Spring: Either in Revolution or in Prison

Spring: Either in Revolution or in Prison

As the scent of spring fills the streets of Iran, so too does the stench of poverty and misery rise from the empty tables of the people. Nowruz, once a celebration of nature’s rebirth and a time of hope, has become a bitter reminder of soaring prices, economic stagnation, and financial ruin. For many, the new year is not a time for joy but rather a deeper descent into debt and despair. But who is responsible for this crisis? And more importantly, what path remains for the people?

The Cost of Living: More Expensive Than Death

Each passing year, the people’s tables grow emptier. Rice, fruit, legumes, and even fresh herbs are no longer daily essentials but luxury items. Runaway inflation and the collapse of the national currency have made life unbearable for the working class and even for the middle class. According to statistics, the inflation rate has continuously risen in recent years, reaching 47.7% in 2022 and 52.2% in 2023.

However, this economic catastrophe is not merely the result of external sanctions or internal mismanagement; it is the product of a corrupt economic system that prioritizes its survival over the well-being of the people. The regime has taken the people hostage through crippling taxes, skyrocketing exchange rates, and the elimination of direct and indirect subsidies. Banks hand out loans with usurious interest rates, but the money ultimately ends up in the pockets of regime elites, funding luxury real estate purchases in Europe and Canada.

The “Neutral Class” No Longer Exists

Among those affected are small business owners and merchants who once formed a so-called “neutral class”—a group that avoided direct confrontation with the regime while trying to navigate the system. Today, they can no longer afford to play this game. Crushing debt and financial collapse have pushed them toward the ranks of the poor, leaving them with only two options: submission to the ruling class or rebellion against it.

The regime is well aware that a relatively stable middle class could become a powerful force for change. Therefore, it systematically pushes this class either into submission or into poverty through economic pressure. This is a common strategy among authoritarian states—keeping the middle class so burdened by survival that they are too exhausted to resist.

Revolution or Prison? There Is No Other Choice

Today, workers, teachers, retirees, and even small business owners find themselves at a crossroads, facing only two options:

Submission and endurance:

Continuing to live under ever-worsening conditions, while the regime brutally suppresses any protest and eliminates even the smallest possibility of reform. In the end, many will drown in debt and land in prison.

Revolt and transformation: Refusing to accept this cycle of poverty, exploitation, and humiliation.

If the people do not rise up and protest , everyone—business owners, workers, and professionals alike—will eventually be crushed under the weight of debt and oppression. Those who once hoped for gradual reform will soon find themselves bankrupt and behind bars. However, if workers, entrepreneurs, and the struggling middle class stand together and join the ranks of the protesters, there might still be a chance for change. But what would this change look like?

Anarchist Strategies for Resistance and Struggle

Unlike those who still cling to the illusion of reform within the system, anarchists advocate for self-organization, direct action, and decentralized resistance. Some of the primary anarchist strategies for breaking free from this crisis include:

1. Workers’ Self-Management

Workers’ self-management—seizing control of workplaces and running them without reliance on capitalists—is a core principle of anarchist struggle. Examples of this can be seen in the Zapatista movement in Mexico and the communes of Rojava.

2. Building People’s Cooperatives and Independent Economic Networks

Rather than depending on the state-controlled economy, people can reduce their reliance on the regime by forming workers’ and production cooperatives, independent markets, and using cryptocurrencies and direct barter systems. These strategies redirect financial control from the Iranian regime back into the hands of the people. Similar models have succeeded in Spain.

3. Decentralized Resistance and Street Struggles

Anarchist movements emphasize that resistance should not be limited to peaceful protests alone. Decentralized resistance means employing a wide range of tactics, from forming local communes to direct action in the streets and self-defense against state repression.

The people have been left with no middle ground—either they rise up, or they will be buried under the weight of oppression. If there is to be a future, it will not come from within the system but from the destruction of its foundations.

4. Boycotts and Widespread Civil Disobedience

Civil disobedience is another powerful tool in the fight against tyranny. Boycotting state policies—from refusing to pay taxes to rejecting government-imposed laws—can gradually weaken and destabilize the regime. The state relies on compliance to sustain itself; mass noncooperation can bring it to its knees.

5. Education and Awareness for Building a Free Society

No change can be truly sustainable without education and awareness.

Anarchists believe that a society must break through the state’s media censorship and foster class consciousness through grassroots education. In this struggle, independent online information networks, the publication of books and educational materials, and local discussion groups play a crucial role in empowering people with knowledge.

Break the Chains, or Rot in Them.

The Anarchists Union of Afghanistan and Iran (Media Section), as part of the self-organized within the Federation of Anarchism Era