Lebanon is currently facing a devastating reality where the financial crisis has left countless individuals struggling to make ends meet. Despite t...
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As a programmer, you are too good in human language. I like how you sent clear and structured message. The crisis you shared here is similar to Venezuela. I had an impulse to start a web project last time when I heard from a friend. I may have a naive thinking that as web developer, we can make an impact or make a difference for the world.
economy crisis. I think many countries are experiencing it since pandemic, Lebanese situation is as bad as Venezuelan. I ever heard a Professor in Venezuela can't even afford a cheap smartphone. Pandemic and Ukraine-Russian war made it worse.
I do think that prolonged corruption and government officials lacking insights and competency is the main culprit for country not to flourish as they should be.(I may be wrong about it)
High unemployment rates
I think there is a change in "employment" structure since the internet and technology emerging for the last 10-15 years. Spotify democratises musicians, shopping platforms democratise merchandising, YouTube democratises movies. That's how it sparkles my mind on how to solve it.
Deep Poverty
It is harsh and cruel for survival.
If possible with the data science, what is the most available major food source which is cheap in Lebanon? is it possible to increase the production or farming? if not, are there any other alternatives? By carbohydrates, proteins, fats, water. eg. Soya beans or beans as cheaper food for cheese, eggs, meat.
In pandemic, many countries suffering from medical supplies exhausted and under supplied.(or people hoarding medical supplies) I have seen many people in telegram groups sharing on nutritional healing and all sorts of remedies.
In this highly volatile environment ever since the pandemic, I think people have learnt to be more versatile and resilient. You have impressed me as your age with such a flow of writing and high versatility of technology skills.
Thank you for your kind words and insightful thoughts, Alex. I'm glad you appreciate my thoughts on the situation. I really like how you are thinking about improving the situation. It is true that knowledge is power and I'm using it to try to make a difference in this world. I also believe that education is an important part of making a change.
As you mentioned, It's incredibly difficult to find a way out of the crisis here in Lebanon, especially when necessities like smartphones are too expensive for many people. I agree that the crisis is similar to Venezuela. The biggest difference, however, is that Venezuela has oil and Lebanon does not. This means that Venezuela can use its oil to barter with other countries for goods, whereas Lebanon cannot. This makes it even more difficult for Lebanese people to find a way out of their current predicament.
I think finding a solution will require a lot of time and effort from everyone involved. But I remain hopeful that things can improve if we work together towards a common goal. Thank you again for your thoughtful comments.
For the last part, I've been learning English for a very long time, and I think it helped me develop a better understanding of the world. I hope you stick around and continue to enjoy my work. Peace!
Key question: food will get rotten if don't get eaten or sold. Do you think there are merchants or people will donate the excess or food which is about to expire?
building a simple platform for people to share resources and for people in need to pick up I think is possible. Why not starting from your hometown?
I have few suggestions here:
food sources sharing: during pandemic, Thai people put a food sharing cupboard in a spot that people who are really in need can take. Like canned food, flour, oil, cookies, bread. Of course, it really needs people really be considerate and take what it is enough for their needs. Another way: some shops/merchants with good credits can donate some canned food or food within 1-3months about to expire. And it is possible to put an app in Lebanon nationwide for all participating merchants, we can put in our websites to promote their merchants or shops for the good deeds they have done. I have this in mind when my country was in very bad situation. Now My country situation become better. I don't think this proposal is in need. And I am still learning for backend. If you want, I will write a workflow proposal and see what we can do about it. The fact is it can work as country basis to resolve the current situation for everyone in the world. Are you interested?
With your data science knowledge, we can find out what is the current food source Lebanese is having. What other alternatives can lower the cost or is it other ways to make dishes or food to last longer?
the high unemployment rates: I thought about a website allows anyone(for people in Lebanon even a housewife can be a content contributor) can share any great tips/life hacks/recipes(anything they are good at) on anything. Then anyone can tip them with the great ideas they share. It can be a recipe, good idea in saving money, or anything. The issue is we need to set up for people like Lebanese, Venezuelans can easily cash out the tip or can even use the credit to exchange for food and other necessity. Similar to BAT(Brave Attention Token concept)
What do you think ?
The same thing has happened in Sri Lanka (and for instance - to a certain degree - in Argentina, and in Venezuela, although that's a bit of a different situation, as there's a heavy political-ideological component there, in the form of marxism).
The root cause, at least in the case of Sri Lanka and Lebanon: mismanagement of the economy by the government!
Too much reliance on a few sectors (tourism for Sri Lanka, the banking sector for Lebanon), with insufficient productivity and output in other sectors (e.g. agriculture, food production) - and the consequence is that most of the things people need to stay alive (energy, fuel, food, medicine) has to be imported, which results in a huge trade deficit - which gets financed by borrowing money.
This of course means living on a volcano - once the "rest of the world" starts losing faith in a country's economy, they will stop lending, or will only do so at huge interest rates, and that's the beginning of the end - imports can't be financed anymore, which means empty shelves in the supermarkets, no fuel in the gas stations, no electricity from your wall socket (because the country can't pay for the fuel needed to run the power plants), no medicine in the hospitals, and so on.
For both Lebanon and Sri Lanka, the blame should be put squarely and exclusively in only one place: the politicians and the government! It's their incompetence and lack of responsibility that has made people suffer.
This goes to show how, in our highly sophisticated industrialized economies, our lives and wellbeing are hanging by a very thin thread - no matter how talented and hard working you are, your life can be ruined by an incompetent government, and there's very little you can do about it.
only the people can save themselves. The value of currency holds in the minds of people. when people think/believe you worth something, that's when they will invest in you.
