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What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

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Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#241

Post by SuoDuanDao »

suzzer99 wrote: post #207
suoduandao2 wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A better track record according to whom, the experts? It's one thing when an expert in biblical study tells you not to do your own research. When the same instructions come from an institution deferring its authority to the scientific method, someone's very obviously gone off the rails.

Should a random person with no scientific background or familiarity with medical studies trust their doctor and the overwhelming consensus of epidemiologists and virologists over Joe Rogan and a two hour youtube video? Yes, clearly. That this is even up for debate shows how insane things are right now..

This video series: https://odysee.com/@BiohackThePlanet:3/coding-the-dna-for-a-... was created before any MRNA vaccines for novel coronavirus were scheduled to be released and the global research community world was scrambling for any edge against covid-19. It documents the efforts of a group of citizen scientists to develop and test an MRNA vaccine against Covid and test it on themselves. If you can offer one semi-compelling reason why it should have been removed from youtube without resorting to ad hominem against either me or the people producing it, I'll engage in some self-reflection.

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#242

Post by dr-detroit »

skippyboxedhero wrote: post #74
nemesisj wrote: post #4

I follow the referenced instagram account and I actually find it depressing. I've probably visited Beirut 20+ times over the last 7 years. Last visit was summer of 2019, so haven't been since COVID. My company has an office there. It's one of my favorite cities in the world. It's also one of the most heartbreaking situations in economic and humanitarian terms. The country has experienced one of the worst currency cri…

100 years? It was basically a first-world country 50 years ago. The decline in living standards in Lebanon is one of the largest ever (Argentina probably the biggest, Venezuela is the other big one, Lebanon is somewhere around Venezuela). Countries can come back (the country that was Austro-Hungary, Slovakia has a city with one of the highest GDP per capita in Europe after massive repeated collapses), but there is (a…

No post body was provided.

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#243

Post by zackees »

mike00632 wrote: post #171
rayiner wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most developing countries would be lucky to have the order and competency even of the Trump administration. We aren’t even talking about the same planet here in terms of what’s a functioning democracy. In Bangladesh, the government is putting leaders of the opposition party BNP in jail ( https://learngerman.dw.com/en/bangladesh-court-sentences-opp... ), and even then it’s the most functional government the country ha…

The Trump administration literally attempted a coup.

[dead]

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#244

Post by munificent »

selimthegrim wrote: post #225
munificent wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think about this all the time. I believe it arises from an interaction between individuals and the surrounding culture and institutions. Let's assume, a priori, that everyone is trying to maximize their "success". This doesn't necessarily mean purely selfish greed , but more an observation that there's a natural incentive to take care of ourselves and our own and that we will naturally try to figure out how to get…

I believe you have rediscovered ‘asabiyya. Ibn Khaldun must be smiling down at you.

Ah, thank you for introducing me to this term! The Wikipedia article is fascinating.

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#245

Post by leaflets2 »

googlryas wrote: post #86
campground wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Iran may not have been colonized but their democratic government was overthrown by the US and Britain to prevent them nationalizing their fossil fuel supply. I often wonder what the Middle East would look like today if Iran has been able to use their oil wealth for their own democratic civil development.

That's not really what happened. The Shah was the ultimate authority in Iran, and he asked the Prime Minister to step down, which was his legal right. The Prime Minister said "No thanks, I'm the boss now", at which point the US/UK helped the Shah assert his actual legal right under their existing rule of law. Can you tell me - if Queen Elizabeth asked that Boris Johnson step down from role as PM(which is her right),…

You're asking if GP would support a dictator (the queen in your theoretical example) or a democratically elected person.

I think that doesn't make sense to ask

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#246

Post by [deleted] »

guykdm wrote: post #53
martincmartin wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The country is in complete deadlock politically - all of the warlords from the civil war just became politicians and then systematically looted the country. I always wonder why many democracies devolve into politicians just looting the government, whereas others become successful and relatively less corrupt.

"Lebanese" is a modern invention. Lebanon is a contrived post colonial state with no historical foundations. Those most usually fail horribly.

[deleted]

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#247

Post by leaflets2 »

VictorPath wrote: post #230
kamaal wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Colonial Influences' were exactly what they were - 'Colonial Influences', Here in India, British barely spent money on education, or industrialising the country. Whatever little infrastructure got built, was done to ensure British could efficiently siphon off whatever they were trying to take from here. To that effect, the pictures of modernism you see from the colonies are restricted to a few cities, and a few mino…

> Here in India, British barely spent money on education, or industrialising the country. It's beyond even that. The English spent the nineteenth century deindustrializing India - textiles, steel etc.

What did the 19th century Englishmen do more precisely? (You wrote "textiles, steel" as clarification but that's too brief for me :-))

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#248

Post by Apocryphon »

ROARosen wrote: post #203
rougka wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when are the PLO considered an Islamist movement?

From Wikipedia[0]: Under President Arafat, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority adopted the 2003 Amended Basic Law, which stipulates Islam as the sole official religion in Palestine and the principles of Islamic sharia as a principal source of legislation. The draft Constitution contains the same provisions. The draft Constitution was formulated by a Constitutional Committee, established by Arafat in 1999 and en…

So, after the Lebanese Civil War already ended.

Re: What Beirut was like before the war (2019)

#250

Post by googlryas »

ben0x539 wrote: post #181
ballenf wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I should reveal that I'm an anti-monarchist and a believe that states should strip any and all powers from from their monarchies, even if they are quaint and historical anachronisms. Curious why? Would you hold that position even if the monarch has present widespread support from the population? Do you think something has changed to make that form of rule more objectionable than it was in the past? I.e., do you hav…

I wouldn't go around and label myself an anti-monarchist but I'm surprised that that's a contentious position? Yes, of course the people should strip all power from their monarchies/monarchs/aristocrats in a democracy, because democracy is about sovereign power originating from the people or whatever, not from divine right or right of conquest or tradition or something. And yes, of course historic monarchies are at l…

As has been noted, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
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