"I helped my Government do this"

“Social responsibility is an ethical framework and suggests that an individual has an obligation to work and cooperate with other individuals and organizations for the benefit of society at large.” “Social responsibility is a duty every individual has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the ecosystems.” That means that each of us is responsible for what is happening around us, in our backyards, neighborhoods or country. Now most would think, how can I influence what is happening in the country or in my community, as I am not a Member of the Parliament or a politician. And still, in a way or another, when it comes to Lebanon, everyone is affiliated to a party, the only different thing, is the level of involvement in that party. Nobody says this is a bad thing, unless we actually consider that most of the people are the “follower” type, the sheep kind. So, when the Leader of the party plays the music, everyone dances the same way, kind of a rehearsed Flash Mob, Lebanese version. Very important fact, in Lebanon, politics and religion are like Siamese Twins. And when you talk about 18 types of religions in a 10.452 km2 surface, and people actually having guns, just to have it, with no authorization or any legislation to stop them, doesn’t that sound like fun? According to the Ministry of Interior, in 2018, the total number of registers in Lebanon was 3,746,483. Even though, the general elections were postponed since 2013 (don’t ask why, we don’t what to bore anyone with that story), only 49.68% actually voted, which means only 1,861,203 exercised their right. If we were to analyze these numbers deeper, we would understand which party has trained their sheep better and which didn’t. What I meant is that you can see which of these parties are doing their best in order to create a better place for Lebanese to live in. Just because you were one of the 1,861,203 people that voted, it doesn’t mean you have done you social responsibility duty and now your job is done for the next four year. You should go further, follow up with their action, hold them accountable (Accountability is when an individual or department experiences consequences for their performance or actions. Accountability is essential for an organization and for a society. Without it, it is difficult to get people to assume ownership of their own actions because they believe they will not face any consequences) for what they are doing or not doing and be more involved in whatever is happening in your area, including considering your own responsibilities: YES, you do have responsibilities as the citizen of a country, which include voting, volunteering, being transparent, raising your voice (I said voice, not gun), taking care of the areas in which you pass by (which can actually mean just, not leave a trace for people to know what you ate and drank) and so, many other things.

Let’s recap: we were saying that 2020 was the worst year for Lebanon in the last God knows how many years because of the Corona sanitary crisis, the banking system collapse, the currency depreciation, the lack of government for many months, and of course the 4th of August blast and so and so… Like in all the “Hold my beer” memes, 2021 decided that we haven’t learned much from 2020 and that we need yet another lesson, actually, it was a whole new university year. We continued our intensive course in failing to form a government for almost a year. At some point, in July, one of the professors got bored and left the class. The second part of this course was way shorter, and we sort of passed it on September 13th. Now, that we graduated, we are having the “Let’s have a funny government that likes to keep us in the dark from time to time and likes to support citizens in violating regulations, rather than to actually amend them”. Another course, in finance, is teaching us, since 2019, how to create a long-term Ponzi scheme and how foreign currency exchanges work: the official value of a dollar in Lebanon is 1500 LBP, few dollars from your old account can be withdrawn from the bank, in limited quantities, at a rate of 3900 LBP. You can try buying from the BDL at a rate of 12000 LBP, or just buy the foreign currency at the black market exchange rate of 20000 LBP and rising. We are trying to reach the top 1 in the biggest devaluation of a currency, so, forgive us as we are taking our time.

A hobby that we lately have is “staying in lines”. “Staying in lines” may seem like something everyone is capable of doing, but it actually is a complex activity. It requires the involvement of all your muscles, and sometimes we actually combine it with kick-boxing and may include accessories like guns or bats. This hobby started to be our favorite for a few months now, in the fake crisis of the fuel, and we like it very much because it is a very interactive way of networking. Unfortunately, as the government is considering we are making too many new friends, they made it even more expensive – 300000 LBP (official prices in USD: very close to 200; real market value, around 15 USD) In a country where the minimum wage has reached around 43 USD, it is practically impossible to live. To is noted that Lebanon has had an electricity problem since the 80s, not acknowledged as a problem due to illegal generators that supplied the gap both in the private and in the public sector. We are talking about a country that is heavily dependent on heavy fuels for almost everything, including telecommunication networks. Now for does who know how the domino effect works, imagine how things turned out to be for those who live in Lebanon tik tik tik puuf.

