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February 17, 2007
Societal differences: MENA and USA, a suicidal thought experiment
I was imagining two similar situations in any American and any major Levantine Arab metropolis. There are probably actual incidents of the type to use for real comparison but I have no will to hunt them down. Anyway, all too often, in some city like New York, some lost soul will stand on a ledge contemplating Ending It All. And a crowd forms. And they start yelling "jump, jump!" Or some analogous situation. Now, I have to make a disclaimer before going further. As a confirmed libertarian, I sort of agree you ought to have a legal right to do yourself in. And you ought to have a right to express an opinion on others doing their selves in. But my gut is opposite, and I find I wouldn't object deeply if, say, the cops open fire on such a crowd. In any case, I find such behavior deeply immoral. And a sick and barbaric downside of liberal society.
Anyway, in all the bashing of Middle East societies, some of which bashing I concur with, my sense from having been there for a bit of time, and knowing folks for quite some time from there, is that this would be a situation where most MENA societies would kick our proverbial posteriors in terms of being civilized. I do think that if a similar situation occurred in say an urban Arab area (and certainly in a more rural one), people would indeed form a crowd. But instead of barbarically shouting "jump!", they would call on the person in the name of God and his family to go back inside.
Teenaged kids would risk their necks climbing the outside. Others would run inside to find the nearest window to pull the would-be jumper in and/or talk him out of it. At the edge of the crowd women would mill about sobbing and praying (ok, a little traditional stereotype here, but probably valid).
Anyone who yelled "jump" would be shushed and shamed instantly.
And this goes to the heart of what many of us like about Arab societies -- a certain very real mandatory decency to one's fellow. Sometimes hypocritical, and almost never manifested in terms of public activism and responsibility. But present and expected.
Now I have no data to back this up, it is a "thought experiment". But others may have better thoughts? And data?
Posted by Matthew Hogan at February 17, 2007 08:23 PM
Filed Under:
American Culture
,
MENA Culture
Comments
I like "jump". Darwin is good.
But then, a common acquaintance of ours calls me a diluted Arab.
Posted by: Shaheen ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://matthew.aqoul.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 17, 2007 10:54 PM
I'm a bleeding heart on this one.
Re: dilution observation. Andalusian wisdom, I imagine?
Posted by: matthew hogan at February 18, 2007 09:40 PM
Andalusian wisdom, I imagine?
In all its glory.
Posted by: Shaheen at February 18, 2007 11:26 PM
Sure, when it comes to a situation such as that one, I would agree though I have no data.
But what about decency to one's fellow man when it comes to, say, a work environment? I've seen colleagues in a particular MENA society band together and sabotage another colleague for absolutely no, in my opinion, good reason.
I personally sense that kind of decency only when the fear of God is involved.
Posted by: Jill at February 20, 2007 09:24 AM
"I've seen colleagues in a particular MENA society band together and sabotage another colleague for absolutely no, in my opinion, good reason."
How odd, surely that never happens anywhere outside Arabic speaking lands.
Here in the USA many of the neighbors got together when I was a kid to block the black family from renting. I suppose property values is a good reason, but frankly I thought it was screwing people from a home environment for no good reason.
"I personally sense that kind of decency only when the fear of God is involved."
In a more religious society, that's a common sentiment. A good case for religiosity. In any event, ordinary courtesies are more common over in the Mystic Orient, and that in itself is a form of valuable decency.
Posted by: matthew hogan at February 20, 2007 06:34 PM
