Protest movements have broken out against the oppressive regimes in Iran and China. Young Iranians posted their reasons for rebelling under the hashtag Baraye, meaning “because” and the singer-songwriter Shervin Hajipour compiled many of these reasons into a song of the same title that has become an anthem of the Iranian movement and an inspiration to those fighting for freedom around the world. One line in particular stands out. Young people are rebelling because of their “yeaning for an ordinary life”—for the opportunity to lead lives of the sort many around the world take for granted. By historical standards such “ordinary lives” are extraordinary, and indeed the way of living that freedom fighters long for has not been fully realized, even in the freest and most prosperous societies. It is a way of life that is demanded by human nature, such that the best among us and the best within us yearn for it, often without being able to define it or chart a course towards it. In this talk hosted by the Salem Center at Univesrity of Texas, Austin, Dr. Brook articulates the object of this yearning, discusses how it animates the movements in Iran and China, and draws implications for the fight for freedom in these countries and around the world.

00:00 Intro
00:20 Iranian protest song Baraye
02:50 Death of Mahsa Amini starting protests in Iran
09:18 Protests in China
18:24 Exodus from Cuba, Russia and Venezuela
20:04 Price paid by the protesters
26:24 Yearning for an Ordinary Life
30:34 Why do we have freedom?
34:55 What happened 250 years ago?
37:30 Reason, see http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/reason.html
39:27 Individualism, see http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/individualism.html
39:55 What is Freedom?, see http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/freedom.html
42:32 Enlightenment
45:40 Noble cause for freedom
Live Questions:
49:41 Israeli–Palestinian conflict
52:29 Western companies doing business in China
1:00:48 Western press coverage of those uprisings
1:06:37 Fall of the Berlin Wall
1:11:44 Silence towards Iran
1:12:42 Civil Rights Movement
1:18:56 Moral culpability of US
1:20:34 Covid lockdowns
1:23:21 Self-esteem
1:27:10 Is freedom necessary progression of any society?
1:31:55 Property rights
1:35:21 Way to improve western system
1:40:10 Minority neighborhoods
1:42:10 How to influence political decisions?
1:46:00 Outro
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“Because of Yearning for an Ordinary Life” The Fight for Freedom Yaron Lectures