Friday, October 23, 2020

Lebanon, deja vu, and reloading the matrix

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

Oh you know the drill. When you experience deja vu, it means they are reloading the matrix. Well, here we are a full year after the thawra, with the old familiar faces back in tow. No need to name them, you know the names. And that, much like the incredible Patrick Berberis film about the year 68 in the world, is a testament of how people favor what they know to the risk of a new scary possibility of total change.

Is change coming to Lebanon? Who knows? All I can say is that for all their good intentions, I see no concrete results on what thawra did. To be clear, am not blaming them for the financial mess (it was a matter of time before things exploded), and considering we tried before them in 2005 somehow the result was predictable. Now of course, if Saad Hariri manages to form a super stellar government which will boost the economy, create 900,000 jobs (his words not mine) among other promises, then who am I to argue?

Meanwhile, if he - or any other politician for that matter - manages to find the meds am looking for to insure the daily doses my mother takes, then am all ears and two hearing aids on top. I said it before, and will repeat it again:

"Il faut cultiver notre jardin" (we must cultivate our garden) said Voltaire at the end of Candide. No better, he said "Oui, mais il faut cultiver notre jardin" (yes, but we must cultivate our garden) in reply to Pangloss demagogic statements.

Right now, regardless which politician is in a position of power, what am doing is trying to build a financial policy for 2021, all while knowing the parameters are changing (yes, this includes the now reversed decision to stop Lebanese Pound cash withdrawal), and securing meds and preparing the house for winter and what not.

And if any politician wants to pitch in on the med list, feel free to contact me. Blue/Red pills not included.