Today is November 22nd. Independence Day. The day we pretend we’re an independent nation instead of what we really are: a failed state held together by generator fuel and denial. Walk through Beirut and tell me what independence looks like. Is it the power cuts? The trash piles? The empty ATMs? Or is it the politician on TV telling you everything is fine while his kids study in Paris on money stolen from your deposits?
This Isn’t Collapse. This Already Collapsed.
The US thinks it’s collapsing. They have no idea. They complain about potholes. We have roads that disappeared entirely. They worry about inflation. We lost 90% of our currency’s value overnight. They talk about political dysfunction. We haven’t had a president for years at a time. Lebanon didn’t collapse in 2019. It’s been collapsing since 1975. We just got really good at pretending otherwise. The explosion in 2020 wasn’t the collapse. It was the reminder that we’ve been sitting on a bomb this whole time. The financial crisis wasn’t the collapse. It was the bill finally coming due.
Independence From What, Exactly?
We celebrate independence from France. But we’re not independent from our warlords. We’re not independent from Hezbollah, from Syria, from Iran, from Saudi Arabia, from anyone with a checkbook and a militia. We’re not independent from the corrupt politicians who’ve been recycling themselves since before you were born. Same faces. Same families. Same theft. Different year. Your grandfather voted for them. Your father voted for them. And somehow you’re still supposed to believe your vote matters. It doesn’t. Lebanon isn’t a democracy. It’s a sectarian Ponzi scheme where everyone gets a cut except you.
The Illusion We Live In
We tell ourselves we’re resilient. That’s just another way of saying “we’ve gotten used to suffering.” We romanticize our ability to “adapt.” To “survive.” We brag about how we can throw a party during a war. We laugh about generator bills that cost more than rent. We make memes about having no electricity while our phones die mid-scroll. And we call that strength. It’s not a strength. It’s Stockholm syndrome with a national flag.
What Independence Day Actually Celebrates
It celebrates the day France left. And we replaced French colonialism with homegrown feudalism. We traded one set of overlords for another. The difference is that the new ones speak Arabic and pretend to care. But they don’t care. They never did. They care about their Swiss bank accounts. They care about their bulletproof convoys. They care about making sure their kids never have to live in the country they destroyed. And you? You get to celebrate independence by lighting candles when the power goes out.
The Bread and Circuses Lebanese Edition
Rome had gladiators. We have political talk shows. They scream at each other on TV. Red team. Blue team. Orange team. And you’re supposed to pick a side like it’s a football match. Meanwhile, the same people screaming on TV share whiskey in private. They’re not enemies. They’re business partners. The fighting is a performance. The theft is real. And while you argue about who’s worse, they’re all getting richer. Your deposits? Gone. Your salary? Worthless. Your future? They sold it years ago.
We Don’t Have a Government. We Have a Protection Racket.
You pay the state for electricity. You don’t get electricity. You pay a generator guy for electricity. You get four hours a day. You pay the water guy because the state water doesn’t work. You pay private schools because public schools are rotting. You pay private hospitals because public healthcare has collapsed. You pay, and pay, and pay. And when you ask where the money goes, they shrug. Lebanon isn’t a country. It’s a subscription service with no benefits.
The Diaspora Myth
We celebrate our diaspora as if it were a badge of honor. “Lebanese are everywhere,” we say. Of course they are. They left. Because staying here means living on a sinking ship while the captain sells the lifeboats. The smartest people you know are gone. The ones who stayed? Either too broke to leave or too stubborn to admit it’s over. We call the diaspora “ambassadors.” They’re refugees. They just have better passports.
Independence Day 2025: What Are We Celebrating?
Our independence from basic infrastructure? Our independence from a functioning currency? Our independence from the rule of law? We may be celebrating our independence from dignity. Because that’s what’s left when you spend decades being lied to by people who treat you like a joke. You go to work. If you have work. You get paid in Lira. If you get paid. You try to save. But your savings evaporated in a banking system designed to rob you legally. And tomorrow? You’ll do it again. Because what else is there?
The Worst Part? We’re Complicit.
We vote for the same people. We defend the same warlords because they’re “our” warlords. We excuse corruption because “everyone does it.” We’ve normalized theft. Normalized incompetence. Normalized humiliation. And we call it survival. It’s not survival. It’s slow suicide. We keep pretending this is temporary. That one day things will get better. That someone will save us. No one’s coming. The politicians won’t save you. They’re too busy saving their money in offshore accounts. The international community won’t save you. They’re tired of bailing out a country that refuses to change. God won’t save you. He left Lebanon in 1975 and never looked back.
