Arabic version: النسخة العربية
This is an actual plan to fix Lebanon. It is not a short-term fix; it will need 2 decades. Let’s discard all our skepticism or negative thoughts and look into it.
Identifying The Core Issues & Causes
We all know the problems and issues that Lebanon has. I’ve already privately listed them, analyzed their causes, simplified them to their core, and compiled a list of 12 core issues that cause all of these problems. These issues are mostly issues that Lebanese people have in their mentality and behavior.
The core causes of all problems in Lebanon:
- People don’t think of the consequences of their actions.
- People stay silent and don’t intervene, object, or say “no” when they see something wrong.
- People don’t enlighten others.
- People don’t take initiative to fix things… they’re always being passive instead of proactive.
- People ignore problems instead of solving them.
- People think they can get away with things, or that they’re “above the law”.
- People are sectarian instead of patriotic.
- People are intolerant, and don’t accept others who are different than them in beliefs or opinions.
- People communicate using confrontation, antagonism, hate, hostility, insults, destructive criticism, and aggression instead of using a positive, calm, respectful, rational, mature, diplomatic approach.
- People are selfish & greedy.
- People don’t live by principles.
- People spend their energy on things that don’t matter instead of spending it on things that do.
Now replace “people” and “they” with “you” and re-read that list. Yes, “you”, because you’re one of those people. I am too, but I’m trying to change.
The 4 core issues
If we simplify the above list even more, we reach the following 4 core issues:
1. Passiveness
2. Carelessness
3. Lack of manners, principles and ethics
4. Sectarianism and intolerance
These 4 issues are what indirectly led to all the problems we’re facing. This includes the presence and the destructive freedom of all the Lebanese politicians we’ve had in power for all those years, who in turn resulted in all the failures we now have… from sectarianism, to the garbage crisis, to the economic and dollar crisis, to the electricity crisis, to the Beirut port explosion and everything else.
The Plan
A. The Concept
To solve the above issues and eliminate them once and for all, a long-term plan is needed. The plan consists of 20-year long awareness campaigns aimed at fixing the mentality and behavior of the Lebanese people, each campaign tackling one of the above 4 core issues.
Let’s aim to fix the future Lebanese generations and culture, and whatever we can fix from the current generations would be a bonus. Current and previous generations might be tough to change, but even if we’re able to fix a small percentage of them, it would make a significant difference.
Here’s how the plan would work…
B. What The Plan Includes
1. The Initial Recruitment of People and Organizations For The Cause
We first need to recruit people and organizations and make them adopt the cause. They will be following the methods we’re suggesting, and the steps needed for each campaign. Our target is individuals (both adults and kids), activists, activist groups, celebrities, schools, NGOs, companies with CSR programs, and the media. Note: When we say “recruitment” here, we mean volunteer recruitment, not paid recruitment.
Ex. If you as someone from organization X, or you as a celebrity, or you as just someone interested in making a change read this and are interested in participating, just take a pledge upon yourself to be part of the #fixLebanon movement and make it your goal to actually try to fix Lebanon.
2. The Creation of Leaders & Ambassadors
Lebanon needs better leaders. We need to encourage people to become leaders, and make sure they know when and how to lead so that they don’t clash. Once you adopt the #fixLebanon cause, you’re agreeing to becoming a leader and ambassador of this cause, and you’ll be creating other leaders and ambassadors to join it as well. Leaders and ambassadors of the cause are considered power-players, and should be committed and fully motivated to pursue the cause and the lifestyle even in the toughest of times. They’re responsible for constantly enlightening others, and motivating others whenever they begin to lose motivation.
Ex. You will constantly talk about the initiative and promote it. You’ll try to recruit more people to join the cause, and turn them into leaders and ambassadors just like you are. You will make it your lifestyle to always influence others, say no to wrong, and live by the principles that we’re promoting… the principles that will result in fixing the issues that we’ve mentioned earlier.
