Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Lebanon: Current Protests & the Glorious Past

When I think of Lebanon, I cannot help but think about tall cedars and free commerce and Phoenicians and the Land of Canaan. I think of Tyre and Sidon, but also of those who left. Often when I think about the Phoenicians, I also think of Carthage. A recent discussion with Julia Hanna on a livestream brought up both the past and the present.



I had been drawing Hannibal as part of the Inktober art challenge.



I also recently dined at That Lebanese Place, a restaurant whose name is self-explanatory.


When I was looking for the menus to use in my review, I came across a Facebook video depicting the recent protests in Lebanon that was posted by the owner of the restaurant. I shared that video with Julia, and she shared a video she had found of Nassim Taleb speaking in Arabic about current events in Lebanon. Julia and I decided to share this information with our viewers.



Watching the protesters enjoying barbecue and dancing in the streets to protest taxation, centralized banking and crushing national debt, I felt suddenly hopeful. Are these people more libertarian than we are?

Lebanese Protests

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2 comments:

  1. I think some people are more libertarian minded than some Americans. I am concerned some people with bad intentions, such as over zealous socialism and people preaching hate towards Israel will hijack the more positive aspects of the protests. I was a bit disconcerted today to see a group burning paper Israeli flags, especially since the more collected and thoughtful people like Nassim Taleb are concerned about national debt and taxes. Hopefully the more outlandish will not hijack this movement.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, it is hard to keep bad actors from hijacking popular movements.

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