Comments on: Lebanese Decadence? http://www.yalibnan.com/2009/12/30/2384/ World News Live from Lebanon Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:43:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Dalal http://www.yalibnan.com/2009/12/30/2384/#comment-746 Dalal Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:46:52 +0000 http://www.yalibnan.com/?p=2384#comment-746 Just wondering didn't Lebanon receieve millions in US dollars where did the $$$$$$$ go????? Just wondering didn’t Lebanon receieve millions in US dollars where did the $$$$$$$ go?????

]]> By: Lawrence http://www.yalibnan.com/2009/12/30/2384/#comment-721 Lawrence Sun, 03 Jan 2010 11:10:16 +0000 http://www.yalibnan.com/?p=2384#comment-721 A polarised socieity is not a good sign, these statistics shock me and need to be adressed to. The March the 14th Alliance and the March the 8th Alliance should use the huge sums of money they recieve from Saudi Arabia and Iran to adress this appaling issue A polarised socieity is not a good sign, these statistics shock me and need to be adressed to. The March the 14th Alliance and the March the 8th Alliance should use the huge sums of money they recieve from Saudi Arabia and Iran to adress this appaling issue

]]> By: Ghassan Karam http://www.yalibnan.com/2009/12/30/2384/#comment-718 Ghassan Karam Sun, 03 Jan 2010 10:49:53 +0000 http://www.yalibnan.com/?p=2384#comment-718 Dalal (January 3) Amen to that. I have repeatedly made the call for the dire need to have a radical change since the present structural set up is rotten to the core. Unfortunately , many in Lebanon, confuse the wealth of the very few with signs of development. Expensive parties,fancy cars and exclusive residences for the privileged do not a developed society make. Dalal (January 3)
Amen to that. I have repeatedly made the call for the dire need to have a radical change since the present structural set up is rotten to the core.
Unfortunately , many in Lebanon, confuse the wealth of the very few with signs of development. Expensive parties,fancy cars and exclusive residences for the privileged do not a developed society make.

]]> By: Louay Faour http://www.yalibnan.com/2009/12/30/2384/#comment-714 Louay Faour Sun, 03 Jan 2010 10:36:00 +0000 http://www.yalibnan.com/?p=2384#comment-714 Dalal, MUCH has changed from the 70's, you can't make it sound like no-one new has entered this scene... Lebanon accepts US all whether Lebanese or non-Lebanese, we aren't the 2nd Afghanistan you know. When you talk about unifying and patriotism, that shouldn't be asked twice about the people, us living outside might see something slightly different, but believe me, from what I know and see in this country everyone is patriotic enough to classify themselves Lebanese before Christian, Muslim, Druze etc. This is an old view 'religious perspectives'... Please let us just be more positive and optimisstic. Its the people that should change before the government changes them, but I agree on one thing, A LOT of people act depending on what their 'heroes' do. Dalal, MUCH has changed from the 70’s, you can’t make it sound like no-one new has entered this scene… Lebanon accepts US all whether Lebanese or non-Lebanese, we aren’t the 2nd Afghanistan you know. When you talk about unifying and patriotism, that shouldn’t be asked twice about the people, us living outside might see something slightly different, but believe me, from what I know and see in this country everyone is patriotic enough to classify themselves Lebanese before Christian, Muslim, Druze etc. This is an old view ‘religious perspectives’… Please let us just be more positive and optimisstic. Its the people that should change before the government changes them, but I agree on one thing, A LOT of people act depending on what their ‘heroes’ do.

]]> By: Dalal http://www.yalibnan.com/2009/12/30/2384/#comment-712 Dalal Sun, 03 Jan 2010 07:19:31 +0000 http://www.yalibnan.com/?p=2384#comment-712 To Ghssan and Habib You talk about the tax system in Lebanon as if it's one of those developed countries that need tax reforms please get real...the rich people whom you implement pay more taxes considering their huge incomes , are the same eople who are right at this minute are robbing the poor and our shredded resources from any sort of financial support or social progressive growth. And here am not talking about extreme poverty relative to our country that face some non-lebanese minorities,but rather about mere secondary education for all our children. In 1975, I needed a referee who knew the principal to be admitted to a public high school, and believwe it or not this referee was a foreigner. To this day I wonder is Lebanon a home for all of us? we need a social revolution and a real leader that believes in equal rights, strong and patriotic enough to unify the lebanese people and youth without seeing ourselves through religious or political perspectives. To Ghssan and Habib
You talk about the tax system in Lebanon as if it’s one of those developed countries that need tax reforms please get real…the rich people whom you implement pay more taxes considering their huge incomes , are the same eople who are right at this minute are robbing the poor and our shredded resources from any sort of financial support or social progressive growth. And here am not talking about extreme poverty relative to our country that face some non-lebanese minorities,but rather about mere secondary education for all our children. In 1975, I needed a referee who knew the principal to be admitted to a public high school, and believwe it or not this referee was a foreigner. To this day I wonder is Lebanon a home for all of us? we need a social revolution and a real leader that believes in equal rights, strong and patriotic enough to unify the lebanese people and youth without seeing ourselves through religious or political perspectives.

