A friend asked me if start listing the Lebanese problems so we could tackle issues separately. I thought it was interesting and started to list… At problem 37 i threw the paper… It was leading nowhere, as would have any Lebanese political discussion… Obviously I was looking in the wrong place, I was looking elsewhere.
Reconsidering the issue, what if the issue was not properly looked at? it meant that at least part of that problem was my perception of this issue therefore I had part of the solution.. What if the reality that is drawn for me to see as my comfortable zone and drawn to the basis of my need to belong, is… fake.
Here is a scenario: we’re on voting day, you step up to cast your ballot, encouraged by your surrounding and your pragmatic political reading as portrayed. Would you dare to defy it by a change of opinion? Would you dare to vote other than what you think you should? If you simply won’t at least once, that means you simply can’t.
I know the counter arguments… the arguments that keep us “safe” and “protected” because we “Belong” to a group… The arguments like “why should I?” Or “what difference will it make?” Or “will they do it to?” or ”who should I vote for?” and worst is the hate argument “I’ll vote for these because I hate those”. Well reality says you’re right, you shouldn’t, it will make no difference, no they won’t vote otherwise, there is no one to vote for, and yes, we’ll be doomed if they win.
Fact is: Reality Is the shortest path to mediocrity, and in the middle of this mediocrity, we stand with a collectively induced fake pride.
I mean: why not? Why not for a change, put a pause, for four years only, to a never-ending cause? What if we vote elsewhere just because we’re told we shouldn’t; what if we vote for an average human being or for no one, and what if it makes a difference? One thing is for sure, we’re doomed every day we continue the way we are.
Here’s my understanding of our problem: We’re players in a game of pulling cables, the game where the strongest wins by pulling the other towards the mud pit…. what if we let go?… What if we let go simply because we were told to play that game, and we think: maybe we’ve been playing the wrong stressful game? Maybe we’d like to sit and watch.
I think being free is about daring to take, not the winning the choice, but the right one. And being “politically right” is not about showing off with a blind trust in a choice, but instead about keeping that choice always being questioned on every move they make on our behalf. Solving all other issues thereof becomes a consequence.
So here you are again in that voting booth: would you vote as you did last year and nag about it for the next four years or will you pause, think, and innovate?
we know very well where is the problem
1- No eletricity
2- No water
3- No security
4- No house for new couple
house loan 1000$/monthly
salary 600$/monthly…House?
5- scolar fees are so high > that means no more children
6- and for the old people where are their rights
more and more
beautiful Lebanon our country is the best but they dont know how to cure him
so sorry
So sorry indeed Nadine, I feel very saddened by the current situation of our country. And the list you mention is a very rightful one, but it is what was inherited from our war and occupations and who we chose to deal with it since 2005. We choose these leaders they behave egoistically, it back fires.
While I wish we get over these problems soon, i think our part of responsibility (other than make sure we are listened too) is to give chances to new breed of politicians, to take the risk with them, because clearly with our previous (2009) choices we only receive current (2012) results.
Dear Fadi, do you think really that something will change?
I doubt. every one wants to fill their pockets. and make empty ours.
Frankly Nadine, I don’t know…
Fact is we have inherited 40 years of corruption, wars, hatred and feud style leadership so I admit: it is very hard.
But I can tell you this: looking backwards to 1992 & thinking that back then, when forseeing today, many issues were out of the questions. Yet we out lived a Syrian and Israeli occupations, We have also seen 19 militias become somehow 2 political blocks, Emile Lahoud as president then ex-president, and most likely we will out live Nabih Berri
Here is what I truly believe in: I believe that this difficult situation we live in today, makes me free and obliged.
It makes me free to let go of local classical political “follow me” thinking, this same thinking from which this “defaitisme” emerges from, and most importantly it gives me the sense of obligation, obligation not abandon by being present.
Narrowing down to my citizen responsibility, I think it is my duty to lobby and vote, and out of the box, (for me its an independent or white ballot).
Probably by doing so, we might, and i say might, make a difference to our society, but we will surely sleep at peace of having done the right thing.
