Taken from page 170 of State of Africa book.

This quote talks about some African countries right after their independence between the 60s and 80s(1960-1980) or so. But what really surprised me is how accurately it describes the current and former Lebanese politicians.

The problems with these African countries was the destructive influence that the former colonization forces had on them. It isn’t the only reason, but at that time period, it was the most influential. But in the case of Lebanon, it has become “the usual thing” even without any influence.

When i was in school and i used to complain about this situation, my teachers would tell me that this is because of the Ottoman occupation and the subsequent French colonization and the 20 year civil war. This could be considered as a legitimate answer but it masks what their true answer would have been if they weren’t stupid. “We don’t know and we’re too lazy to do anything about it”.

To me that is definitely not a legitimate answer, and i always take Germany as an example. Germany started two world wars. Not one but two global wars within the span of 35 years and still rebuilt itself into Europe’s biggest economy. So why didn’t Germany turn into this corrupt mess that is Lebanon?

Why is Lebanon infested with corruption? Why is it that the simplest technical problems such as delivering electricity to citizens turns into this huge political mess that threatens to re-ignite the dormant civil war? Why is it that the same problems that we’ve had 17 years ago are still unresolved? Why is it that the most frequent prayer i hear is “God, please bless me with a visa to ANY other country so that i may leave this hell hole”?

And most importantly, why is it that in spite of all these problems do the Lebanese rush to vote for the same people every election period and rejoice in the streets whenever any politician farts or speaks(same action)?