Democracy or Demo Crazy

by Seyed Mehdi Shojaee, Caroline Croskery (Translation), Negin Etesabian (Cover Illustration)

The government has changed from a monarchy to a democracy by order of a king who had ascended to the throne by succession. While the people have now attained the right to vote, the only candidates are the king's twenty-four sons, who will each serve for terms lasting two years. In the successive reign of each brother, oppressi on and injustice abound, and they spend their terms feasting, pillaging and plundering the country as much as possible, lining their pockets with enough cash to live out their days in luxury. Each time heading up to the new election, the people take refuge in their wishful thinking that the administration of the "next" prince will make things better. But things never change. The princes had all inherited their grandfather's first name, "Demo" as a prefix to their names. The king had named his twenty-fifth son who was lacking in both appearance, intelligence and character, Demo C'est Assez (meaning Demo "is enough") but this last prince became known among the people instead as Demo Crazy because of his devious mind and volatile behavior. In an effort to deny any of the twenty-four brothers a second chance at the throne, the people finally decide to vote for prince number twenty-five, Demo Crazy, who is in no way considered qualified for the position. The people actually do not believe that he will win, but they vote for him because they believe that he will most likely be the least brutal, and less of a tyrant than any of the other brothers. Demo Crazy forms a circle of cohorts and enacts h is own Demo Crazian principles which consist of a combination of oppression and deception of the masses. He embarks upon a mission to destroy the country, playing off his actions as a "service" to the people. As it turns out, he i s really in fact an enemy agent, who after ultimately fleeing his own country and ta king refuge in enemy lands, surrenders his nation to them. The behavior and documented speeches of Demo Crazy are truly astonishing, and even more unusual are the laws and regulations he exercised in ruling over his country. The question of whether or not the standard and conventional democracy in the world today is predicated upon the principles and methods that Demo Crazy carried out in this book is presented only as food for thought and not as a steadfast claim. The answer to this question will be left for the reader to decide.

204 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2015

About the author

Renowned author Seyed Mehdi Shojaee was born in 1960 in Tehran. He is famous for his outstanding books on spiritual themes. After obtaining his high school diploma in mathematics, Shojaee entered the Dramatic Arts Faculty where he was conferred a Bachelor's Degree in Dramatic Literature. Simultaneously, he studied Political Science at Tehran University's Faculty of Law and Political Science, but left his studies unfinished to pursue a career in writing. At the age of 20, his early works were published as serial stories in newspapers. For the next eight years, he worked as Cultural Editor of the Persian daily Jomhouri-e Eslami Newspaper and for another eight years subsequent to that as Editor-in-Chief at the monthly Sahifeh.
Seyed Mehdi Shojaee has authored a number of plays and scripts. He has translated and written over 100 books for children and young adults. During 1986-1996, he was a juror for the Fajr International Film Festival, the Esfahan International Festival of Film and Video for Children and Young Adults, the Fajr International Theatre Festival and the National Press Festival. He is an Iranian cinema and theatre critic. He was on the Board of Directors of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults for some years.
He has written a play script on the life of the Martyr Mostafa Chamran for a TV series as well as a play script about Joseph for the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. Among other scripts authored by Seyed Mehdi Shojaee are "Badouk", "Father" (directed by Majid Majidi) and "Bat's Eye." Some of his religious works include "Sun in Veil", "Father, Love and Son," "The Berthed Ship," "Two Pigeons," and "Two Windows." He is the founder of Neyestan Book Publishing House which has been a reputable Iranian publisher of the works of contemporary writers and poets since 1987. (Amazon)

Reviews

[Apratim Mukherjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book written by an Iranian author in Persian which was translated to English.The theme seems inspired by George Orwell's Animal Farm. As some impact has been lost in translation,I am deducting a star.On the positive side,the book exposes flaws of democracy which many writers in general don't write about.Basically the whole story is about how dictators rule and how they fall.For anyone interested in Iranian literature or political sattires,this is a "good read".

[Nozar ghazi · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good discription&story of iran president in a period of time....!

[Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t read a book quite like this one before. Seyed Mehdi Shojaee offers incisive critiques of democracy in practice. More importantly, he seems to de-exceptionalize these critiques by emphasizing that both the rulers and people are “typical.” He critiques short-term limits (“it is completely obvious that when a person comes into power for a limited and set period of time, he will try to acquire the greatest amount of wealth in the shortest period of time ensuring that he won't be empty-handed on rainy days”). He communicates why oppressed groups may favor a dictator from their own group (“People who lived a whole lifetime in ignominy, contempt, and abjection ... Well, who was responsible for them reaching a circumstance beyond their dreams? It is only natural for them to love their new king with all their hearts and support him with all their being.”) He illustrates how psychological inertia allows people to accept an unjust status quo (‘People will get used to it.' “Don't forget! This sentence is the key to the implementation of all of our plans, policies, and decisions.”) He also discusses private versus public meetings, the importance of “the enemy” and the homeland, the weaponization of religion and imperial conquest.

This book reminds me of 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, but it's distinct in that it clearly comes from an Eastern perspective. The examples Shojaee uses are different from those in Western writing and he frequently breaks the 3rd wall, speaking directly to the reader. He also uses satire, which I found to be a potent (and fun!) tool. Because the book is satire instead of argument, you never knows exactly what Shojaee thinks, but you can guess his opinions. It's a generous tool: the book is designed to provoke thought, but not necessarily tell you what to think.