Once the envy of the Arab world, Lebanon has become a basket with no end in sight. The political system is at an impasse, as is the economy perish with each passing day, forcing leaders to call for emergency foreign aid to survive, including food for his starving army.
But the Lebanese, a bright people better known for their hummus than for their humility, have until recently denied the extent of the deepening crisis.
They are a diligent, bright and enterprising group that have overcome two major crises in recent decades and are confident in their next comeback.
But this may turn out to be bad luck a third time.
Known for buying things they don’t need with money they don’t need to impress people they don’t know, the “bon vivant” Lebanese have become so impoverished and so isolated that there are few goods for sale, less people to impress, and little hard currency to borrow.
They are now living the “shawarma paradox”: The national sandwich that cost 5,000 Lebanese pounds or $2 a few years ago is now priced at 20,000 pounds or less than a dollar.
But the Lebanese spirit lives on, along with the well-known Lebanese self-mockery humor that is increasingly dominating Lebanese social media.
As a joke goes, say your prayers or you will go through hell twice, in Lebanon and in the afterlife. Another highlights the three choices the Lebanese have during the crisis: go to the Hariri hospital, depart from Hariri airport, or catch up in person with (the late Prime Minister) Rafiq Hariri. Lebanon is indeed a living, breathing paradox. It is a land of contradictions; of sectarianism and secularism, and of immense wealth and abject poverty, of ultra-liberals and extreme conservatives. It is also famous for its brightest intellectuals and most idiotic entertainers. The country’s contradictions are woven into the national fabric. Though largely confessional, Lebanon’s paradoxical features transcend its religious
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