Till Death Do Us Part

Till Death Do Us Part

Source: aliwaa.com.lb

On the evening of 17 October, 2019, I could not foresee the turning point that was lying ahead in the history of Lebanon. The protests that spread across the country after the government had announced its “plans to impose new taxes on free messaging apps like Whatsapp”, turned into clashes between protesters and the riot police. I remember that moment as if it was yesterday. It was not the first time this scene gets into my way, but this time, it felt different because unlike previous protests and clashes, these kept me up all night. For the first time in my life, I wanted to believe that change was on the way, but it was not long before my hopes bumped into the wall.

When the protests took place at the end of 2019, the slogan which was heard all over Lebanon, “all of them means all of them”, soon turned into “all of them means all of them except my party’s leader” and it was not long before we started to witness a clear regression. Months later, in the middle of a discussion on the degrading situation in the country, a friend asked, “what is it with the citizens of this country? They are suffering from all kinds of misery, yet they enjoy living in denial. Why do supporters of the Lebanese political parties refuse to give up on their leaders even though it’s clear to them that those leaders are not making their lives easier”?

As interesting as this matter sounded back then, I couldn’t really find an explanation or even a justification for the prevailing Lebanese attitude until I came across a lecture by Linguist and Cognitive Scientist, George Lakoff who explains how language activates certain frames in our brain. When we hear or read something that conforms with the view that we have about the world, we are likely to believe it even though we might know it’s a lie. We feel before we think, so it’s very difficult for us to rely solely on our logical reasoning. By being aware of this brain’s function and using the right techniques of persuasion, politicians can easily attract their supporters and keep them on their side.

Based on where they live and how they were raised, people are predestined to think a certain way and vote a certain way. They vote based on their emotions, so politicians don’t need to make any election promises. They simply need to plan their discourse around specific values and beliefs such as “Lebanese resistance”, “Lebanese identity”, “religious communities’ rights”, “neutrality” and so on. As long as a discourse is planned this way, people will vote for the same politicians till death do them part.