A society in danger… a frightening Arab account inventory Policy

Arab society is in danger, and we must know this well, believe it completely, and always confront it, before the tragic prophecy announced by the poet Nizar Qabbani three decades ago in his famous poem “When will they announce the death of the Arabs?” is fulfilled in us, and which some have renewed with dullness or dullness? The helplessness that afflicts most Arab societies regarding the genocide in Gaza, compared to Western societies.

We are in danger. This is an indisputable fact. It is not a subject of doubt, mistrust, or belittlement except by the ignorant, inattentive, or complicit, or by the one who profits by putting us on the brink of the abyss, and here he is more like a war merchant, or the one who is loyal to the hateful utilitarian principle that says: “Some people’s misfortunes are benefits to other people.”

Blurring the facts

This danger has a thousand doors and thousands of windows, and its winds, or even its storm, blow from every direction, carrying with it poisonous dust. It is the wind of poison, the rugged, dangerous, deadly one, which, if it does not blind the eyes and fill the noses with suffocating hurt, would bury many of the truths that we run away from, or turn away from, out of cowardice and fear of confronting them, or as a distraction from them.

The matter has gone beyond the threshold of talking about a weakness in our social structure, its malaise and illness, or the difficulty of emerging from the distress of the present towards the joy of the future. This is an issue that contemporary Arab sociologists have long drawn attention to, such as: the Iraqi Ali al-Wardi, the Syrian Halim Barakat, the Egyptians Sayed Owais and Saad al-Din Ibrahim, the Algerian Ammar Belhassan, and the Bahraini Baqir Suleiman, as they extensively analyzed what threatens our survival, or keeps us sick and inactive, in Stagnation, lethargy, and stagnation, or even rickets, have struck the bones of society and even penetrated to its marrow.

It is something above and beyond the diseases that we have been accustomed to for a long time with tyranny and corruption, so we lived with it and circumvented it, and some of us did not lose hope in victory, even if it was delayed, and in crossing over, even if stumbling blocks, thorns, coals, dams, and restrictions were erected in our path, or traps were set up, a solid maze, from which there is no way out. Except with great effort, made by men’s awareness and achieved by their solid determination.

We are in danger; Because we do not realize that we are “one nation,” and because those who manage our affairs do not act in the public sphere, nor with others, relying on our value and stature, we have remained in the position of the object all the time.

And because the positive imprint left by geography and history on our personality is threatened, and the impact that religious thinking leaves, considering this one of our established social characteristics, is not reflected in behavior, it is evaluated on the basis of piety, justice, mercy, integrity, achievement, and effectiveness, which takes our hands to rise and progress, and because religious perception It deviated greatly from the pursuit of spiritual fulfillment, moral transcendence, charity or public benefit, turning mostly into an ideology that sought political power.

Conflict and polarization

We are in danger; Because the factors that helped our societies hold together over many centuries are eroding and decomposing without us finding a way to confront and treat them, to restore cohesion between us, or to keep cooperation, solidarity, and compassion in their old state, in light of narrow-mindedness in some countries and extravagance, luxury, and arrogance in others.

Several authorities, through decisions, procedures, laws and legislation, played into our inherent social genes, consciously and intentionally or negligently and contemptuously, producing political conflict over power, status and wealth in the occurrence of social polarization in some countries, reaching the point of rift and division in some cases, times and places.

We are in danger; Due to the decline in the level of education in many countries, and the dominance of a limited vision of it in most, if not all, of it, which sees it as merely a means of obtaining jobs, or entering the labor market, which is an important goal, without a doubt, but our society has been blinded to the other goals of education. Among them is a person’s civility, his solution to his problems with reason, his tendency towards harmony, peace and tranquility, and understanding the feelings and thoughts of others, which facilitates the achievement of the virtues of tolerance and coexistence, in addition to understanding rights and duties, which makes the individual keen on public participation.

We are in danger; Because our cultural role in the world has declined, in a sudden and devastating manner, and our country has abandoned its mental and emotional role, with which it used to lead the entire ancient world, and have a strong influence on its regional surroundings in modern and contemporary times.

