Lebanon, the Hegelian Synthesis, and Compromise… weird combo
Writing by abuhatem on Monday, 12 of November , 2007 at 6:53 pm
I keep blogging about my favorite topic - Lebanon. Although I have mentioned the Berri plan in almost every post before, the fact of the matter is it is the only solution to the impending crisis. If there will be a solution, Berri’s plan will be it - and he is to be commended for trying to achieve a consensus. The NYTimes ran a piece on his plan a few months ago.
A group of intellectuals, members of parliament, and journalists signed a petition in the Lebanese English daily, The Daily Star yesterday rejecting a consensus candidate as a ruse for giving Syria more power in Lebanon. At the same time, Nasrallah has stated the other solution - electing a candidate by a majority vote of MPs - will be unacceptable and has urged President Lahoud to take action in creating another government.
So my friends, both sides are adamant about their stances and unwilling to compromise - the result - what we have all feared, the destruction of Lebanon. You may say that all sides are stuck between a rock and a hard place, and this is true to an extent, but if compromise is not found there will certainly be a worse situation.
And this is what politics is all about - compromise. This is the essence of Democracy. Back to another of my favorite topics, political theory, we can see in the writings of Robert Dahl - one of the greatest political scientists in this country’s history - that the essence of Democracy is compromise. Dahl envisioned the Democratic state as - polycarchy, or a government in which policy is influenced by competing lobbies, interest groups, branches of government, popular movements, etc. In the end - the solution is not the answer of one trumping the answer of all. It is the very hard middle place of compromise of consensus. There must be a middle place where everyone meets. Not everyone will get their way - the purpose of the institutions in a Democratic system on the policy making process are to “weed out,” policies which won’t work or which have no popular or elite support, and to come to a middle ground.
Or in the words of Hegel - thesis and antithesis lead to synthesis! Viola!
And so if we can’t compromise, we can’t get anything done, and everything will fail…
Please Lebanon!
Category: Lebanese Politics
- Add this post to
- Del.icio.us -
- Meneame -
- Digg
No comments yet.
