By Sari Zeineddine | Staff Writer
The truth of the current situation.
We have been hearing of a “recovery” since the beginning of the Taif era, maybe because the “New Lebanon” is structurally associated with crises. Some call it “political recovery”, others go for “financial” or “economic” recovery.
Thirty years of attempts and the sum was an absolute failure in allocating resources efficiently or ruling the state and society in a beneficial way. The real question we are facing in this case is, recovery of what? And to the benefit of whom?
The Current Situation: Beyond the Dominant Narrative
There isn’t much space to explain the reasons behind the economic crisis and to debunk the myths surrounding this topic especially that the media generated many narratives about it that are neither scientifically true nor historically correct.
However, some numbers that show the effects of the economic recession we are surviving can be helpful in showing how the so-called “recovery” is basically the reproduction of the Lebanese regime, but with fewer resources and therefore with deeper impoverishment, less welfare and human rights.
Between 2016 and 2020, the number of authorized workers decreased by 540,000 workers (“authorized workers” means workers shown in the data of Ministry of Finance). The reason behind this was the closure and bankruptcy of small and medium units/firms that used to work in Lebanon. The minimum wage used to be around $400, now it’s $30$ when compared to the value of the Lebanese pound in the “black” market. Not to mention, that the majority of the local citizens lost the value of their bank savings. They can now withdraw a small portion of it at the ‘lollar’ rate (the exchange rate of the dollars in the bank). Actually, this means that a real haircut, a practical one, is running the show illegally with neither a law nor the consent of the customers. Beyond this haircut lies the “recovery” – behind the ‘lollar’ rate, banks are cutting their losses and reducing the gap in their budget at the expense of the value of people’s savings and incomes.
On another hand, what the mainstream narratives don’t show us is how the dying Lebanese social order and the sectarian-political units behind it are trying to provide the Lebanese regime what it really needs to reproduce itself – more dollars circulating in the economy. How can the regime get its needs to re-play the poker game or at least to compensate for the losses of the last thirty-year-old game? The “solution” is to export the only good it produces – its citizens. According to the Lebanese General Security, from the beginning of the year until August 260,000 passports were made, an increase by 82% compared to the same period last year (142,000 passports).
What we should never forget when talking about the distribution of the losses is security. Even social security is a feature to mention when showing how the Lebanese regime is reproducing itself at the expense of the people. The number of crimes and robberies is insane – an increase in the number of crimes by 45.5%, and an increase in the number of robberies committed by 144% compared to the last year.
To summarize, the crisis we are surviving is not just an economic one or a political one. It’s the crisis of a dying system that is trying its best to live longer by impoverishing the locals, indirectly forcing them to leave, and finally threatening their social existence. Not to mention the psychological and sexual harm (like the increased prices of products and medication that relate to female hygiene) that the regime has never stopped perpetuating. The aim of understanding the political economy of the “recovery” is to know how the system and its socio-political components affect every level of the society and who benefits from it.