A People You Would Love to Hate
I have never loved hating people as much as I love hating these people who call themselves Lebanese. These imposters, these flimflam artists, all talk no action, these are not my people, I have nothing in common with them, in fact, I do not consider them of this world, they are lost souls, empty vessels, collectively they form a dark evil mass, a moral no-mans land, a nation totally lacking scruples, with a few minor exceptions.
After living among them these past years I find myself more alienated and more of a stranger than ever, like an alien being fallen to Earth. They are not the people of myth and lore I was raised to believe they were. What is this mythical place my poor misguided long-dead father once spoke to me of, this Lebanon of the 1960s, is it a lie, I think so. Lebanon was always the third world mess it is today, nothing has changed, nothing will change
This is the land where you play chess with the devil and he always wins, but he also lets you overturn the chess board, throw a tantrum and scream all you want, you are his now.
The Lebanese seem to have made a deal with the prince of darkness in return for their souls they get incredible beauties, personal wealth, plastic bodies and fast cars. On the face of it the Lebanese remain a conservative and deeply religious people, just go into any church on any given Sunday and you can see it for yourselves. I am sure it’s the same on any given Friday too. But, prayer is not that which issues from the lips, but rather that which issues from the heart. We rarely hear each other pray, for all we know, the person standing next to us in a house of God is wishing us ill not good. Only a people’s actions speak volumes as to their true intentions and feelings towards others, and the Lebanese are almost homicidal in both thought and deed.
I hate the evil in their hearts, I do not wish to be tainted by that evil, I therefore reject their society, a society built in the image of the idols they worship: money, greed, sloth, selfishness. Every now and then they drop a LL250 coin into the alms bucket of life and hope this act alone would be enough to erase the thousands of bad things they have done, the thousands of indiscretions and all the seeds of evil they have planted in this clean earth over the years. Well, I cannot speak as to how the Almighty would look on this, I am human and imperfect after all, I hate and I hold grudges, but I cannot imagine entering the heavenly abode is as easy as the Lebanese seem to imagine it to be.
A friend once told me that this is a ‘dysfunctional country for dysfunctional people’, maybe that is one way for the sane among us to justify remaining silent before all the evil we see committed every day, a way to live with the evil by ignoring it so we can keep on going regardless. In ignoring it, however, we are contributing to the very evil we despise. My advice is, if you can, leave this place; go to a more civilized country where laws are enforced, a safer place to live and raise children. For me its simple: evil is not just mass murder, its failing to stop at a red signal, its cutting in line, it’s a four letter word, these are small evils that contribute to a greater societal evil. Simply put, a nation that does not respect its own laws does not respect itself and is unworthy of respect in return.
It is worth noting that a mass of evil once created is never destroyed, much like energy, it only festers and grows, it can be passed on and it can and will burst forth almost without warning from anywhere. The only defense we have against evil is our sense of right and wrong, our moral compass, our patience and our good upbringing all of which combines to help us hold our tongues in moments of anger and restrains our actions. It all starts with a word. A word uttered in the heat of anger does not dissipate, the person at the receiving end is affected deeply by that word and in turn his loss of control will let more words loose. Finally, the exchange of words will need to be focused in to action. A little loss of control, a burst of temper has led many to making really bad decisions. Ultimately, other people do not see us think, they see us act.
We are a bundle of nerve endings, sensitive to the slightest stimuli, more so in Lebanon where people are constantly on edge, made that way by each other, always anticipating disaster around every corner, literally. This stress can build to levels that can prove mentally toxic. Eventually, among the quiet and meek, all that stress and anger bottled up explodes without warning, most often manifesting itself in a heart attack or stroke.
This is an unhealthy society, on the one hand you have wealthy, powerful bullies and on the other you have frightened, nervous mistrustful little people, who are really bully-wannabes. Some call this society an aggressive and competitive society, but I think all this show of temper and aggression is a manifestation of deep fears and insecurities and a near total lack of self confidence. In response to this uneasy feeling of vulnerability our instinct is to take fool hardy risks. Many of us feel we have no control over our lives, it’s always someone else who is in control, so we rationalize that we are not to blame, so how can we ever hope to improve our lives when we always find excuses for the mess we are in and plenty of reasons to keep doing nothing.
So, why do I hate the Lebanese? I hate them for their arrogance, for their overconfident bullshit, for the needless risks they take, whether on the road or in politics. I hate them because everything they do that they think is smart ends up blowing up in their faces. I hate them because they have no sense of urgency, no fear. Any sane person should be afraid of events next door and their impact on us. Any sane person would stand at a distance from those events, would not act in ways, talk in ways that plunge their own country into conflict, and yet, these people keep playing with fire and think ‘this time we won’t get burned.’ But they always do.
I hate them for false advertising, for filling my ears with so much bullshit. I hate them for hating me and truth and everyone else who tries hard to change things, really change things. I hate them for committing injustices but objecting when an injustice is done to them. I hate them for being less than they can be, for all the mispronounced words in English and French and for insisting they always know better. I hate them for all the thousands of exaggerations and every four letter word uttered from their mouths. I simply hate them.