3. The Creation of Micro-Influencers
The goal is to turn everyone into an influencer. Each person will influence and lead their own social circle, no matter how small it is. If someone only influences 2 people, those 2 people will influence another 2 or more people, and those will in turn influence more people… the effect is viral.
Ex. I influence you and the people I know, and I encourage you to influence your friends and people you know, so you do that and encourage your friends/contacts to influence their contacts and friends… Everyone becomes a micro-influencer.
4. The Creation of Awareness Campaigns
Awareness campaigns are the bulk core of the plan. Each awareness campaign will be talking about a certain issue, topic, or way of thinking. The awareness campaigns can consist of any possible medium, and will rely heavily on viral social media campaigns & word of mouth. They will include daily, weekly, and monthly social media campaigns. The campaigns will be user-generated, crowd-sourced, and can also include professionally made volunteer campaigns by media agencies that adopt the cause. The campaigns must be positive, informative, and educational.
Ex: Every 2 weeks or so, create a video of yourself talking about one of the 10 designated core issues, adopting the cause, and taking an oath to do something about it. Share that video on social media. You’re a better influencer to people you are similar to and you actually know. You have more rapport with them, they can identify with you, and you can get the message through more efficiently. Note that it doesn’t have to be a video, it could be a graphic, a written article, or anything that you think might help. Pick a new topic of the 12 issues every time (ex. For campaign 1 talk about the destructive effects of selfishness & greed, then for campaign 2 talk about the destructive effect of not thinking of the consequences of our actions, then another topic for campaign 3 and so on…)
5. Enlightening and Educating People
The goal of the campaigns is to enlighten and educate people, and in turn make them enlighten and educate other people they are in contact with. The campaigns will encourage people to talk to others, and to talk about useful meaningful things that will help fix their mentality and behavior. Sharing these campaigns is essential so that they reach the biggest number of people possible.
Ex. In the video that you create discussing a certain issue, encourage your viewers to share your video, and encourage them to make a similar video of their own and share it within their social circle. You can even make the videos #challenge style, and challenge 3 friends to do the same video you did.
6. The Creation of Civic Enforcers
Since we can’t count on local law enforcement to enforce rules and laws, we need to create our own social/civic enforcers. The goal is to turn everyone into a peaceful, pacifist, diplomatic social law enforcer. Each person will take action towards the negative things they encounter in their daily lives, whether it’s by talking directly to the offenders they encounter and enlightening them, or by reporting it to the authorities if they have to.
Ex. You should decide to become a civic enforcer or make enforcement part of your lifestyle, and you should also assign that role to people in your group. As a civic enforcer, if you see someone saying or doing something destructive, like littering or swearing for example, you go up to them and talk to them and peacefully enlighten them why what they’re doing is wrong, and peacefully ask them to fix it. If they don’t, then you can try to fix it yourself (ex. Clean up their litter) and lead by setting a good example.
7. Campaign re-enforcement
The role of the above mentioned enforcers is also to make sure that the initiative/movement doesn’t die down or fade away with time. They’d have to keep being leaders, and keep motivating others in the movement to keep this new culture alive. The goal is to re-enforce each campaign and make it a long term campaign: Re-enforce and follow up for 20 years. Each element and step of the plan should be done continuously during these 20 years for the plan to truly last and work.
Ex. If you notice that someone from the #fixLebanon movement has stopped creating or sharing videos, or has become pessimistic or hopeless, your role would be to re-motivate them and remind them that the work is not done, and that the campaigns need to keep going for 20 years, and your role is to keep the movement and the campaigns alive.
C. The Action Plan: How to Start?
Now that we’ve laid the plan out, here’s how to start with it and actually implement it:
1. Take a personal pledge to adopt this cause
Actually and sincerely decide that you want to contribute to fixing Lebanon. A pledge is a simple decision and a promise to yourself and to the world. You can make your pledge public by posting a video or status about it on social media (ex. I decided today to start taking action to fix Lebanon), or you can keep it private. It really helps to mention the #fixLebanon initiative and share this article. Once you’ve made the decision/taken the pledge, you’re then considered one of the leaders or ambassadors of this initiative. You’ll need to start influencing and recruiting others.
