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55.1%ANMag Issue 17 Personal Maintenance
A Country Gone Mad...
By Mohamad Sobh, Contributing Writer
Beirut, Lebanon −I am usually not moved to write except when I undergo exceptional and prolonged periods of emotion, both in the negative and positive senses. Frustration has been plaguing my soul for the past three years, three years that were ostensibly supposed to be valuable in both academic and social aspects. Keeping in mind the context in which we [Lebanese] have all been living in, I acquired more “value” than I bargained for. Thus, I will not engage in giving a rhetoric lecture in the lines that follow (although the title disagrees with what I said), but rather, I shall try to offer a solution, a mitigation of the ridiculously mindless current state of affairs.
Throwing a very rare tantrum while discussing the stagnant situation in our beloved country Lebanon, I was put into check when a dear person said to me, “Do not curse the darkness; make light.” Again I threw a fit about there not being any light, no inkling of hope, yada yada yada. But then the enormity of these seven words hit me, and I realized that this proverb applied to the totality of the present reality.
We have become seasoned veterans when it comes to pointing fingers to lay blame, to cuss and curse, and to shy away from taking responsibility for our actions. Now I use the collective pronoun “we” because it is a first step in taking responsibility for the woes at hand. It is the first stride in making light.
What I will do in this particular article is lay the groundwork and what I think are the most venomous issues poisoning the Lebanese nation. Thus, please pardon me if I overlook some topics which might also seem of equal magnitude to yourself, dear reader. To begin with, I will start on the macro level and then address how that macro dimension adversely affects social values on the individual level.
We live within a broad political framework which is impractically aligned with the best interests of the Lebanese nation. The political system aims to serve sects rather than citizens, aims to benefit certain areas over others, and as a consequence, results in creating tectonic fault lines between the sons and daughters of this illustrious nation. I used this geological allusion for one purpose in the most part, and this is when tectonic plates on the Earth’s surface collide, they bring about earthquakes. On the surface we have this very beautiful depiction of Earth, but underneath, the lava is boiling, and the plates are just itching to collide. Our current situation is very much the same. Tensions are running at their highest levels ever, and the end of the tunnel is nowhere in sight.
A simple translation of what is happening inside most people’s heads is the following: Sectarian fever has become the domineering factor in shaping social values and attitudes, with national identity mostly eradicated or possibly forgotten, lying in the rubble, bleeding and disregarded.
What needs to be done? For starters, there is a clear and present danger from the crooked political system. It requires urgent “de-sectarianization”, if such a word exists in the first place. After this process is complete, and I am not claiming it is an easy feat, there needs to be implemented a nationwide “enlightenment” program, which educates citizens about their country, its history, and its culture. It is process whose primary purpose should be to bring national identity to the forefront of a citizen’s mind, while pushing sectarian fever into the margin, if not effectively erasing it altogether. This is when we will truly enter the era of “Freedom, Sovereignty, and Independence”, a slogan that is also lacking in a few nouns, which we will talk about in the course of the next few articles in our effort of trying to hopefully shed the light and minimize the effect that darkness is having on our daily lives. It is an arduous task, which may take years to plan and years to implement, but nonetheless, we will remain the optimists, failing to succumb to the pitfalls of pessimism and to the impediments thrown in our path. We need to move forward with the plan and not remain tolerable to the status quo, which is harming our souls and polluting our minds. If not for us, then at least we will be making our country a better place for the generations to come.