By Abdulillah

It seems today we in Jordan and I would say the Middle East as a whole has been rooting too long in the West’s trash cans for ideas and possible ways to lift ourselves from the deep darkness and ignorance we have fallen into. Only what we are getting are the discarded ideas that never worked.

Now I ask you my fellow citizens do we really need aid from the West to tell us or worse us and also pay for our university students to learn how to debate in a civil manner, instead of using their shoes, fists, knives and guns to fight and shoot at each other because they disagree? Are we that moronic?

It never seizes to amaze me that a culture and society as old and as rich in historical learning and brotherly love could have fallen that far back!

What on Gods earth has happened?

Do we really need to be told that misbehavior by criminal students’ needs to be dealt with in a swift manner and that they must be expelled from our universities and schools or put in jail until they and those that advocate for this type of behavior have learned that this is not part of our culture and society?

Moreover, our professional associations such as the Jordanian Engineers Association has been asleep at the wheel for the last 30 years. What have they done to improve our building and infrastructure codes? Or are they too rummaging through the Wests trash cans looking for ideas?

Here is a novel one; try adopting codes like the IBC (International Building Code) or other codes that at least brings our structures, roads and infrastructure to international levels in the short term, and work on developing a new specific Jordanian code for our country that actually incorporates our weather, seismicity, local building materials and cultural and historical heritage such that we do not look like every other country on the earth.

Instead of thinking only about the political landscape try working on what you actually are supposed to be good at, like engineering buildings that will stand, roadways that do not flood or develop pot-holes in 6 months because of poor workmanship, materials or poor planning.

Also maybe you’re civil, mechanical and electrical and agricultural engineering members can work on developing new water treatment and HVAC, plumbing and electrical codes so that we do not have to lose so much water and can recycle as well as developing some sustainable easy to put up solar panels on housing units to heat water, or irrigation and animal housing that use less water per acre and are humane practices.

I believe that we have a Royal Scientific Society in our country and based on my limited knowledge it has some very well educated staff (Most have been educated in the West and have been professors in Western Universities) why have our leaders, engineers and people ignored this valuable asset?

Do we really need to discuss or even have outsiders tell us that women in our society must have rights? It was our culture and religion that brought rights to women. Our beloved prophet s first wife was the one who initiated a marriage union. She was a business owner, kept her maiden name and lineage as well as her inheritance. Moreover she was not held responsible for the families up keep and could file for divorce if her spouse failed to meet this and many other obligations.

These are laws enshrined in our religious laws, yet we seem to have a problem with our women serving in leadership positions, becoming business owners and having the entitlements that men get with respect to their spouses. Where did this stupidity come from really? Is this the example we want to set for our sisters and daughters?

Do we really need the West to tell our people that tobacco smoking is bad for our health? Do our sisters who want their hard earned freedoms to be equated with being the third most prevalent in cigarette and tobacco use in the Middle East or the highest in cancer rate? Do we as a society as whole not know that tobacco use is actually a slow suicide? Only you are not harming yourself, but others around you and burdening our health care system and future generations.

Do we need always to plead to outsiders to take care of our issues? Do we really need the West to tell us how to react to the Syrian crisis? Do we (and I mean collectively the Middle East as a whole and the Arab nations in particular) not know what needs to be done and do it? Are we afraid of the consequences of action verses inaction?

I can tell you all, our inaction is only going to make things worse not better and the West is not going to pour treasure and blood on our behalf without something in return. Why would they? Would you? Do we really believe that we are that weak?

Do we have to continue to read of our brothers and sister in Syria being slaughtered and listening and waiting for the Arab League or our political leaders (or should I dare to say wind bags) fill the buildings they occupy with some much hot air that sometimes I fear they will float way like a balloon before we really start to act.

Do we need to continue to tell the earth that we in the Middle-East cannot take care of our own house, and that we must have
them do it for us? I tell you all, if we simply lined up and circled the entire nation of Syria with ringed hands (we have the people to do it) and demanded that the tyrant leave or we will make him go, I believe strongly he would get the message. But we must first believe that we can do it first.

My fellow citizens we cannot continue on this path, it is self-defeating, and moreover it is demoralizing. Big airports, buildings and professional societies and elected parliaments do not make for a developed society if the people cannot sustain them.

Computers do not type code, people do. Focusing only on politics instead of science and mathematics and humanities does not make for a society that is productive and competitive. If we cannot formulate some ideas of justice, liberty, higher learning and morality in our society we will continue to be an under developed nation.

By the way we need not root into the trash of others because we have these principals enshrined in our religious and moral code, only we have abandoned them to the discarded heap of trash of others who have adopted and used our own codes long forgotten by us. Shame on us, we are better and know better. God Bless Jordan and its People.