Word: mcwhirters
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...most Iranians, there could be no turning back. Reported TIME Correspondent William McWhirter: "Tehran in many ways is as bleak and lifeless as a dead planet, but it is surprising how little four months of strikes and almost complete economic denial have affected the majority of the population. Paradoxically, the poorest seemed to be faring the best, perhaps because of their access to community food cooperatives and neighborhood organizations. When asked about the 'economic ruin' of his country, Tehran's Ayatullah Taleghani replied firmly: 'We do not mind at all that the economy is destroyed...
...Added McWhirter: "That is essentially why any remaining opposition miscalculates not only the momentum of the movement, but its deep and broad-based commitment to making profound social changes that will make any return to the past impossible. Observed an ex-army officer imprisoned for 15 years under the Shah: 'The people are ready to starve themselves before they give in. They've already gone so far in self-sacrifice. They are determined...
...local grocer in Tehran told McWhirter that the panic hoarding of past months had ceased. "People have changed their spirit," he said. "There is nothing we are afraid of any more. Before, the old government told us to charge ten tomans ($1.30) for a box of sweets and we charged twelve. Now Khomeini says to charge ten and we charge nine...
There was nothing, in short, that would become the Shah's reign so much as his leaving it-and swiftly at that. Despite the country's financial disarray and their many personal hardships, reported TIME Correspondent William McWhirter from Tehran last week, most Iranians seemed confident that their revolution would succeed. Even among the wealthy or those once loyal to the Shah, there was growing respect for a revolution that had been brought about, not through arms, but through civil disobedience and the sustained withdrawal of labor. Said an Iranian civil servant, himself still loyal to the Shah...
From Persepolis, where in 1971 the Shah celebrated the 2,500th anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire TIME Correspondent William McWhirter reported that Iran already seemed to be functioning as a country without a king. Most people seem to be looking forward to a genuine social revolution, albeit with some misgivings. "We want freedom, freedom, freedom-what's reactionary about that?" protested one Iranian hospital worker. Added a welding-shop owner thoughtfully: "The Shah's leaving is only the first stage. It will not be easy. There will be lots of hardships...