Thursday, January 9, 2020

The drama of being a Lebanese citizen today


Update 14 August
Disaster struck on August 4 2020. A blast equal to a 4.4 earthquake, hundreds dead, thousands injured, whole areas devastated, 300,000 thousand persons directly affected, port destroyed...
Lebanon, the sad story of a prosperous country who is collapsing. Not through the makings of a dictator, rather the culprit a corrupt political class democratically elected.

Again I say this country will never stop surprising and amazing me. 
The Lebanese took to the street to protest.
The Lebanese people took to the street to help each other. 
The Lebanese people's resilience, solidarity, and creativity is admirable. One wonders why such a people elected a corrupt, inept, criminally negligent political class. A failure of #democracy?






Update 3 August 2020
Martin tells Rachel Humphreys about how government corruption and financial mismanagement have lead to Lebanon finding itself on the brink of financial collapse.
The podcast explains it all.

A country of despair with no hope.

September 1, 2020
This country will never stop surprising and amazing me.
If anybody wonders why more than half of the Lebanese population took to the streets end October, just take a look at what it means to be a Lebanese citizen today.
The moment one lands in Beirut, you can feel the tension, it is like a dense fog that engulfs you. And soon you start feeling unsettled with anxiety attacks, even if you are a reasonable person that has lots of self control.
The atmosphere is sure to get to you.

Can you imagine reaching home to find that the lift is not working because there is an electricity, every day?
Can you imagine sitting at home or in the office feeling as if your feet are in cold water bucket because there is no heating, also due to electricity cuts?
Can you imagine that electricity cuts are every three hours for three hours while an electricity employee is at your door to collect electricity bills?
Can you imagine hearing everyday that the electricity may disappear because the company does not have enough funds to buy fuel to run the turbines?
Can you imagine living like that for more than ten years and to hear your politicians and economists say that more than a half of the national debt is due to subsidizing fuel for the national electricity company whose cost of production is the highest and most inefficient in the world?
True Lebanese ingenuity has produced private generators and other devices at the cost for citizens to pay two times for the same service.

Can you imagine paying buying cisterns of water to fill the building tanks because the water is not running in the pipes, though you are paying the water company its annual fees?
True Lebanese entrepreneurship has generated the business of cisterns filled from sources and sometimes governmental water pipes. There is no water shortage per say, there is mismanagement of resources.
True this service compensate for the governmental shortage. But true too that citizens are paying twice for the same service.

Same goes for all utilities.

Can you imagine what it means to be always worried about the future. If you are an employee in the private sector you pay your monthly contributions to the national health insurance to a percentage of the salary that is equal to what is paid in most countries.
The health coverage in hospital is only eighty per cent and when you retire you lose any health coverage. So when you need it most, security is taken away. Hospitalization costs are stiff!
In addition, there is no monthly pension. They give a lump sum and that is all.
There is no safety net whatsoever.

So many people place their money in banks and live from interest which was quite high lately.

Imagine that suddenly the banks stop payments and impose capital controls, all not legislated, just upon a decision from the association of bankers, a non governmental cartel like institution.
Suddenly you cannot cash your salary, you have to go every week to the bank to get a small amount, and all of this with an attitude of the banks close to dictatorship, no respect for customers. Suddenly you are no more a customer with rights. You became a serf that has to accept the decision of your liege.

And on top of it you hear that there might be 'hair cuts' or that banks will defect on payments soon, and other horror stories.

Meanwhile prices hike to a level of thirty per cent increase within a few weeks. Companies and businesses are closing and the employment rate is rampant. Even those who are still employed very often are cashing half salaries.

Meanwhile your President, Prime Minister (who resigned), Speaker of Parliament, ministers, and deputies, are unconcerned, playing the power game and the country is leaderless and without Government.

Won't you go crazy?

I am amazed that the protest are still peaceful.....

What a twisted country, and what an admirable population. How come they elected such a corrupt and unethical political class?
A real enigma.







2 comments:

  1. Simple, we have been tamed.... we are "خواريف محشية" will to accept and be slaughtered just like... (Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepppppppp)...
    And, you wonder about the enigma... Keep on wondering - you will never be able to decipher stupidity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This would have been valid before 17 October. Protesters took to the streets, and many are still protesting. The outcome is yet to be seen.

      Delete