a letter to mr. future president

[by SD]   Our role in the upcoming presidential elections, a topic I wonder about often as a student living abroad. I do not reside in Iran and have been out of the country for almost ten years. It is difficult to know what’s most important to the lives of Iranians from outside. But I am still and will forever be an Iranian and can still vote here in Berkeley; I would like to hope that my vote matters.

 

There currently seems to be two main choices in Iran’s upcoming presidential elections: Mr. Ahmadinejad and Mr. Khatami, both with previous experience as president!

I think about which one of these candidates is more likely to make life better in my country, in a general sense. Well, it seems that “the quality of life” is highly subjective. To narrow it down: which one is more likely to improve the economy, quality of education (I mean real education), freedom of thought and expression, international relations, and finally the state of our infrastructure and environment? Who is more likely to advocate for ethical practice in various fields? How would either of these candidates advocate for ethics when cheating and bribery are a part of everyone’s daily life from an early age?

 

 

I wish we had more choices and more fresh faces among the possible candidates. But we have to choose one president among the choices that we have got. As an earthquake engineer, I naturally care a great deal about the policies that will be adopted under the next administration influencing the budget spent on improving and retrofitting schools, hospitals, and homes before the next earthquake strikes. There are also other urgent issues that I care about deeply related to education and the economy. So, I write this letter to the next president, whoever it may be, and hope that he will read it carefully and forgive my lack of awareness of other potentially critical problems on his agenda. If he happens to read this, I would like to invite him to join this dialogue and share his ideas with us on TehranShake, of course if he has the time!

 

A letter to my future president:

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Dear Mr. President to be,

 

Congratulations on your decision to run in the upcoming elections. I admire you for your brave decision and for accepting a heavy load of responsibility on behalf of our nation.

I wish you success in your campaign and more importantly in your term serving as president of an important nation. Of course, Iran has a rich history of feeding other cultures with its knowledge, philosophy, and arts, is in a critical geographic location, enjoys a large reservoir of natural wealth and human talents. Iran has a large population of talented youth and excellent institutions committed to their training and future growth. Yet, as you are definitely well aware, many things can be improved. The existing issues facing our nation make your job a most critical one for the future of the region and of the world. I am sure that you have your own agenda and priorities, but as an Iranian student living abroad I, along with many others, have the following requests for your office to consider in the coming years. If you or people who control your decisions disagree with any of these requests, I would be happy to discuss them further:

 

1.     I request that you work toward more freedom of thought and expression in academic and non-academic settings. It seems that Iran has a history of battling with criticism. Most people don’t like to be criticized of course, but our country cannot improve without allowing minds to speak and criticize one another. This is key to your success as the next president of Iran.

 

2.    I request that you place a higher priority on self-improvement programs than on supporting neighboring nations in the next four years. This is not a naive request and it does not ignore the advantages of supporting certain nations for growing Iran’s power in the region. However, that sort of approach is not sustainable. Iran needs to become a strong country internally first. I would like to see a strong vision for improving the backbone of our economy, industry, and education. The budget for that could come from the budget that is currently allocated to supporting other nations.

 

3.    I request that you advocate for spending more budget toward improving our infrastructure and retrofitting important buildings in every city to prepare for future earthquakes. Bam seems to be a forgotten case in hand. Cities similar to Bam, and most importantly Tehran, are in severe danger.

 

4.    I request that you adopt appropriate policies addressing the global need for safe, sustainable, and environmentally friendly designs for our infrastructure. I am particularly concerned about the quantity of dams built in the country every year. I would like to see government support for high-quality research on the long-term environmental effects of these dams in various locations. Perhaps different alternatives should be considered that are not only more sustainable and economical, but also prevent burying our rich history underneath. 

 

5.    I suggest that you take advantage of the talents inside and outside of Iran more vigorously. Many of us have great ideas that can help you succeed in your goals and it would be a pity to shame away from the creativity and energy of youth in our country. Perhaps you can start an online network that would connect your office with young professional Iranians around the world through which you can mobilize their ideas on different issues and work together to bring in real change.

 

6.     I request that you support and advocate for internationally recognized research in different critical fields and provide more funding and scholarship to all the universities in Iran. The quality of education needs to be improved in terms of teaching, research opportunities, and research facilities. Perhaps you can create a committee that focuses on attracting and properly paying better professors and meeting the requirements for ranking among other prominent world-class institutions.

 

7.     I request that you spread the wealth and opportunities around the country and not only in Tehran. Most cities in Iran are suffering due to lack of balance in budget allocation, infrastructure, and opportunities. As you are most probably aware, this is a problematic policy for the well-being of the nation as a whole.

 

8.    I request that you bring more female professionals as top members of your cabinet and work toward gender equality in law and work-force. In my opinion, this is one of the most obvious characteristics of any civilized country.

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

Sincerely Yours,

Shideh