsibility

    To those friends of mine who did not listen to their wiser friends and voted for a lunatic communist Marxist in 2024: I kept telling you that voting is not just a right, but also a responsibility, but you laughed at me and told me things like: “what else? now I am responsible for what…

  • Bias Blinds

    Sometimes ago, a friend of mine expressed, with awe and astonishment, that during the Iranian uprising of 2009, he had witnessed very smart and knowledgeable colleagues support Ahmadinejad. And wondered how it would be possible for someone capable of solving very complex problems in their field of expertise, to not see through the deceptions and…

  • You Die, So That I Can Dance!

    Losses are difficult. I don’t have any children and I don’t claim to understand how difficult it can be to lose your child. I don’t mean to be insensitive, or draw any inappropriate parallels or comparisons either. But we have lost two dog boys. And I have felt the physical pain of sadness (yes, physical…

  • Minimum Wages

    My rather extreme liberal political and socio-economic leanings are no secret. But, like most others, I have very close friends with vast amounts of knowledge on different subjects and impeccable critical thinking abilities in their professional field, but somehow obsessed with the following two things: And, in recent years, this obsession has gone insofar as…

  • The Gold Card

    The Trump “Gold Card,” a new, fast-track U.S. residency program is finally launched. It allows wealthy foreigners to “gift” $1 million (or $2 million for corporations) to the government for expedited permanent residency and a path to citizenship. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated the program aims to attract “top of the best” immigrants who significantly…

  • Cruelty Is the Point, Not a Side Effect

    USDA emailed grocery stores around the country telling them not to offer special discounts or deals to SNAP recipients amid the freeze, warning that doing so would violate the program’s “Equal Treatment Rule.” That rule requires stores to sell eligible food items to SNAP-EBT customers at the same prices and under the same conditions as…

  • A Ponzi Scheme, or an Insurance Policy?

    So the genius billionaire co-president believes that the Social Security Program is “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.” Actually, I take it back. While he may not be as smart as many believe he is, I don’t think he is as dumb as he pretends to be either. I am fairly confident that he…