The Iranian people have accepted more than ever that they need to make some changes in their life styles in order to advance their country. As the process of accepting the need for a universal change in public life style, pathology has begun to identify problems and provide a formula for reforming Iranian life style.
Dr. Mahmoud Sariol-Qalam, a professor at Shahid Beheshti University who is one of the leading professors in the field of development of the country, believes that the lifestyle of any nation cannot be challenged because life style is the result of the accumulation of a nation's historical experiences.
Iranian Lifestyle cons
In this regard, the first comparison that can be made about the Iranian lifestyle and all developed countries, and, contrary to the claims that are generally made among us, that the average Iranian people are friendly with environment. They have a deep interest in the world and in wealth, but on the artistic and adorable way. Because of that, you could see many old house accommodation in Iran that were designed friendly to the environment. Although there were some luxury boutique hotels in Iran that followed the same path as well.
The second point is that part of our culture is a repetition of moral and religious teachings. On the one hand words like humanity, God, the Prophet, purity, conscience, love, honesty, dignity, truthfulness and duty are constantly used, but the question is, what are these words reflecting in our lives and actions? The reflection of ethics, spirituality and humanity in our lives and practices is very limited. Surely no nation in the world speaks of morality, spirituality and humanity as much as the Iranians; on the other hand, the reflection is very limited in our lives and practices. This is the first critique that has come into Iranian life style. It looks so morally, but it is inwardly material. An example of this can be a house accommodation in Iran which enjoys Islamic design.
The third criticism of the Iranian way of life is that, compared to other nations, the share of fun and amusement and the long and numerous gatherings are high. For example, there used to be many gatherings in Old Iranian houses or in some hotels in Iran which people started a party to enjoy their free time. In another word Iranians have a lot of free time in contrast of developed countries. I'm not saying that all Iranians have these traits, but most of them have these traits both inside and outside of the country.
The fourth critique is that our lifestyle is highly self-centered. We are more interested in our privacy and more interested in our wealth than the whole nation. It is because people believe that if one thinks socially, one will not do much of achievement. In general, we are educated wrongly in the family, school, and society so that we do not look up for the social or the public.
I believe that in this geography where we live, two concepts have not yet formed between us. One is that we do not yet have a developed country and a society. We are some people who are living in the same geography with shared traditions and morals. In sociology, society is defined as one in which some people share common goals and orientations. We have not reached that stage yet. Perhaps one reason is that we have been an empire, so I believe we have not yet become a nation. Of course we are a nation; we are Iranian and we speak Farsi and have rich literature, ancient history and a vast land. These are all indicators of a nation. However, we are a country but not a nation.
It is a serious question whether all the activities that we Iranians do turn into social capital, national wealth and global prestige. Then we can say that we have an effective lifestyle and we have been able to increase these variables quantitatively and qualitatively. Each of us can respond to these based on our conscience. Our lifestyle has the serious disadvantage of being self-centered and there are many examples to illustrate this. For example; in Old Iran, rich families used to build luxury houses in Iran, palaces and so on. Most of them had many house accommodations in Iran but they choose to stay at a luxury hotel in Iran while traveling.