2. Recruit people interested in helping and volunteering (create a mailing list or WhatsApp group)
You need a team to join you. Start by having a meeting with your colleagues and close friends/family members, tell them about this plan, tell them you want to make a change and that you need their help, and that you all can make a difference. Influence them into jumping on board and adopting the cause. Create a mailing list or WhatsApp group (or both) and invite your contacts to join it. Post a status or story/video on your social media (ex. Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram) telling people about your decision and about the initiative, and invite them to get in touch with you, join you or do the same thing you’re doing.
3. Send a form that these people can fill out selecting how they can help, or just ask them
This form will be used to assign roles to the volunteers in your group or social circle. If you don’t know how to create a form, just ask your contacts how they’re willing to help (give them options of the needed roles and tasks), and record their results in an Excel sheet so you know who’s interested in what.
Here’s a sample form that you can use:
• Name:
• Number:
• Email:
• How you can help: (ex. organize meetings / share and spread the word / recruit more volunteers / create graphics for campaigns / create videos for campaigns / talk to schools / talk to organizations / talk to teachers / other…)
• How many hours/week are you willing to dedicate:
4. Send the general concept plan
Send this article to the people you’re recruiting so that they know what the whole plan is and what the initiative is all about.
5. Meet
Organize meetings or online meetings to set dates, action plans, milestones, and manage progress. The meetings can be in person (ex. At your house, at a café, at your work/organization’s office or location) or online (ex. Zoom meetings). It would be a good idea to set a fixed schedule for the meetings… ex. #fixLebanon meeting every Saturday at 3pm
6. Organize roles
Organize roles in the meeting based on the form that everyone filled.
Ex.
• Karim will be responsible for contacting organizations regarding the initiative and getting them on board.
• Sara will be responsible for creating campaign ideas
• Joe will be responsible for scheduling meetings and the campaigns
• Ali will be responsible for creating videos for these campaign ideas
• Chris will be responsible for recruiting new volunteers
• Maya will be responsible for social media engagement
• Samer will be responsible for contacting schools regarding the initiative
• Nadine will be responsible for contacting individual teachers
• Mohammad will be responsible for recruiting new volunteers
Etc… think of any roles you might need, and assign backup people for these roles in case the person originally assigned to it isn’t able to properly perform that role. If that happens, don’t let it become an issue and ruin the original cause.
7. Set next immediate action plan
Set what needs to be done for next week.
Let the goals be SMART:
• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time bound
Ex.
• Karim: Contact NGO 1, NGO 2, NGO 3, and NGO 4 by next Saturday
• Sara: Write down 20 campaign ideas by next Saturday
• Nadine: Contact 10 teachers on LinkedIn by next Saturday
• Moe: Recruit 5 new volunteers by next Saturday
• Ali: Film 1 video by next Saturday
• Everyone: Share this week’s campaign
8. Begin execution
Each person begins doing their task, executing their role and implementing their plan.
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8
Each week, or in each meeting, repeat the previous 2 steps:
Plan, execute, plan, execute, plan, execute, plan, execute…
10. Repeat step 9 for 20 years
Keep planning and executing for 20 years
It’s actually not as complicated as it seems…
Action plan simplified:
- Pick a topic to start with
- Begin execution!
- Repeat
- Follow the principles and keep the initiative alive
Example:
1. Assign a topic to each month or week or day
2. Create content and spread awareness about that topic
3. Repeat that topic each month or week or day
4. Incorporate the principles into your daily lifestyle
Detailed examples:
• Mondays are for enlightenment: Talk to 10 people about this topic
• Tuesdays are for “no littering/clean up”: share content about that
• Wednesdays are for “following driving laws”: Share content about that on Wednesdays…
• Thursdays are for “tolerance and non-sectarianism”: share content about that
• Fridays are for talking about “empathy”
• January’s campaign is about issue 5, February’s campaign is about issue 6… repeat these themes every year for 20 years.