Hi Sonia, I wish you could be a bit more specific. Tx
Hellllo,
Je ne voterai pas! tout simplement, il n’ y a plus de remplacants au gouvernement y a personne pour qui voter …done ! finish…no added value to be a lebanese citizen…The country does not respect the citizens…and specially not our minister or deputies…(if you want exemples i can share it with you we have tones) WHITE VOTE it’s a waste of time…
NB: The lebanese problem comes from the lebanese people…
by the way stop blaming others…smell the coffee look around you how your neighbour treats you, and how you treat your neighbourhood…
Let’s start there, by fixing the lebanese before judging the people we put on chairs…we are rocking their chairs….good day! i like your blog not enough sincere yet for me
we can spend days writing the people we want them to hear us don’t read 
Bonjour Fabienne,
I think you’re right, most likely the people that we need them to hear don’t read their citizens better than they want to manipulate them, they read instead better their international instructions. But does this make us want to be silent? No. I think it shouldn’t.
I am afraid that either i misunderstood your comment or you missed the point of my post which is exactly not about throwing blames but personal reform, so again, I agree with your about how bad are blame throwers, and pretentious claims to fix the Lebanese people. Also it infuriates me to talk about the lebanese people as a third entity: Regardless of all our problems I proudly consider myself as one.
My post’s bottom line is the question about the halo created for us to vote traditionally, versus the dare for us to use our reputed individualistic reputation, to step out of it, yet without having to abandon… Because its hard, and I believe, it’s right.
So I remain sadden by your choice of boycott, or your abandoning. I think, out of my previous years of boycott, and of not being present, boycott deliberately leaves the spot for others, I think the voting act is up and above the choice made for voting, up and above all our politicians. These same politicians are a consequence of that citizen’s present choice and their unfortunate absence.
Fact is they they know that, they want that. Our lack of trust in our nation, begins by reacting as these leaders want rather than us sticking to what we believe right even though hard and seemingly pointless.
So for me, the “change”, or the “out of the box” from the traditional is either to vote for an independent or to vote white.
Finally let it out is a blog of my opinion, to which all other opinions are welcomed. It does not intend to impose sincerity, this latter is gained and earned…
The problem of Lebanon
Do you know what is the problem of Lebanon
The problem of Lebanon in the political
Because all politicians are a family inherit the power among themselves
But people Banani doomed not to govern itself
The deputy vice-find his father in the parliament
Each dog find his father had a dog and barking in the face of the French became the champion
The problem of Lebanon that there are special people and people are created to be slaves
When freed slaves from the influence of power and money
When called things by their names
Dear Fadi,
Take a look at the level of dealings normal citizens are facing, an example is what the MTV crew faced just right now on air by a few tayyar demonstrators. A lot of what Lebanon faces is the lack of any mature way of expressing own’s views in a civil manner. What a disgrace! I am letting it out!
Regards
I agree, FPM never showed this such aggressiveness even during manifestations against the Syrian Occupation… (well reiterating, probably a couple of times on secret services agents infiltrating the gathering) –
But anyhow as much as I agree with you, with the fact that one cannot beat a fellow compatriot because of his political view, One cannot either, associate a party’s misfits and gangster acts to its political views. Such cowardly acts should dissociate the person from his party, politics and confession & send him to roomier…. So my shout out remains to our judicial system & Police: will they have the guts to take proper action, or will they remain pointless?
Pragmatically, when such actions become accountable by law and not heroic is when they evolve, till then, party leadership become accountable by popularity, so this sure discredits FPM in my view…
Thank you for letting it out
Dear Fadi , I think you’re 100% right. But we should really Bring down the sectarian system if we really want Lebanon to rise again. We should STOP supporting all those fake criminals that controle our country:) I’m 17 and I can see that my generation can stop this but we should be soppurted
Hi Abbas,
I am sure we can do a lot! but time has to be our ally, things cannot change but patiently. The sectarian system is only a tool, it is like glasses with a filter, you place them or remove them. Yes we should stop this leadership, we have stopped war 22 years ago, stopped all occupations 6 years ago, and we still have the same crew controlling us. But the difference is that this time we do have a choice that makes a difference, this time started in 2005 where elections really count, alliances really count and our vote really counts.
The only action I recommend we do is related to our voice & vote. our voice to make sure they hear us, and one vote casted freely. I think if we pause and think before casting this ballot in 2013, and we do what we really want and not as the other do or as we are told, then it will the right authentic vote.
I think what this panel of leadership expects us to either vote for them or to abandon and abstain. I think we should do differently, and personally i am looking for an independent in identity for me to cast my trust to him and if not available I will vote white.
Thank you so much for your comment.