Today, the production, distribution, and influence of books faces a profound problem, and cinema, especially Egyptian cinema, which was second only to Hollywood, no longer produces the appropriate number of films, and if it does produce, most of them are fleeting, superficial, and consumerist.

Our theater is no longer at its former strength, and most of it stays away from serious texts, and tends towards spectacle, jokes, and cheap showmanship. This led to a decline in the taste of the masses. Instead of elevating it, the arts took it down to the lowest levels, claiming that this is what listeners and spectators demand. This is more evident in music and singing. At the same time, our folklore faces major challenges. Some of it has faltered, and some of it has been buried by a distorted elitist culture, or by different imported cultures.

Diarrhea errors

We are in danger of drowning our society in the unseen, with anxiety about the future, loss of certainty, scarcity of information, policy confusion, a widening gap between decisions and people, and destabilization of scientific thinking.

The majority are now entangled with patterns of unseen wandering, so that there is room for those who say good-byes, palm readers, astrologers who follow the celestial spheres, magicians and sorcerers, and those who claim to be in love with the jinn, those who claim miracles, interpreters of visions and dreams, or bringers of the Beloved.

Everyone is searching for what will heal his ailments, give him some reassurance, or relieve him of the burden of the present, not in science books, nor in re-reading history with an open, conscious mind, nor in deep contemplation of people’s conditions, nor in producing future studies, but by resorting to sellers of illusion?

We are in danger of a decline in work proficiency, and a threat to the crafts and professions that we have known and become accustomed to over a long history. Many crafts have become lax or neglected, to the point where we have begun to import goods that we once produced extensively and excessively, and export them or give them away to others.

The most dangerous thing is that the value of work itself is no longer considered or respected by many, with most people wanting to earn money without exerting effort and effort, and to advance in social status in any way quickly, even if it is wrong and forbidden. This problem is more severe in rentier countries that outsource many, if not all, trades to expatriate workers, some of whom lack the required skills.

We are in danger; In some Arab countries, it is easy for people to commit violations, misdemeanors, and crimes, and with the abundance of crime, some people are guaranteed to be safe from worldly punishment, so they return to crimes with an open appetite. Forms of crimes that we had never known before have appeared, to the point that the elderly among us open their mouths in astonishment and grief at what they hear.

Absence of alternative

We are in danger; Due to the spread of poverty, destitution and destitution in many Arab countries, especially in light of social unrest, civil wars, corruption, theft and waste, with a simple equation that says clearly and clearly: Poverty leads to malnutrition, which leads to stunting and with it a decrease in the efficiency of the human element in work and recruitment, and consequently the breed may weaken, if the poverty expands and continues. Alleviating poverty from people is not a side issue, but rather a necessity, which is ensured by those who manage public affairs, and here they must believe that people must always and forever be before Hajj, and monuments before adornment.

Any citizen has an urgent need for food, clothing, shelter, medicine, and education. If people do not obtain their basic needs, they will certainly feel a state of extreme injustice, tension toward the political administration, and then anger.

Endurance has its limits in all cases, and relying on it as a sole path is an extremely dangerous matter. Therefore, urgent, effective, and then permanent policies must be implemented that mitigate any harmful effects on the poor classes, especially with the erosion of the middle class and the rise in poverty rates in several Arab countries.

We are in danger; Because the spirit of extremism in our societies has not yet disappeared. Rather, it finds many justifications, in light of the absence of an alternative, and the failure of those to whom the decision was made, in several Arab countries, to achieve even the minimum aspirations of the people, as well as in light of the injustice that was crystallized and formulated wisely by the movement. Politically, it attracts thousands of people who are convinced of it every day and who are ready in the future to accept its people and even pave the way for them again.

We are in danger from all of this, and it is a danger that surrounds us from every side, and most people in our country do not pay attention to this danger, or they know and ignore it, or they search in it for any benefit or narrow, fleeting benefit, or they stand silent and helpless from it, while the experiences of history speak clearly and clearly. ; The peoples who remained silent and surrendered to the long political hypnosis, which distracted them from the weevils that were eating away at their limbs, or who continued to be deceived and took pleasure in it, or who were unable to repel it, woke up to a calamity or disaster.