Adonis Diaries

The Lebanese also want to grow up and take on their responsibilities

This has gone eyond suffocation: Traditional “leaders” decided Lebanon to be a “Non-State”

In the last four months, the “Arabic” speaking people grew up quickly:  They decided it is about time to share in the political decisions of the political regimes; they decided to be responsible citizens, to be determined and steadfast in non-violent marches, and violent if need be, to stand tall in shedding blood and sacrifices to have their will come through.  The Lebanese people want to grow up too: They want to be citizens first and responsible for a recognized State.

Since independence in 1943, Lebanon functioned as a non-State.  Lebanon created a facade for governments just to let diplomatic games to be carried out as a recognized State by the UN.  But foreign States knew better:  They were playing the game and getting amused demanding impossible requirements..

Currently, and for a year now, Lebanon has dropped the facade.  The rationale of the traditional leaders is “if there is no government, foreign States would feel totally ridiculous imposing pressures and demands on Lebanon”.

The traditional leaders figured out that “if we have agreed among ourselves that no civil war is to be permitted, the army is strong enough to maintain law and order for the benefit of the upper classes and the mercantile oligarchies to prosper…”

That is how the traditional leaders, backed by the real power behind them, particularly the religious castes and the financial institutions loaning money to the State to function precariously, think this best option for Lebanon to survive as is!  The religious castes own 50% of the land and define our identity from birth to death; the banks loan the State at outrageous interest rates, and the common “citizen” watches the debt growing at three folds the GNP.

The people have a different comprehension of the consequences of this non-State option:  The people in Lebanon are getting smarter in matter of political existence and are realizing that things have to change.  The people is thinking loudly: “If even the facade of a non-State cannot be created, we will rebuild a State from the ground up and eliminate all these parasites that confiscated our responsibilities and treated us as kids, simply because we had refused to grow up”

The youth have been marching with slogans such as “We want to change the religious caste system”  This fundamental and straightforward demand is already outdated. The new slogan is: “We want to be responsible citizens and we want to change our archaic political and social structure as fitting dignified and intelligent people.  We demand the impossible because it is the only way to get what we want, and we can do it.”

Reforming the system, one block at a time, is out the window.  Why, do we have another hundred years to live as a people to wait in patience, indignity, and famine so satisfy our oligarchies?