No it's not "the people" who screwed up in those two countries that I mentioned - it's the folks at the top, the powers that be, the people in government, who gambled with the economy and the future of their countries - by wasting tax payers' money on dumb projects, by stuffing their own pockets, by borrowing too much, by not making sure there are productive industries to EARN the hard currencies to finance the imports.
All of that is "structural" and engrained in the 'system' - there's only so much (well very little, actually) that an individual can do. Economy crashes, then all the little puppets go with it and get buried in that "avalanche", that would apply to you and me as well if we'd be living there.
Big misunderstanding that the fault lies with the local population in those countries. Or maybe that's not what you were trying to say, but then again I'm not really sure what you were trying to say.
My ‘people’ = civilians, not gov.
That's what I thought - so why, do you think, are countries like Lebanon and Sri Lanka bankrupt, and are people (= "civilians") suffering - what's the ultimate root cause?
The root cause is mismanagement - it's the governments in those countries who destroyed the economy, screwed "the people" over, and made them suffer ... it's not the fault of "the people", people are just at the mercy of their governments' incompetent policies, which ruined their countries and their lives.
Yes, for now all "the people" can do is be inventive and resilient and survive from day to day, but in the end the only real solution is to oust the corrupt and incompetent politicians, and get better ones.
The reason why Lebanon and Sri Lanka are bankrupt is because of mismanagement of the economy, so that's ultimately what you need to fix.
That’s a very intriguing question you asked. I think we may need a long chat.
I wonder if I should “vandalise” on Mahmoud Harmouch’s post, or “vandalise” on my own space.
Let me simply put it:
What makes a normal soccer ball worth more with Messi’s signature?
Let’s imagine we all go back to basic, going back to ancient time:
We use things for things as trade off, no currency. Plain and simple. You and I agreed on exchange of a cow for a house. Then it comes currency, to make it easier for calculation of value. Let’s single out Lebanon(or any country in the world), when you only stay in your own country with your own currency to trade. No problem when your country is self-sufficed.
“It's a lazy day in a hot town. The sun is high, the streets are deserted, and everyone is in debt and living on credit.
At this time, a rich tourist came from other places. He entered a hotel, took out a 1,000 dollars bill and put it on the counter, saying that he wanted to look at the rooms first and choose a suitable one for overnight stay.
Just as the man went upstairs, the shopkeeper grabbed the 1,000 dollars note and ran to the butcher next door to pay the meat money he owed.
With 1,000 dollars note, the butcher crossed the road and paid off the farmer's cost.
The farmer took 1,000 dollars note and went out to pay the feed he owed.
The man who sold the feed got 1,000 dollars note and hurried to pay off the money he hired for prostitutes (the economy is not good, and the local service industry has to provide credit services).
With 1,000 dollars note, the prostitute rushed to the hotel to pay what she owed for the room.
The hotel owner hurriedly put the 1,000 dollars note on the counter to avoid suspicious passengers when they went downstairs.
At this time the man was coming downstairs, picked up 1000 dollars note, claimed that none of the rooms were satisfactory, he pocketed the money, and left...
On this day, no one produced anything, and no one got anything, but the debts of the whole town were cleared, and everyone was very happy...
What does this story tell us? Cash needs to be in circulation to generate value! And there will always be hype in the economy!”
I read about this story couples of years ago. It is a good story on 1000 dollars note passing around 6 times with the value created 6000.
Similarly, I suggest for current situation in Lebanon, people can use their own value to trade(things for similar value) among themselves to keep country people to survive.
Nice story, but a pyramid scheme will not last forever - ultimately real value (goods or services) will need to be produced by real people, it's the only source of "wealth". Apart from that, still not sure what you're trying to say, OTOH my analysis was simple & crystal clear.
the story was not a pyramid scheme. it is real goods and services.
Okay, I reread the story, and of course there is a logical "hole" in it the size of the Mount Everest - I had some mental fog that prevented me from seeing it, but it's simple:
"With 1,000 dollars note, the prostitute rushed to the hotel to pay what she owed for the room.
The hotel owner hurriedly put the 1,000 dollars note on the counter to avoid suspicious passengers when they went downstairs."
So, the prostitute paid the hotel owner 1000 dollars that she owned him. Hotel owner hurriedly put it on the counter, and the rich man picked it up and went off.
The simple conclusion - the hotel owner LOST 1000 dollars revenue, which he'll never get back, because he forfeited the debt that the prostitute had with him - the hotel owner simply paid the debts of that town, from his own pocket, he became 1000 dollars poorer than he was.
No magic here at all, nothing "deep" - LOL !
(oh and on top of that the rich man had his hotel room for free, so the hotel owner got doubly screwed, but that's an inconsequential detail really)
I like an amusing anecdote as much as anyone, but the story falls flat, hence it proves nothing.
" 1000 dollars note passing around 6 times with the value created 6000" - nope, no "6000 value" was created, at all - it's a chain with the 1000 being passed on, which goes for the initial debts, and then for the paying off of the debts. The initial debts were also from A to B to C and so on. At most 1000 was "created" but not even that - see above.
Oh, and regarding:
"People can use their own value to trade(things for similar value) among themselves to keep country people to survive"
Yeah sure, that will work if you're prepared to live like a caveman, grow food, trade it with your neigbor and that's it. Say goodbye to electricity, transportation, healthcare, any form of technology - because you cannot possibly be self-sufficient with ALL of that as a country, let alone as an individual.
I'm glad that you're not the minister of economic affairs in my country, or an adviser with any sort of influence, lol.