A Tale Of Two Systems.

By The Beirut Spring

It’s a sad fact of life that Lebanon as we know it can never produce a president Obama.

If you really think of it, Lebanon is the very opposite of what president BarrackĀ Obama represents. The notion that any young citizen, with enough hard work and ambition, can become whatever he or she wants to be in the future is the antithesis of our own, archaic system.

How can you not be embarrassed, watching the Obama spectacle, if you live in a country where your destiny is dictated by the God you worship and the clan you belong to? President Obama puts to shame our obsolete system that assigns a different set of laws to Mohammed and Elie.

What’s worse, our system is enshrined in our constitution, the document we are supposed to present to our children as the embodiment of our highest ideals.

Of course, the Obama phenomenon is unique to America, and it would be unfair to single out Lebanon in its shortcomings (not even the great democracies of Europe have produced their Obamas). But that shouldn’t give us a pass: The black man in the White house should give every Lebanese a pause for thought…

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Tarek is the founder and chief researcher at Youngberry, a youth research and marketing firm dedicated to the region. Tarek founded interactiveME.com and previously worked as Manager at Flip Media (Interactive Agency), Bayt.com (Job Site) and Consulting House Qatar (Consulting firm). He is researcher and writer on internet & disruptive innovation, entrepreneurship, and youth culture.