Since my last post about the Lebanese elections a couple of months ago, Lebanon has been dwelling in presidential void. I always talk about the chaos and corruption in Lebanon, particularly in its political system. Recently I wrote an article that is now published in The Mantle talking about these issue and more.
Please follow the link to read it: http://mantlethought.org/content/lament-independents-lebanon
Do let me know if you agree.
Words of Margaux 
Really enjoyed your article. Change is certainly difficult to bring about. You are right that people get stuck in voting for the same old same old. The US Foreign Policy in the Middle East continues to be problematic and there seems little will globally to focus on the poverty issues being experienced world wide as decisions seem to be either political or economic.
Yes, I agree.
Miss Benison, I am pleased to discover you have had yet another eloquent piece published. You go, girl! Don’t let anything hold you back. Like a thoroughbred racehorse that has galloped through the backstretch, open up with full stride and go all the way home, for there is no one who can stop you now. YOU ARE A WINNER!
Soon, you’ll be the Triple Crown.
Thank you very much for that piece. I wouldn’t presume to disagree with any of it. You well-know first-hand of what you write.
The only thing I feel I could note (from my own experience) is that whenever people emigrate, or expatriate themselves (as I have), those left behind in the homeland don’t often see those having left as any longer having much stake in what goes on back at home. U.S. citizens living abroad may vote in U.S. elections, and we MUST still pay U.S. taxes; but the views of U.S. citizens living abroad have almost zero impact on U.S. policies at home – or anywhere else for that matter.
True, the percentage of Lebanese who’ve left is a far larger percentage of the country’s overall population than are Americans outside of the U.S., and Lebanese face a great deal more domestic pressure than Americans in the U.S. But based on what I’ve seen, Americans at home rarely take seriously what U.S. expats or emigrants have to say. Indeed, Americans living overseas are often viewed with more than a little suspicion. The attitude back at home is, well, you left.
Good article. Don’t see a way forward reading it.
Did what is now Lebananon figure in the Epic of Gilgamesh?
I totally agree with you! I am visiting Lebanon on a regularly basis (actually I am leaving for a short vacation tomorrow) and I am still surprised that, although the education level is relatively high, there´s hardly any progressive change to be seen. To the contrary, the country has gone backwards in many aspects. It´s good that young people like you are still trying by providing people with information and communicating about it. Wish you the best!
Providing awareness is an important step, and I, for one, take it as a responsibility. Thank you for your comment, much appreciated.
I read and absorbed your article and it triggered my mind to travel back to the times of my old Lebanese friend who spoke of the Lebanon as a heaven on earth. That was many years ago – it is probably a good thing my friend (an old man when I first met him) is long since dead. Great post.
Thank you, Mike. I’m glad you liked it. And, in this case, I am both sorry and happy for your friend. Sorry that he died, and glad that he didn’t live to see his country turn into hell. Though, I think he might’ve lived during the Israeli occupation, and Lebanese civil war… It’s mighty patriotic of him to describe Lebanon as heaven in spite of that.
No the old boy died just before it all kicked off with Israel. He was old and I was very young at the time – I just remember the tales of olive groves, lovely girls and French architecture.
Yes, then he must’ve seen Lebanon at its best.