What “Independence” Looks Like in 2025
You need three jobs to afford rent. You still live with your parents because moving out is financial suicide. You plan your day around power cuts. You check the dollar rate every morning like it’s a prayer. You avoid hospitals because one visit could bankrupt your family. You smile at weddings and pretend you’re not calculating how much the couple wasted. You hear emigration stories and feel jealous. You tell yourself you’ll leave next year. You’ve been saying that for five years. This is independence.
The Brutal Truth
Lebanon is a failed state. It’s been a failed state for a long time. We dress it up with flags and anthems and pretend we’re a real country. We’re not. We’re a geographic accident held together by sectarian paranoia and collective delusion. And Independence Day? It’s an annual reminder of a lie we tell ourselves. That we’re free. That we’re sovereign. That we matter. We’re not free. We’re trapped in a system designed to keep us broke and distracted. We’re not sovereign. We’re puppets with too many strings to count. And we don’t matter. Not to the people in power.
So What Do You Do?
You can leave. If you can afford it. You can stay and fight. If you still have hope. You can stop caring. That’s the easiest option. Most people pick that one. Or you can laugh. Because the alternative is crying. And Lebanon has enough tears already. You can learn a skill. Grow food. Fix things. Build small networks of people who aren’t completely insane. You can stop waiting for politicians to save you and start figuring out how to save yourself. You can embrace the absurdity. That we live in a country where the electricity is out but the nightclub is packed. Where your salary is worth nothing but the sushi restaurant is always full. Where everything is broken but everyone’s still posting vacation photos. It’s insane. It’s tragic. It’s darkly hilarious.
What This Independence Day Really Means
It means nothing changed. And nothing will change. Not because change is impossible. But because the people who benefit from the system will never let it happen. And the people who suffer from it are too exhausted to fight back. So we celebrate. We wave flags. We post about how proud we are to be Lebanese. And tomorrow we’ll wake up to no electricity, no water, and no future. But hey. At least the Wi-Fi still works. Mostly.
Happy Independence Day, Lebanon
You’re not independent. You’re not free. You’re barely holding on. But you already knew that. The question is: How much longer are you going to pretend otherwise?
Today is November 22nd. Independence Day. The day we pretend we’re an independent nation instead of what we really are: a failed state held together by generator fuel and denial. Walk through Beirut and tell me what independence looks like. Is it the power cuts? The trash piles? The empty ATMs? Or is it the politician on TV telling you everything is fine while his kids study in Paris on money stolen from your deposits?
This Isn’t Collapse. This Already Collapsed.
The US thinks it’s collapsing. They have no idea. They complain about potholes. We have roads that disappeared entirely. They worry about inflation. We lost 90% of our currency’s value overnight. They talk about political dysfunction. We haven’t had a president for years at a time. Lebanon didn’t collapse in 2019. It’s been collapsing since 1975. We just got really good at pretending otherwise. The explosion in 2020 wasn’t the collapse. It was the reminder that we’ve been sitting on a bomb this whole time. The financial crisis wasn’t the collapse. It was the bill finally coming due.
Independence From What, Exactly?
We celebrate independence from France. But we’re not independent from our warlords. We’re not independent from Hezbollah, from Syria, from Iran, from Saudi Arabia, from anyone with a checkbook and a militia. We’re not independent from the corrupt politicians who’ve been recycling themselves since before you were born. Same faces. Same families. Same theft. Different year. Your grandfather voted for them. Your father voted for them. And somehow you’re still supposed to believe your vote matters. It doesn’t. Lebanon isn’t a democracy. It’s a sectarian Ponzi scheme where everyone gets a cut except you.
The Illusion We Live In
We tell ourselves we’re resilient. That’s just another way of saying “we’ve gotten used to suffering.” We romanticize our ability to “adapt.” To “survive.” We brag about how we can throw a party during a war. We laugh about generator bills that cost more than rent. We make memes about having no electricity while our phones die mid-scroll. And we call that strength. It’s not a strength. It’s Stockholm syndrome with a national flag.
What Independence Day Actually Celebrates
It celebrates the day France left. And we replaced French colonialism with homegrown feudalism. We traded one set of overlords for another. The difference is that the new ones speak Arabic and pretend to care. But they don’t care. They never did. They care about their Swiss bank accounts. They care about their bulletproof convoys. They care about making sure their kids never have to live in the country they destroyed. And you? You get to celebrate independence by lighting candles when the power goes out.