]]> By: Ghassan Karam http://www.yalibnan.com/2009/12/30/2384/#comment-705 Ghassan Karam Sat, 02 Jan 2010 16:53:34 +0000 http://www.yalibnan.com/?p=2384#comment-705 Habib, You have hit the nail on the head. An effective and an equitable tax system is one of the best methods to build respect for the law and a healthy relationship between government and the citizens. Unfortunately Lebanon is a huge failure on this front. Witness that all taxes are just over 15% of the GDO and almost half of this is collected through VAT. This means that all other taxes amount to barely 7-8% of the GDP when they should be at least twice that. All the taxes that you have mentioned exist on paper but they are not collected efficiently. The only other reliable form of income for the government besides VAT is the direct deductions from wages. But what about all the income of the professionals a, the capital gains and all other forms of unearned income. I am not suggesting that Lebanon should be transformed overnight into a country with prohibitive tax structure. On the contrary, all what is needed is the establishment of an efficiently administered tax structure so that the most important principle in taxation will be implemented: Tax according to the ability to pay. Habib,
You have hit the nail on the head. An effective and an equitable tax system is one of the best methods to build respect for the law and a healthy relationship between government and the citizens.
Unfortunately Lebanon is a huge failure on this front. Witness that all taxes are just over 15% of the GDO and almost half of this is collected through VAT. This means that all other taxes amount to barely 7-8% of the GDP when they should be at least twice that. All the taxes that you have mentioned exist on paper but they are not collected efficiently. The only other reliable form of income for the government besides VAT is the direct deductions from wages. But what about all the income of the professionals a, the capital gains and all other forms of unearned income. I am not suggesting that Lebanon should be transformed overnight into a country with prohibitive tax structure. On the contrary, all what is needed is the establishment of an efficiently administered tax structure so that the most important principle in taxation will be implemented: Tax according to the ability to pay.

]]> By: Habib Constantine http://www.yalibnan.com/2009/12/30/2384/#comment-702 Habib Constantine Sat, 02 Jan 2010 12:41:38 +0000 http://www.yalibnan.com/?p=2384#comment-702 Glad to see we are at least discussing such an important subject. Income tax is important in that it instills civic duty and hopefully teaches respect of the rule of law. VAT I feel is an unfair tax on the lower paid because it takes away a larger share of their income. What about other forms of taxation that the Lebanese government can collect? For instance inheritance tax, capital gains tax or tax duty on the sale of houses. These taxes are hard to avoid and maybe they exist in some form already in Lebanon. Perhaps someone can explain if they do exist and if they are at proper levels and properly administered. I wish my fellow Lebanese all the best, but It seems we have a long way to go before we achieve a truly modern civic society. Is the education system failing in producing responsible adults? Glad to see we are at least discussing such an important subject. Income tax is important in that it instills civic duty and hopefully teaches respect of the rule of law. VAT I feel is an unfair tax on the lower paid because it takes away a larger share of their income. What about other forms of taxation that the Lebanese government can collect? For instance inheritance tax, capital gains tax or tax duty on the sale of houses. These taxes are hard to avoid and maybe they exist in some form already in Lebanon. Perhaps someone can explain if they do exist and if they are at proper levels and properly administered. I wish my fellow Lebanese all the best, but It seems we have a long way to go before we achieve a truly modern civic society. Is the education system failing in producing responsible adults?

]]> By: Dalal http://www.yalibnan.com/2009/12/30/2384/#comment-700 Dalal Sat, 02 Jan 2010 11:31:26 +0000 http://www.yalibnan.com/?p=2384#comment-700 Every decent Lebanese wants a social change and a fair go for everybody but how is this possible with a corrupt government and disfunctional system that contributed to drowning this small country into a bloody civil war. and how is this possible with men in power who have blood on their hands still exist as our representatives today. Power of the people would bring such stable economic change but unfortunately we are good talkers blamers and laisez-faire individuals...someone else will fix it no probs....the rich get richer and the poor just pass the rich and envy them..oh well nothing has changed since 1970s..keep life simple and go with the flow. Every decent Lebanese wants a social change and a fair go for everybody but how is this possible with a corrupt government and disfunctional system that contributed to drowning this small country into a bloody civil war. and how is this possible with men in power who have blood on their hands still exist as our representatives today. Power of the people would bring such stable economic change but unfortunately we are good talkers blamers and laisez-faire individuals…someone else will fix it no probs….the rich get richer and the poor just pass the rich and envy them..oh well nothing has changed since 1970s..keep life simple and go with the flow.