A SOLUTION LOOKINGFOR A PROBLEM: subsidies

Subsidies are a sum of money granted by the state or a public body to help an industry or business keep the price of a commodity or service low. Their role is usually to support economic growth or the less fortunate to be able to afford basic commodities. But they are deadly even in cases in which the government, with good intentions, without an optimal implementation. A blessing for some, and a curse for others, like in the case of Lebanon, in which subsidies, especially when it comes to fuel, but not only, was like treating the disease while symptoms abate. Even though they had a very long life in Lebanon, an analysis by UNICEF and the international labor organization (ILO) revealed that only 20% of subsidies benefit the poorer half of Lebanon’s population. This is because the wealthiest have the greatest and most consistent access to subsidized goods with their purchasing power. Even households that have moderate purchasing power are limited as a result of the devaluation of the Lebanese lira. Given Lebanon’s overreliance on private for-profit social services and the lack of viable safety nets or public social services, their economic burden is now even greater. So, we can safely be said that the subsidies program is one of many examples of wasteful and unjust policy that ultimately was for the rich and paid by the poor, causing more harm for the social good. Lifting the expensive and ineffective subsidies program was economically detrimental. Food inflation alone in Lebanon is among the highest worldwide. In addition, Lebanon`s public social services are underfunded or virtually nonexistent and over 80% of the country`s hospitals are private. Its main social security program has implemented budget cuts in recent years and owed unpaid government dues. We cannot forget, that not long ago, access to medicine has been extremely limited, with more than half of brand drugs unavailable, Lebanon faced the problem of smuggled medicine in Egypt and Iraq. The same issue existed for the fuel, which was mainly smuggled to Syria. Meanwhile, in addition to panic buying, suppliers have been stockpiling medicine and pharmacies have been unable to afford them; gas stations limited their sales and opening hours and of course, the result was chaotic.

INSIDE A CULTURE: burning tires and playing with guns

Do you know those universal solutions or instruments that are advertised on TV or social media? 21 in 1 kind of thing that helps in whatever problem you have? It`s a relative of the “knows how to fix everything” and “know-it-all” kind of person. Lebanon is a country with so many problems, that if we would start counting them today, we would probably finish by next Christmas… and they all have different solutions, but still, there is only one that keeps being applied: burning tires. It is absolutely surprising how efficient is this in solving nothing, absolutely nothing at all, but creating more chaos, but, hey, at least it`s fun and not such a common practice in civilized countries. Why the need for so much research and reports and analysis in order to find a solution? Waste of money and time. Who cares about any research or analysis or whatever? No more fuel? No more electricity? No more money in the banks of an actual banking system? No more medication in the pharmacies? Your salary in Lira has a value of 50 USD? The inflation gained 300 “extra pounds”? Worry not, there is nothing on that list that can`t be solved with a pair of tires burning in the middle of the roads, topped up with some amazing destruction of properties that aren`t even owned by someone who is in any way involved in the problems mentioned before. What the hell? We burned tires, blocked roads, disturbed the activities of the people trying to survive day by day (because the ones responsible don`t actually care) and all is well in the world! Exceptionally, if this “measure” doesn`t make things worse enough, then, but only then, we are forced to bring out the guns and just randomly create panic and chaos and shoot random people for no particular reason whatsoever. Don’t miss season 4 of Netflix’s latest series, brought to you in exclusivity by Lebanon. Don`t get me wrong! Who doesn`t like to live his life like in a gangster movie from a few centuries ago when u needed candles to light up your house? What I can`t stop wondering is something else, though: Why aren`t you upset about all your money being gone? Stolen? Disappeared? Vanished? Didn`t you actually work for it? Everyone expresses their discontent in regards to the situation... but it seems more like a “my steak was too dry”. Oh, well, let`s try the Lebanese way, and Nshallah, these upcoming elections (whenever they will actually take place) will bring the change that this country needs!