«The People Want»! From Lebanon This Time

The current Lebanese uprising reaffirms, once more, what we have been saying since the beginning of this century, and even before few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, that we live in an era in which the prospects for the popular masses are widely opening and the prospects for their enemies are closing up.

This era is mounting up as historical periodicity is objective phenomenon not related to a given country, rather it is a global one, that covers every spot to which functional and organic capitalist crises have spread; i.e. the entire world.

The Lebanese uprising (in parallel with what is happening in Iraq, Tunisia and elsewhere) also reaffirms that the winds of change are objective, generated by the
enormous class inequality, the brutal concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the few who are
ruthlessly crushing entire peoples, shutting down the doors for development, pushing entire nations towards
ever-deepening crises, using various tools for fragmenting the power of the masses (sectarian, nationalistic division lines; among others). They use, as well, the security services in their respective country as a tool for repression, all under the banner of defending the homeland, fighting its enemies and countering foreign conspiracy, etc.

The Lebanese authority with all its various currents and wings, is willing to preserve the same regime. In this authority there are currents that would like to maintain the regime as it is, side by side with other currents who want to ride over the popular movement in order to redistribute their previous profits and positions, but within the framework of reproducing the same regime.

This confirms what we have been repeatedly saying since 2003: the old political sphere is fading out; it is suffering from dysconnectivity to the mass, distending itself from their concerns, and even it has been flourishing upon those concerns.
This consequently also asserts that a new political sphere is being expected. This born-to-be sphere is emerging from the ranks of the people themselves to express them truly and genuinely. This is taking place in Lebanon, Syria and everywhere.

In the Lebanese realities, we can add that although this massive uprising has erupted at a moment when the Western capitalist center, as well as its covert or fragrant regional allies are suffering from a deep and intractable crisis, and from a massive retreat that almost paralyzes their abilities to sabotage and intervene, as was the case previously in Iraq, Libya and Syria over the past two decades. Nonetheless, the fragility and complexity of the prevailing sectarian political structure mean that the threats of foreign interventions are not completely absent.

This entails high vigilance! Such dangers began their first manifestations through various attempts to infiltrate the demonstrations, using the same flip of coins of the 8th and 14th march trends. Apparently, such attempts will not stop.

The evolution of the uprising and its advancement have only one option: Listening to the people so well, abiding by their word, learning from them, and helping them organize their movement all over the country to enable them from choosing the leaders and representatives whom they trust, and who would form the core of the new political umbrella, unite the popular efforts nationwide, open the door to a genuine national popular dialogue, led by the people themselves, rather than a chat among the same leaders who are in power now. This would allow setting forth an applicable exit-program out of the crisis.

This is the age of people. They will have their word fulfilled.

Kassioun Editorial, Issue no. 936, October 20, 2019