The Bread and Circuses Lebanese Edition
Rome had gladiators. We have political talk shows. They scream at each other on TV. Red team. Blue team. Orange team. And you’re supposed to pick a side like it’s a football match. Meanwhile, the same people screaming on TV share whiskey in private. They’re not enemies. They’re business partners. The fighting is a performance. The theft is real. And while you argue about who’s worse, they’re all getting richer. Your deposits? Gone. Your salary? Worthless. Your future? They sold it years ago.
We Don’t Have a Government. We Have a Protection Racket.
You pay the state for electricity. You don’t get electricity. You pay a generator guy for electricity. You get four hours a day. You pay the water guy because the state water doesn’t work. You pay private schools because public schools are rotting. You pay private hospitals because public healthcare has collapsed. You pay, and pay, and pay. And when you ask where the money goes, they shrug. Lebanon isn’t a country. It’s a subscription service with no benefits.
The Diaspora Myth
We celebrate our diaspora as if it were a badge of honor. “Lebanese are everywhere,” we say. Of course they are. They left. Because staying here means living on a sinking ship while the captain sells the lifeboats. The smartest people you know are gone. The ones who stayed? Either too broke to leave or too stubborn to admit it’s over. We call the diaspora “ambassadors.” They’re refugees. They just have better passports.
Independence Day 2025: What Are We Celebrating?
Our independence from basic infrastructure? Our independence from a functioning currency? Our independence from the rule of law? We may be celebrating our independence from dignity. Because that’s what’s left when you spend decades being lied to by people who treat you like a joke. You go to work. If you have work. You get paid in Lira. If you get paid. You try to save. But your savings evaporated in a banking system designed to rob you legally. And tomorrow? You’ll do it again. Because what else is there?
The Worst Part? We’re Complicit.
We vote for the same people. We defend the same warlords because they’re “our” warlords. We excuse corruption because “everyone does it.” We’ve normalized theft. Normalized incompetence. Normalized humiliation. And we call it survival. It’s not survival. It’s slow suicide. We keep pretending this is temporary. That one day things will get better. That someone will save us. No one’s coming. The politicians won’t save you. They’re too busy saving their money in offshore accounts. The international community won’t save you. They’re tired of bailing out a country that refuses to change. God won’t save you. He left Lebanon in 1975 and never looked back.
What “Independence” Looks Like in 2025
You need three jobs to afford rent. You still live with your parents because moving out is financial suicide. You plan your day around power cuts. You check the dollar rate every morning like it’s a prayer. You avoid hospitals because one visit could bankrupt your family. You smile at weddings and pretend you’re not calculating how much the couple wasted. You hear emigration stories and feel jealous. You tell yourself you’ll leave next year. You’ve been saying that for five years. This is independence.
The Brutal Truth
Lebanon is a failed state. It’s been a failed state for a long time. We dress it up with flags and anthems and pretend we’re a real country. We’re not. We’re a geographic accident held together by sectarian paranoia and collective delusion. And Independence Day? It’s an annual reminder of a lie we tell ourselves. That we’re free. That we’re sovereign. That we matter. We’re not free. We’re trapped in a system designed to keep us broke and distracted. We’re not sovereign. We’re puppets with too many strings to count. And we don’t matter. Not to the people in power.
So What Do You Do?
You can leave. If you can afford it. You can stay and fight. If you still have hope. You can stop caring. That’s the easiest option. Most people pick that one. Or you can laugh. Because the alternative is crying. And Lebanon has enough tears already. You can learn a skill. Grow food. Fix things. Build small networks of people who aren’t completely insane. You can stop waiting for politicians to save you and start figuring out how to save yourself. You can embrace the absurdity. That we live in a country where the electricity is out but the nightclub is packed. Where your salary is worth nothing but the sushi restaurant is always full. Where everything is broken but everyone’s still posting vacation photos. It’s insane. It’s tragic. It’s darkly hilarious.
What This Independence Day Really Means
It means nothing changed. And nothing will change. Not because change is impossible. But because the people who benefit from the system will never let it happen. And the people who suffer from it are too exhausted to fight back. So we celebrate. We wave flags. We post about how proud we are to be Lebanese. And tomorrow we’ll wake up to no electricity, no water, and no future. But hey. At least the Wi-Fi still works. Mostly.
Happy Independence Day, Lebanon
You’re not independent. You’re not free. You’re barely holding on. But you already knew that. The question is: How much longer are you going to pretend otherwise?
