Despondent reader MK is not too impressed with what’s going on. Here’s his take:

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The status quo is unbearable. Lebanon is dying slowly. The Lebanon most of us envision at least. Why? Because some geniuses want to avoid confrontation for fear of conflict and complete chaos. What they forget is that out of conflict new opportunities to resolve crises arise. Instead, we are being constantly bombarded with consensus and preserving civil peace slogans. A consensual democracy doesn’t exist nor will it ever exist. The mere fact that it is consensual implies both that it is not a democracy and that it will be indecisive.Therefore, we will always have a stalemate, which is what exists in Lebanon today.

People are not homogeneous. Especially not in Lebanon, where every man is his own nation. Our problem today is not political or economic. It is simply a question of identity. Lebanon’s identity determines the path it will take and the point it will converge towards. That identity does not require a consensus. Nor can it be decided by a few men in suits or by dialogue, or even by force. Lebanon’s identity, just like any nation’s or society’s, is a reality. It exists no matter what.

Lebanon is a pluralistic, multi-confessional, dynamic and vibrant society. It is an assortment of all the good, the bad, and the ugly that exists in the world

Lebanon is the liberal, the secular, the communist, the anarchist, the Muslim, the Christian, the Druze, the nationalist, the socialist,
the atheist, the agnostic, and much more. And the reality is that a society like this can never be employed or can never be united to
pursue a common goal or cause other than one which guarantees its existence as a model of pluralism and rebellious ideas. Lebanon can only survive as a neutral modern day Switzerland or Belgium and until the Lebanese realize that we will forever dwell upon our vision of it as a far-fetched dream