]]> By: Louay Faour http://www.yalibnan.com/2009/12/30/2384/#comment-682 Louay Faour Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:10:13 +0000 http://www.yalibnan.com/?p=2384#comment-682 Dalal, I am not dividing between religions I'm just making a point... and Sasi, good point you did make, and surely if Lebanon was like that I wouldn't imagine anyone having any reason or excuse to leave (but they always say it for the jobs only)... We all pray to God, though it is not entirely his responsibility :) , to put some sense into these politicians, and let them start doing what they say... We want better roads, better health and educational services, 24hr water and energy supply, more jobs and higher wages etc. Does this gvmnt want it too? Lets hope so. Dalal, I am not dividing between religions I’m just making a point… and Sasi, good point you did make, and surely if Lebanon was like that I wouldn’t imagine anyone having any reason or excuse to leave (but they always say it for the jobs only)… We all pray to God, though it is not entirely his responsibility :) , to put some sense into these politicians, and let them start doing what they say… We want better roads, better health and educational services, 24hr water and energy supply, more jobs and higher wages etc. Does this gvmnt want it too? Lets hope so.

]]> By: Sasi http://www.yalibnan.com/2009/12/30/2384/#comment-666 Sasi Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:27:05 +0000 http://www.yalibnan.com/?p=2384#comment-666 Ghassan is the author of this article and i guess he did his fair research on the subject before posting his story. We better show him some respect in the way we communicate. I know Louay that you are simply defending the positive mentality of some of the Lebanese that hangout in Gemmayzeh and Downtown and ABC and Hamra and other places alike which show a great image of the modern Lebanon, but have you ever though Louay that 3 km from each of these destinations lies poverty extreme poverty if you count areas like Nabaa or Sabra and Chatila lives extreme poor people in inhuman conditions. And when i mean extreme, i mean people without rights or without descent life standards or anything. not even power or jobs or a basics of human rights to work and live. You know, it wouldn't be hard to make from Lebanon a stable country, modern, advanced if there was a will but I have learned a great shame about us Lebanese, we blame the whole world before blaming ourselves. We always look for somebody else to blame and we always look for the big PLOT. We never listen or learn, and our arrogance and supremacy rises above all, as a proof is that the best and well off can be in the 5500 USD parties where others can barely eat some bread. A society is build from common responsibility and social education, and sharing taxes. I will show you a small concept from where i live today: I live in Finland, if i make 2500 euro/month , i pay estimate 20-30 % of it for taxes. Taxes will offer me: - free hospitals - good roads -24hours power supply and water and heating even in minus 20C - fast Internet connection and good infrastructure - legal rights and human rights - protection from theft and the government is the only one defending the country - freedom of speech and i can choose my religion (all these with 20% taxes money)and much more like public transport in all major cities in a country much bigger in size then Lebanon. Is it hard for 4 million citizen to do the same? since 5.5 million are able to do it? I know you will tell me Lebanon had wars and etc .. YES! but Lebanon does not want to evolve since our leaders in powers have their self interests which war and instability is in their interests,and we do not have the dignity to stop corruption and start thinking of everybody else in our country. we are selfish in nature i guess! Maybe its those Phoenicians genes we claim to have :) but Thanks god we have Haifa wehbe to brag about for our Arab tourists. Happy New Year to you too all and may it bring some wisdom in the mind of the Lebanese maybe it awake them of the fact that there is somebody else then ME and ME ONLY out there! Ghassan is the author of this article and i guess he did his fair research on the subject before posting his story. We better show him some respect in the way we communicate.
I know Louay that you are simply defending the positive mentality of some of the Lebanese that hangout in Gemmayzeh and Downtown and ABC and Hamra and other places alike which show a great image of the modern Lebanon, but have you ever though Louay that 3 km from each of these destinations lies poverty extreme poverty if you count areas like Nabaa or Sabra and Chatila lives extreme poor people in inhuman conditions. And when i mean extreme, i mean people without rights or without descent life standards or anything. not even power or jobs or a basics of human rights to work and live.

You know, it wouldn’t be hard to make from Lebanon a stable country, modern, advanced if there was a will but I have learned a great shame about us Lebanese, we blame the whole world before blaming ourselves. We always look for somebody else to blame and we always look for the big PLOT. We never listen or learn, and our arrogance and supremacy rises above all, as a proof is that the best and well off can be in the 5500 USD parties where others can barely eat some bread.

A society is build from common responsibility and social education, and sharing taxes. I will show you a small concept from where i live today:

I live in Finland, if i make 2500 euro/month , i pay estimate 20-30 % of it for taxes.

Taxes will offer me: – free hospitals – good roads -24hours power supply and water and heating even in minus 20C – fast Internet connection and good infrastructure – legal rights and human rights – protection from theft and the government is the only one defending the country – freedom of speech and i can choose my religion (all these with 20% taxes money)and much more like public transport in all major cities in a country much bigger in size then Lebanon.

Is it hard for 4 million citizen to do the same? since 5.5 million are able to do it?

I know you will tell me Lebanon had wars and etc .. YES! but Lebanon does not want to evolve since our leaders in powers have their self interests which war and instability is in their interests,and we do not have the dignity to stop corruption and start thinking of everybody else in our country. we are selfish in nature i guess! Maybe its those Phoenicians genes we claim to have :) but Thanks god we have Haifa wehbe to brag about for our Arab tourists.

Happy New Year to you too all and may it bring some wisdom in the mind of the Lebanese maybe it awake them of the fact that there is somebody else then ME and ME ONLY out there!

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