Dressing like a socialist???

O.K., first the pre-story: I was invited to a very posh Thanksgiving party, and of course, since it was right after the elections, it had to happen: political talk. And, while I had promised NEVER NEVER to get involved into political conversation at these parties anymore, it still happened. 7 years ago I was insulted by a young kid (okay, he was 20, but mentally probably 2!  ) for being German, for being liberal, for supporting the poor, I think mostly: just for being me. Whatever! Next! So, I said: never again. Mostly when I am at a party where I don’t know peoples opinion, I should just shut up. Some people can not respect others’ thought processes and use insults as their defense instead of building their own arguments.
Well, I was looking for a friend, who was talking to a guest and introduced me to her conversation partner. I faced an attractive gentleman, grey haired; judging from his appearance, he was well educated and came from a good family. He introduced himself and after the normal greetings, our introducer mentioned that I worked in the legal field and that I joined the Democratic Party etc. Basically, the comments you make before the time after the introduction becomes embarrassingly quiet. I think this was the switch. The gentleman lets name him conveniently KS said laughingly that he was a Hard core republican and a B… (grrrr, I can not even write down the name of the current President of this country!!!!) supporter. I told him that I was a hard-core democrat and a very strong believer in Barack Obama. This WAS the switch. Now you can imagine that there was more roasting that evening than just the Turkey in the oven. His and my arguments flew back and forth like a ball in a tennis match. But- in a respectful manner, no fist fighting.  The real story actually started later on. During the conversation with KS, I mentioned that I believed in socialism and that I considered myself a socialist. Now, you probably say: “O.K., big deal, so what?” And you would be absolutely right. But what if I told you that I was standing there with a Japanese pearl necklace, my famous Prada shoes, an Italian designer dress ( I am NOT going to name any more designer labels!!!!- except of course the Prada name…) and an English designer handbag. ) By now you probably raise your eyebrows. EXACTLY! That is my point! Why does my appearance have to do anything with my political opinion? Huh??? I grew up in a socialist country. We believe that no matter how much you make, you keep enough for yourself and give the rest to the ones who were not as lucky as you were. Unlike communism, it does not require that you give everything away. I have a certain budget, and have enough for myself. However, I give approximately 1/3 or sometimes even ½ of my income to charities. What I do not understand is why someone after the party approached me and said:“How do you say that you are a socialist! You are not a socialist.” Someone who has no idea what my ideology in life is and has no idea what I do with my money. Someone, who ignorantly believes that you have to walk around in shags in order to SHOW that you are a liberal or a socialist. These are probably the same people who think that a woman who looks good can not think at the same time. You tell me: what does the outside have to do with the inside? If I showed everyone what I did, would it not rather be for self-pride? Based on the idea: look what I am doing? Instead, I like to give and help quietly. Sure, now I might have come out and admitted it, but my reasons were differently. This compares to those people who believe that you cannot be a Moslem if you are not wearing a burka, or praying in front of people.
Now, to defend that person’s ignorance, I have to say that many people still think this way. It’s really a shame. But my message to that person or to anyone else who might think that way: Sometimes you might work in a certain genre, where you are ‘forced” to dress in a certain manner, where it is expected from you to have a certain appearance. Your clothes might at that time make you to the person that part of society wants you to be but should never change your beliefs. There is no dressing like a socialist, but there is acting and thinking like a socialist!

Famous Iranians: Navid Mostafapour

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