Iran is a country in the Middle East that has a vast history of about two thousand five hundred years BC. There have been conflicts between Iran and the western countries. The conflicts have resulted in the loss of lives of many people, thereby affecting the economy of the countries involved. Many people believe that people in Iran have a large number of issues related to insecurity and human rights abuse. This has made groups of people such as the human rights activists, journalists and tourists visit the country to get first-hand information on the actual situation there. This essay will mainly look into the views and observations of Rick Steve on his Iran tour.
Rick Steve travels to Iran, a country with an approximate population of eighty-four million people. He is interested in learning about Iranian culture and history. In addition to this, he also intends to investigate the state of women’s and children’s welfare. Many Iranians believe that content from the western media has always made their culture look unrealistic (Jin 156). This made the Iranian government do a background check on Rick Steve before allowing him to enter the country. For security purposes, Steve and his team are also provided with a tour guide whose job is to follow and monitor every film they make in Iran. The tour guide is assigned to them by the Ministry of Islamic Guidance in the travel agency and acts as a representative of the government.
Many people in the world see Iran as a country that does not consider or respect the basic human rights and freedoms of its citizens. In the US, eight out of ten people have the same opinion, and this applies to other countries such as Israel. These views on Iran might have been caused by the facts that Iran has a poor reputation in protecting the freedoms and rights of its citizens. Another possible reason for this negative perception from the majority of the world population may be due to Iran’s connection to nuclear manufacturing and its goals to obtain harmful nuclear weapons. However, Rick Steve presents a different perspective on this country. He argues that Iran is suffering from fear which is mainly caused by the negative attitude from other countries. This makes Iranian population want to be stable to defend themselves against other countries’ negative attitudes by obtaining dangerous nuclear weapons.
In Iran, people live in a communist society; they do not value capitalism and the belief in working hard for materialistic gain. This is a contrast to western countries where capitalism and materialism matter. In Iran, the employed portion of the society earns approximately five thousand dollars per year, and there are no taxes due to the revenue from the crude oil (Abdelwahed 110). For foreigners in Iran, cash is the only option for financial exchange because using credit cards is prohibited by the government. The Iranian currency is called the rial, and a dollar equates to ten thousand rials. Many hotels in Iran prefer facial tissues to napkins, and one would find boxes of tissues in every corner and table of the dining room. In many countries around the world people are allowed to drink alcoholic beverages in public, whereas in Iran it is strictly prohibited as well. A large majority of their drinks includes malt beverages and coffee.
As for the types of issues that affect people in Iran, it can be stated that the distrust that Iranian people have towards foreigners is one of the main concerns. It prevents them from expanding their outlook and may cause a very narrow and one-sided view on the questions of politics, economics, and other issues. Financial concerns are another major issue of people in Iran. Because of failed financial policies that have taken place over the years, large numbers of Iranian citizens are constantly in the state of unrest and economic insecurity.
Traveling to Iran has helped in broadening the minds of many people around the world. Another country that Rick could visit may be Kenya, as it is ranked among the topmost corrupt countries in Africa. Apart from the corruption, there are also ethnic clashes due to the existence of many tribes with diverse religious and political views. Traveling abroad can help in answering the questions relating to politics, ethnicity, and social conflicts. It can help one understand a given community or country better because the travelers get first-hand information concerning the situation. The existence of conflict in a community or nation can initiate the need for peace in a particular country or community. Therefore, it is right to say that the existence of conflict in a given area can be termed as a stage of achieving peace. The transition would mainly be successful because both the parties involved would know the importance of peace having experienced the conflict.
In conclusion, it can be agreed that traveling to various regions of the world, especially to those with conflicts and issues related to ethnic diversity can help to create a deeper understanding of the situation. This is seen when Rick visits Iran enlightening many people on various topics, such as the religion, culture, and politics of Iran. It is also a form of education and entertainment as the people who take part is such trips get to learn many things and interact with new people.
Works Cited
Abdelwahed, Loujaina. “More Oil, More or Less Taxes? New evidence on the impact of resource revenue on domestic tax revenue”. Resources policy, vol 68, 2020, p. 101747. Elsevier by, doi: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101-747.
Jin, Dal Yong. “Encounters with western media theory: Asian perspectives”. Media, Culture & Society, vol 43, no. 1, 2020, pp. 150-157. SAGE Publications,
Steve, Rick. Rick Steve’s Iran. Rick Steve’s Europe, 2021.