Foundations of Ideology

It is easy to be swept by grandeur, by the “bigger picture”, and to be tempted to fight for an idea. That has always been intellectually more stimulating than picking and working with the details. Ideologies, which are our mind’s own attempt at making sense of what was and what should be, are no different. They have the uncanny knack of pushing the “details” (to be read: people’s lives) under the rug …

Most of us have been scathed to some degree by different ideologies. One of the biggest failures in the Middle East was Pan-Arabism, and even though some people may still dwell in that area of thought, it won’t really be a political driving force anymore. But has the ideological game really stopped? Was Arabism actually the only stopping block? Will the Middle East take decades to recover from the effects of Arabism? Or is there something lacking … something more integral to our society that made Arabism so appealing? As I said in a comment at Beirut to Beltway (on an article that discussed the Arabism/Anti-Arabism divide):

you have to ask the right questions. What made Arabism so attractive to the masses? Arabism itself? Or was there something more fundamentally misplaced, that is still TODAY forcing the people to look for the greener side?

So what is “the greener side”? Before that, I just want to take a simple look at the key players an ideology needs to succeed (and I am measuring success by its acceptance and not whether it improves society):

1 – The intellectuals. They write the books, develop the ideas, the paradigms, and distill the concepts.
2 – The politicians. They don’t have to be fully involved in politics, but these people will support the ideas if they feel they are useful to achieving their goals (which don’t necessarily have to be selfish.)
3 – The masses. Without this aspect, there is no way an ideology will ever work.

I repeat. The most important aspect of a successful ideology are the masses. I am not denying that beautiful ideologies do exist, some of which actually dizzy the mind, but beauty has never been a guiding force for mass consensus.

What exactly do the masses find so attractive in these ideologies? Hassan, at Lebanese Bloggers, has elaborated on an example in Lebanon, in which he discusses the socio-economic INEQUALITY between the sects. Call it Marxian if you wish, but this is fundamental to the attractiveness of ideology. IN THE END, it is the masses that will either hold on to an ideology or weaken it. And why do they want to hold on to it? Because they are dreaming of greener pastures. They simply want a better life. And the lower you are on the economic meter stick, the more desire you have for a better life. Going from one house to two houses is not as great a divide as going from no house to one. Ideology is a function of class.

To a first order analysis, this is one of the underlying reasons why Pan-Arabism had such a force. Today’s generation saw the failures of arabist philosophies. The number of anti-arabists (to be differentiated from those who just aren’t pan-arabs) has gone up, yet they fail to see the hypocrisy – that they too are looking for a better life through an ideology.

So is blaming Arabism, and trying to rid our society from its influence, the right path to walk?

No. Lebanon, and the Middle East, will not improve by only blaming Pan-Arabism. We are simply attacking the wrong issues. To see that, all you have to do is look at the extreme flurry of ideologies that are currently rampant in Lebanon, which have blinded us and our politicians from the details.

What are these ideologies? Some of the ones pertaining to Lebanon are the following:

Arabism, Anti-Arabism, Communism, Socialism, Fascism, Religion, Freedom and Democracy, “We Want the Truth” aka “Al Haqeeqa” (a concept that has taken Lebanon by storm), sectarianism, phoenicianism, …

All these have the same driving force: their base consists of people who want to reside on the greener side and to reach there they will hang onto the different threads available. What should we deal with? The ideology? Or the poverty?

A simple example to look at, and one that has been central to many arguments lately, is Hezballah. Whether you think that HA’s Islamic fervor is destructive to the nation is irrelevant. The question to ask is why are they such a success in the South? Is it only because they are a religious party? Or that they fought Israel? Do you really believe that it is just their ideology that has garnered such a large crowd?

Or can it be something on a much more basic level, which is relevant to life itself, such as providing services (health, education, social services) that the government has neglected to do?

As to its religious nature, that is just “ceremony”. In the same way, religion in general is just opium for the masses (as Marx discusses). From this perspective, so are ideologies. The latest examples in Lebanon were created after Hariri’s assassination – in which the calls for Freedom, Democracy, and The Truth were vocalized. We most definitely do want all three, because we believe that it will give us a better life; but in the name of Freedom, Democracy, and the Truth, Lebanon has been at a stand still. And now, in light of recent events, we have the new and slightly less enunciated ideology of “Lahoud Out”. Call it necessary. But it removes our concentration from the more important details of making our country, and on a more basic level, our lives, work. Social sectarianism (to be differentiated from political confessionalism) is another ideology. Sects do not speak with one voice, yet venting our anger on the other sect is one more way of not focusing on “details”. Phoenicianism (I am not debating the historical aspects here) has been used and abused by communities. Nationalism, and the concept of a national leader (which have already caused havoc in Lebanon), is another way to introduce abstract ideas such as “our great country” and “the most nationalistic patriotic leader” (please explain to me what that means).

And we look up to all these simply because we dream of a better life … You will tell me that some of these are important. Pan-Arabists thought so too. You may say that Arabism was an evil, and you may very be well right. However, eradicating Arabism won’t prevent another ideology from flooding the masses again. Although ideologies may begin as just ideas and thoughts, they only become real when people feel that these ideas will provide the way out of their currently unfair life.

Once and for all, lets get our priorities right. Until we do, we will keep chasing the phantoms of our past and will keep falling into the web of grandeur and silken words.

posted by Lazarus, 9:20 AM