Persiflage & Paroxysm

What is the role of government? How can we stop politicians squabbling over which of them gets what share of the sizable public purse? How can we halt ingrained corrupt practices in government? Why do we need government? We really don’t need government. In fact, abolishing government, or most of it at least, would solve the problem of corruption. Remove the ‘national pie’ from the menu and there is no longer anything to fight over. As for the role of government, it should be as limited as possible because too much government places intolerable limits on personal freedom. Government should do only those things that private enterprise or individuals are ill equipped to do. This includes providing for the national defense, deciding on matters of foreign policy, ensuring public order and safety, and exercising oversight over privately run public utilities and services. Everything else government does in Lebanon is unnecessary and wasteful. But the big money to be made off the sweat ...

There is so much happening now that is simply terrifying in my country and in its immediate vicinity that I thought to remain silent is best, as anything I say will always be misunderstood and misinterpreted and will only serve to lump me in with one side or the other in this political fracas. My ‘genetic fault’, I suppose, is my inability to stick with any political side if I judge that political side to be committing errors or, worse, atrocities. The question that begs to be answered I suppose is how did I survive this long in a country that values one golden rule above all others: ‘My brother and I against my cousin, and my cousin and I against the outsider’ A country where loyalty to clan, sect, and party, in that order, are absolute and unchanging, and where people who change horses once they realize their loyalties are misplaced, are judged as unreliable and inconstant. The answer, for better or worse, is that I live in a separate reality, on a plane of existence that is far remo...