Remember: Always say no to wrong, influence/enlighten others, be proactive, genuinely care about your country and making a difference, have good manners, ethics, and live by principle.
Why Previous Efforts Failed
In order for the plan to work, some mistakes should be avoided, and we should learn from previous efforts. Many organizations, groups, and parties have tried fixing Lebanon or doing things to improve it in the past, but they mostly failed. Below are some reasons why:
- Improper execution
- Efforts were only for a short time (ex. a 1 month campaign instead of a 10 year campaign)
- Campaigns weren’t fully nationwide (ex. campaign shown only on 1 TV station instead of all)
- No follow up (ex. released 1 campaign and stopped)
- They were too aggressive, oppositional or confrontational
- They themselves were too skeptic
- They just criticized instead of showing the way to fix things
- Parties were competing instead of collaborating
- They tried fixing the results of the problems instead of fixing the causes
- They lost interest/gave up (because they faced too many obstacles, their life circumstances changed, they became drained/exhausted, or they were maybe oppressed)
- They had personal agendas instead of really caring about the cause (ex. gain followers/make money/serve their ego/to be able to say “I did this, I did that”/get involved in politics)
- They didn’t pass the torch to someone else (who’s capable) to continue what they had started
- They were oppressed by the authorities or political parties (because they were too confrontational and aggressive)
Don’t make the same mistakes! Learn from them, and don’t let this initiative fail.
Examples Where Such Initiatives Worked
There are several success stories in history where long term initiatives and awareness campaigns resulted in successfully changing and improving a whole country’s culture.
One example is how the USA managed to instill patriotism in its citizens, making it part of American culture. Americans didn’t become patriotic overnight. It took years. If you look back at the past 30-40 years, you’ll notice that American TV shows, movies, songs, fashion and media always somehow incorporated the American flag, or mentioned something about being a “real American” or “all-American”, or “greatest country in the world”. You can also notice it in sports and wrestling shows for example, where “USA” chants are often started. Such patriotic behavior has always been encouraged and rewarded, and all those years of conditioning people through media are what made American people patriotic. Now let’s apply the same concept of long-term media conditioning to our people. It worked for them, so it could work for us too.
Your Country Needs You
Listen, this is your chance to do something useful for your country and its people. A lot of them, just like you, are good people and are worth saving. They deserve a better life, and you can make a difference once you collaborate with others and take initiative. Be the hero and help fix Lebanon. Maybe this is the reason you were brought into this life and born in no other country but Lebanon. It’s time for you to fulfill your destiny and make a difference.
Even if you don’t care about the country and are planning to leave, or if you’ve already left and are living peacefully abroad, remember that you have friends, family, relatives, and a lot of good people who are stuck and suffering in Lebanon. You can help them… Do this for them. Chances are if you’re still reading, you actually care about this country.
Ok, Now What? Adopt This Initiative!
Please adopt this initiative. Take it, make it yours, use it, start it, share it, improve it, develop it. It doesn’t matter who takes credit, what matters is the positive result that will result from it. Let our children and our future selves enjoy those results and thank us for them. Use hashtag #fixLebanon on social media, and let’s make this a movement. Does it sound too idealistic to work? Even if it is, it’s definitely worth trying, because the payoff would be well worth it… let’s not prejudge. Any small positive impact is still good enough. We’ve got nothing to lose.
Make Your Decision
You’ve got 2 choices:
A. Do nothing, keep being passive, and keep complaining how things are get worse.
B. Take action, and start seriously working on implementing this plan to try to fix Lebanon and build the future you’d like to see.
Let’s all take action. Let’s make this work.
Please share this so it reaches as many people as possible.
