By Abdulillah
For the last twenty or so years I have been wondering about what the Middle East may look like in fifty years’ time. The reason for this curiosity was what I believed was the slow deterioration of culture and development of intellectual and moral faculties, especially those inculcated by education. This coupled with the rapid societal and political changes within the Middle East, creating in effect the return to the time of ignorance.
Now by the time of ignorance; I mean the actual conditions during the time of ignorance that the Middle East underwent prior to the advent of Islam and after the Abbasid Dynasties decline, until its minor resurgence during the Ayyubid Dynasty following the Crusaders defeats in the late 12 century. After-which the time of ignorance has been creeping forward and lately has been speeding up.
I have asked myself repeatedly why I felt cynical about these times stronger than ever, especially since in the eyes of many people, the Arab Middle East is seeing a resurgence of independence from authoritarian rule and dictators as heralded by the Arab Spring especially in the youth.
As such; I feel compelled to lay my ideas for this reasoning in a way that might either expose them to better definition or ridicule.
Mind you I also believe this phenomenon is not contained strictly to the Middle East but is happening worldwide.
First let me lay out what I see is happening in Jordan, since it is my main concern now and maybe those smarter than me can tie them in with other countries in the region and the world at large.
In Jordan the following observations, crudely laid out, are as follows:
• A massive brain drain has been happening in our country the last 20 years and today this has not abated, but in my opinion is increasing more than ever. Jordan’s educators, doctors, scientists, economists and managers are leaving the country in droves. Not because they wish to but because they cannot seem to make ends meet for themselves and their families, and they see a slow deterioration of personal and moral conduct in the youth of today, who are looking more for the quick dinar then learning or improving the country.
• The older generations (the grandfathers, fathers, grandmothers and mothers) of these present day youth are more entrenched in tribal traditions and stagnate thinking than ever. Those that are forward thinkers are telling their sons and daughters to move to other countries to get their education and jobs because they see very little future for them in country.
• For the last twenty years we have seen the smartest of our youth choose majors not in Islamic studies or law, but in majors that they hope will get them to being rich faster, leaving these majors to our youth who score low on the matriculation exams or who have no other major that they can study.
This bodes poorly in our traditional society because it leaves what I believe to be one of our more important studies to those although well-meaning may not possess the highest degree of understanding. I know you may tell me that I am harsh on those that choose these majors but in truth, we leave our most important study and one that can impact our society the most to the least capable. Does this make sense?
Because of this we get judicial rulings that do not correlate with the understanding of our traditional laws that govern our daily behavior to those that skew everything towards radicalization and the basic degradation our societal foundation.
• Globalization with the best and worst that comes with it has crept into our society’s fabric, where traditional behavior and our culture are disappearing rapidly. With globalization we are having to react so quickly to events in knee jerk reactions that we so often get it wrong the first go around simply because what was reported is either inaccurate or through hyperbole have been inflated beyond what they truly represent.
This opens us up to internal and external manipulation by nefarious actors who wish to use or invent these events to enrich themselves or worse sow hatred and divisions amongst us.
See events that are happening now in the Middle East, from North Africa to the areas of the Levant and Iran.
• The country for the last twenty years has gotten more polarized, with the rich getting richer and the poor even more poor and the middle class shrinking (as little as it was in the first place).
Where philanthropy by the rich is presently none existent and charitable contributions have dwindled.
Where some of the rich or elites of our society have been caught stealing or through corruption have chosen the path of aggrandizement to that of philanthropy and charity. Where they would rather use their wealth for long vacations outside our country or worse where they flaunt their wealth, then for the contribution to educating the poor, or for low income housing.
The above, (I am sure you can think of many more) in my opinion are signs of a degrading society and culture, where our country and people will soon be one of those countries in the world that is no longer distinct or recognizable. Where we have lost our identity and our people will start behaving and thinking as a single cell world amoeba, without thought or recognition of its history and culture.
There are ways to slow this, but alas, I am not so confident it can be stopped cold in its track. The best way is through education, where if critical thinking is taught at a young age verses simple memorization and aping, then we may get over time a foundation of people who can recognize when they are being manipulated and herded like sheep to slaughter.
Some of the best ways to teach our youth is through metaphysics and analysis as well as moral and religious studies (regardless of faith). Also through the study of humanities, where all of our university students regardless of major must take elective courses in the humanities to graduate.
We can also demand that the richest of us must contribute either through higher taxes, or if he wishes through charitable contributions that can reduce his tax burden to the poorest of us either directly or through registered charitable organizations.
Lastly we can report on events that will put a better light on those of us and our leaders whom work towards this goal, then those events that an atmosphere of hyperbole and “Chicken Little” sensationalism.
God Bless Jordan and its People
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