After living among them these past years I find myself more alienated and more of a stranger than ever, like an alien being fallen to Earth. They are not the people of myth and lore I was raised to believe they were. What is this mythical place my poor misguided long-dead father once spoke to me of, this Lebanon of the 1960s, is it a lie, I think so. Lebanon was always the third world mess it is today, nothing has changed, nothing will change
This is the land where you play chess with the devil and he always wins, but he also lets you overturn the chess board, throw a tantrum and scream all you want, you are his now.
The Lebanese seem to have made a deal with the prince of darkness in return for their souls they get incredible beauties, personal wealth, plastic bodies and fast cars. On the face of it the Lebanese remain a conservative and deeply religious people, just go into any church on any given Sunday and you can see it for yourselves. I am sure it’s the same on any given Friday too. But, prayer is not that which issues from the lips, but rather that which issues from the heart. We rarely hear each other pray, for all we know, the person standing next to us in a house of God is wishing us ill not good. Only a people’s actions speak volumes as to their true intentions and feelings towards others, and the Lebanese are almost homicidal in both thought and deed.
I hate the evil in their hearts, I do not wish to be tainted by that evil, I therefore reject their society, a society built in the image of the idols they worship: money, greed, sloth, selfishness. Every now and then they drop a LL250 coin into the alms bucket of life and hope this act alone would be enough to erase the thousands of bad things they have done, the thousands of indiscretions and all the seeds of evil they have planted in this clean earth over the years. Well, I cannot speak as to how the Almighty would look on this, I am human and imperfect after all, I hate and I hold grudges, but I cannot imagine entering the heavenly abode is as easy as the Lebanese seem to imagine it to be.
A friend once told me that this is a ‘dysfunctional country for dysfunctional people’, maybe that is one way for the sane among us to justify remaining silent before all the evil we see committed every day, a way to live with the evil by ignoring it so we can keep on going regardless. In ignoring it, however, we are contributing to the very evil we despise. My advice is, if you can, leave this place; go to a more civilized country where laws are enforced, a safer place to live and raise children. For me its simple: evil is not just mass murder, its failing to stop at a red signal, its cutting in line, it’s a four letter word, these are small evils that contribute to a greater societal evil. Simply put, a nation that does not respect its own laws does not respect itself and is unworthy of respect in return.
It is worth noting that a mass of evil once created is never destroyed, much like energy, it only festers and grows, it can be passed on and it can and will burst forth almost without warning from anywhere. The only defense we have against evil is our sense of right and wrong, our moral compass, our patience and our good upbringing all of which combines to help us hold our tongues in moments of anger and restrains our actions. It all starts with a word. A word uttered in the heat of anger does not dissipate, the person at the receiving end is affected deeply by that word and in turn his loss of control will let more words loose. Finally, the exchange of words will need to be focused in to action. A little loss of control, a burst of temper has led many to making really bad decisions. Ultimately, other people do not see us think, they see us act.
We are a bundle of nerve endings, sensitive to the slightest stimuli, more so in Lebanon where people are constantly on edge, made that way by each other, always anticipating disaster around every corner, literally. This stress can build to levels that can prove mentally toxic. Eventually, among the quiet and meek, all that stress and anger bottled up explodes without warning, most often manifesting itself in a heart attack or stroke.
This is an unhealthy society, on the one hand you have wealthy, powerful bullies and on the other you have frightened, nervous mistrustful little people, who are really bully-wannabes. Some call this society an aggressive and competitive society, but I think all this show of temper and aggression is a manifestation of deep fears and insecurities and a near total lack of self confidence. In response to this uneasy feeling of vulnerability our instinct is to take fool hardy risks. Many of us feel we have no control over our lives, it’s always someone else who is in control, so we rationalize that we are not to blame, so how can we ever hope to improve our lives when we always find excuses for the mess we are in and plenty of reasons to keep doing nothing.
So, why do I hate the Lebanese? I hate them for their arrogance, for their overconfident bullshit, for the needless risks they take, whether on the road or in politics. I hate them because everything they do that they think is smart ends up blowing up in their faces. I hate them because they have no sense of urgency, no fear. Any sane person should be afraid of events next door and their impact on us. Any sane person would stand at a distance from those events, would not act in ways, talk in ways that plunge their own country into conflict, and yet, these people keep playing with fire and think ‘this time we won’t get burned.’ But they always do.
I hate them for false advertising, for filling my ears with so much bullshit. I hate them for hating me and truth and everyone else who tries hard to change things, really change things. I hate them for committing injustices but objecting when an injustice is done to them. I hate them for being less than they can be, for all the mispronounced words in English and French and for insisting they always know better. I hate them for all the thousands of exaggerations and every four letter word uttered from their mouths. I simply hate them.
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