Dear Fadi
When will we realize that the problem in Lebanon is in its basic structure of political forces/ camps and their alignment into two extremes? This reminds me of the days of the cold war when the world was run by two camps and two camps only! You were either a Communist or a Capitalist at that time. And if you wished to acknowledge one idea from one camp and another from the other camp, you were hated by both! This is the case now in Lebanon. You are either “with us or against us” a la George Bush style, God forgive his simplicity! When will we realize that Lebanon is in bad need of a third BUT active camp, a camp that would resemble the structure of any normal parliamant in Europe (and even some parts of Asia!) where you have a right, a left and a central movement? Why do we have to continue with a destructive extremist alignment when an active central movement can truly make a difference? Do we not realize many many times the masses reference that our parliamantarians do not represent us?! So who should represent us for the love of God? Will we wait for another 20 years to get it right once and for all? And we keep asking what is the problem in Lebanon… Why can we not vote for well educated young deputies who truly represent us? A central movement is what we need. One that will speak up the minds and wills of many of those silenced by disgust represented by the rule of misalignment to east, west, north or south or by those who inherited their rule representing some blue blood many do not relate to – the Lebanese version of some English Tudors like blue blood!!
Fadi many of us are sick and tired from the lack of proper planning. Why can we not dream of a Lebanon that exports gas to the Mediterranian countries? Why can we not build a technopark for IT services in Jbeil or Nabatiyyeh or Akkar that provides services to the world, the likes of Indian outsourcing parks! …. Etc…
When will we resemble a Socialist Democratic Scandinavian like all encompassing diverse and inclusive rule that respects ALL? When will we witness a true plan to misalign ourselves from the troubles of others and only align ourselves to our interests and those of our sons and daughters? When can a central movement form a majority and if not, then at least a movement that acts as the strategic intellectual differentiator in any vote? Who and when will start such a movement? Or are we still waiting for some support from a foreign force as would Lebanese style politics dictate!!
I wonder…
Dear Sameer,
Thank you for your comment. I could not agree more.
Trust me when I tell you that your feeling is becoming viral… Sadly the reaction to this is the adoption of boycott and abandon rather than voting white or independent – let alone running as such.
I think it is the culture of making the effort of voting white for the citizen or voting/running independent that needs to be cultured, and so not by waiting for a support (you are right) because it will make them no different than the others, but instead by personal initiatives. That is my course of action as voter and share of responsibility not because it will win immediately but because it is the honest & right thing to do.
So I hope…
Libano es mi pays lo amo de toda manera con o sin problemas…………….
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Thanks a great deal for your article. Truly looking forward to read more. Will certainly read on.
The problem, I believe, is that we are not looking at the “big picture”.When you mentioned that you started listing all our problems and stopped after reaching problem 37, I perfectly understood, because listing them one after the other will get you nowhere. The secret is to discover the connection between the different problems.There is always one. In the end you will discover that there are in fact eighteen major “problems”, and they have to be tackled concurrently.If you believe that what I say makes any sense, contact me at: georgesabat@yahoo.com and we can continue this discusiion.
Hi George,
Thank you for proposing to continue the discussion via email, but i will abstain – no offence is meant here – because if i am not wrong, the 18 “major” problems you are insinuating to, are our confessions, so I would rather we express our opinion openly, I think it will interest readers, and from my side, there is nothing I will say in private that would be different than what I would say in public to this subject.
Before we start, allow me to add two related categories: the ones refuse confessionalism yet abide to it on one hand, and the ones that became atheist or secular and brag about it with a confessional attitude, on the other. So now we have 20 “major” problems
I agree that the subject is clearly a sensitive issue with the Lebanese. It is always used as a reason for a fatalistic, “no way out”, in our discussions, as if our God (one to all) has created a problematic dead end for us in Lebanon and good way to deal with things, for these same Lebanese, every where else in the world…
Luckily I am no fatalist, instead I believe that one should be held accountable for his/hers actions, in this life.
Frankly I think confessionalism and all its derivatives, are a tool that we choose to use and segregate accordingly, or we choose not to. It’s an eye piece filter that we feel comfortable to wear in Lebanon and feel comfortable not to wear it else where. For me it’s only an excuse and to that excuse I can add many more, I reached 37 in my post
But what if we (you and I) decide to act in Lebanon as we would of done out of Lebanon?… Regardless of what the others do, because we will always get the “but they will still act confessionally”, and regardless if it matters or not, because we will always get the “but it will make no difference”, not because it is comfortable to go with the flow but because it is hard…. with no promise of success, because success is not the objective, but because doing the right thing is…