The craze for Western culture persists in all areas: if our children happen to have Western names they feel proud and if they have native names they feel embarrassed and backward. The names of our city streets, shops, companies, drug-stores, bookshops, as well as the writings on materials and other commodities would sound a lot better if they were foreign words, even though those commodities are domestically produced, which will ensure better reception by the people. European-styled mannerisms in every behavior, in social contacts, and in every aspect of our daily living is a source of pride and a sign of being civilized and progressive, and in contrast manifestations of native culture are signs of backwardness and of being old-fashioned. To remedy your illness, however trivial and curable it may be at home, you should go abroad, and thereby belittle and reject your native but capable doctors.
[As the propaganda for western and eastern cultures suggests]. To go to England, France, the United States and Moscow is a source of pride for the Iranian traveler, and to go to Mecca and to other holy shrines for pilgrimage is a sign of backwardness. A lack of concern about religion and its related topics and spirituality is evidence of intellectuality and, in contrast, a commitment to such things is a sign of backwardness and reactionism. I do not claim that we ourselves have everything we need. Obviously, during recent history and especially during the past few centuries they [the foreign powers] blocked our progress in every area, and the treacherous people at the helm, and especially those during the Pahlavi Dynasty, and the destructive propaganda against our native capacities as well as the infusion of the feeling of selfunworthiness, served to block our every effort for technological advancement.
The importation of foreign-made products of whatever category, the induced preoccupation of women and men, especially the youth, with a wide variety of imported goods, including cosmetics, luxury items and childish toys, the pitting of people and families against each other in a race for consumption-it is a sad story- and the pulling of our youth -potentially the most active members of the society- to prostitution and to places for that purpose and for sensual pleasures, as well as tens of other devices, are schemes for keeping the countries backward.
Now that we have largely disentangled ourselves from those traps, seeing the unprivileged present generation rising up to work and contribute to the technological and industrial progress of our country, many of our factories manufacturing such things as aircraft, in the face of initial feelings of their incapacity for turning the wheels of our factories and the feelings of an eventual turning to the West or East for help, our youth manufacturing many parts and components to cope with economic sanctions and the imposed war and offering those items at lower prices than similar foreign-made products and demonstrating the native capacity, by this last will and testament of mine I beg to offer this nation my heartfelt advice against allowing themselves to be lured to the international plunderers and succumbing to the satanic insinuations of the politicians dependent on West and East, and advise them to rise up for ending the remaining symptoms of dependence with diligence, resting assured that the Aryans and the Arabs are not inferior to the Europeans, to the Americans and to the Soviets, and assure them that once they have discovered their true selves [they will] discard self-distrust and the tendency to expect help from others. Certainly, in the long run, you people will demonstrate the talent and the capacity to manufacture absolutely everything, and you are able to go as far as other people, like you have, provided only that you trust in the Blessed and Supreme Lord and have selfconfidence and are committed to the goal of ending your [technological] dependence on foreign countries and are ready to tolerate the burden of hardships for attaining a dignified life and ridding yourselves of foreign domination.
It is incumbent upon governments and people at the helm, now and in the future, to appreciate their own native expertise, cheering them on by their material help and by their moral encouragement, to prevent the inflow of luxury but needless or ruinous products and to help the nation survive with what it has until they make everything they need.
Islamic Revolution in a Snapshot
