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Back to Basics…Back to Reality
By Zeina Elkaissi, Staff Writer

 

Beirut, Lebanon - Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory is studied in management courses with a sleepy audience who usually misses to notice its importance or, in this case, its relevance to the Lebanese and the system they live in. Maslow shed light on the basics of human development and progression, two functions Lebanon is much in need of and unfortunately lacks. According to Maslow, as humans http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human meet “basic needs,” they seek to satisfy successively “higher needs” that occupy a set hierarchy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchy.

This hierarchy is depicted as a five-level pyramid that starts at the bottom with physiological needs such as the need to breathe, eat, drink water and so on. It is important to note here that it is the 21st century, and the individual in Lebanon is only able to meet these needs. 

The second level consists of the safety needs such as security of the body, of employment, of resources, of morality, of the family, of health and of property. In this level, our country’s deficiency in providing these basics becomes apparent. The Lebanese today do not have the simple comfort of  providing security for their own bodies or that of their family members, with assassination dangers lurking in the distance, bomb explosions and lately, war outbursts. They cannot ensure employment or the consistency of it in the case of those who work in areas were protests are an everyday activity; they cannot rely on resources such as electricity or even water in some areas, and they cannot rest assured that there property will be their safe haven when even it is subject to loss such as those properties that vanished during the recent war. The unfortunate reality is that the Lebanese are stuck at the second level of the pyramid unable to progress further before they satisfy its needs.

However, it would be nice to know what the remaining levels look like (or more accurately, what the Lebanese are missing out on) as the person progresses. The third level consists of satisfying the love/belonging needs through friendships, family and sexual intimacy. The Lebanese somehow have managed to satisfy this need of belonging in a destructive manner through the obsessive need to belong politically to a certain group and religiously to a certain sect. Maslow did not have this type of belonging in mind when he set this third level. On the contrary, he meant it to be a bridge that would bring the individual closer to satisfying the growth needs which come at a later level. The Lebanese version of the belonging need, when satisfied, leads to upheaval, contempt and never ending vicious political and sectarian cycles.

The fourth level is the satisfying of esteem needs such as the need to be respected http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respect to have self-respect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-esteem and to respect others. Here people need to engage themselves in order to gain recognition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recognition and have activities that give them a sense of contribution and self-value. Well, to begin with, the Lebanese have proven their strong inability to show respect to opposing points of views and anyone who carries them. They are barely able to handle their low paying jobs, not to mention, indulging in “activities,” and their self esteem is constantly being battered as they realize how little hope for a better future there is, both for themselves and for their loved ones.

The final level of the pyramid is fulfilling self-actualization needs, which are the instinctual need of humans to make the most of their abilities and to strive to be the best they can. In previous levels, the individual was satisfying needs that must be met, while this level includes needs that enable that individual to grow. Examples of the characteristics of people at this level include the ability to embrace the facts and realities of the world rather than denying or avoiding them: creativity, objectivity, and problem solving. Maslow believes that by satisfying this final level, people are reaching their fullest potential.

What a developed society a self-actualized one is. What a pity that the Lebanese (still stuck at the second level) have such high potential to fit these characteristics but are prevented from doing so by a system that cannot provide basic primitive requirements that come second only to breathing and eating and by their self destructive tendencies that prohibit them time and again from working hand in hand as a well intact society, rather than a collection of sub-societies working against each other to no particular avail. Since the basic concept of Maslow’s theory is that the higher needs in this hierarchy only come into focus once all the needs that are lower down in the pyramid are mainly or entirely satisfied, then the reasons behind the Lebanese society’s coma-like status and inability to progress and develop go back to the basics. Only when these basics are satisfied will the Lebanese mind be freed from its worries and able to soar high with the potential it undeniably possesses.