tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30984739.post411544482653998271..comments2023-10-01T14:37:09.159+01:00Comments on Maysaloon - ميسلون: Syrian Independance Day - some thoughtsMaysaloonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826378383173206624noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30984739.post-24165238259812149582010-04-16T22:30:05.094+01:002010-04-16T22:30:05.094+01:00I appreciate your opinion, but I believe you have ...I appreciate your opinion, but I believe you have completely misunderstood Saadeh's thought. And I don't even know if you read what I wrote, although I'm just assuming, because you didn't respond to the idea of independence that I presented.<br /><br />Either way, Saadeh does not base the existence of the Syrian nation on a particular racial or ethnic origin, as the case with Hitler and the German nation. Rather, he bases it on our SOCIAL reality. This means that we are a mixture of all groups who interacted and intermixed on this piece of land and later developed a single life. The basis of society is the unity of economic and social life; not membership in a particular political entity. Political entities come and go depending on political and social circumstances, such that a single nation could be divided in various political entities, or multiple nations could become part of a single political entity, as was the case with the nations under Soviet rule.<br /><br />Moreover, Saadeh presented an entire, comprehensive paradigmatic thought, that has to be comprehended in its entirety; so taking bits and pieces of it from here and there and attempting to compare them to other contradictory thoughts lacks academic honesty. <br /><br />As for the quote by the "much wiser man than Saadeh" could you please tell me how all Muslims share a single life? Do all Muslims around the world form a single socio-economic unity? Does the Muslim in Damascus share a single social and economic life with the Muslim in Jakarta? I'm afraid basing identity on religious belief is to me nonsensical and ludicrous. But I do appreciate your always intelligent posts and arguments, so believe me debating you is always a joy :-).Nourhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17741879089276139111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30984739.post-57484342382172585502010-04-16T19:35:43.800+01:002010-04-16T19:35:43.800+01:00I don't really approve of Saadeh's social ...I don't really approve of Saadeh's social nationalism, which is in many ways just another colour of German national socialism. At least Hitler had some vague idea of a German race based on the lines of some kind of racial purity but in Syria's case I am afraid we are, to copy from the English, a nation of mongrels :)<br /><br />Therefore it is quite appropriate of me to refer to Syrians in the Ottoman era as Ottomans, just as it would be appropriate to have called them Romans in Roman days and so on. I suspect we might even be countless other nationalities in the centuries to come. To try to confine some ethnic idea of Syrians into the confines of some unique race is to pin jelly to the wall.<br /><br />No, I much prefer a simple line from a man who was much wiser than Antun Saadeh and left a much bigger impact:<br /><br />نحن قوم اعزنا الله بالاسلام فاذا ابتغينا العزة بغيره اذلنا الله<br /><br />Thanks for your considerable input on the topic though. You're always welcome.Maysaloonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06826378383173206624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30984739.post-65485785661421612202010-04-16T18:37:21.174+01:002010-04-16T18:37:21.174+01:00Materialistic Independence.الإستقلال االمادي
To b...Materialistic Independence.الإستقلال االمادي<br /><br />To be independent from foreign influence, in the true sense, we have to immunize our national economy. This means that we should develop our own industries, trade system, financial vision, and administrative concepts that may bring our nation as close as possible to self-sufficiency. Of course there is no such thing as complete self-sufficiency, but we should be able to offer other nations so much of what they need that they become dependent on our production. Otherwise, we are bound to become subjected to other nations' dictates, thus opening the door for them to impose their interests on us, thereby jeopardizing our independence.<br />What we should do is safeguard our will with our own national production, meet our internal needs, and spread our efforts through all fields of life, including agriculture, industry, trade, finance, etc.<br /><br />So as you can see, independence is a result of hard work, equal to sovereignty and Freedom.<br />In fact, the interlink is so strong that we can hardly imagine achieving one without the others, or lacking one without the others.Nourhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17741879089276139111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30984739.post-74165915770334977192010-04-16T18:36:57.883+01:002010-04-16T18:36:57.883+01:00Before I go into an explanation of what independen...Before I go into an explanation of what independence is, based on my social nationalist understanding, I think it's important to highlight the lack of national consciousness which leads to all these competing identities, because our concept of our national identity is not based on anything but emotional attachments to some particularistic objectives. If we hold your notion of our identity as being "Ottoman", then does that mean that under the Roman empire we were Romans? And under the Byzantine empire, we were Byzantines? and so on. This is the problem with basing our identity on particular political events in history, rather than on our actual social reality. I'm not going to delve into this topic at this point, but suffice it to say that you know quite well my position that we are Syrians, and have been so for thousands of years. <br /><br />Back to the issue of independence, yhere are two important factors to consider when addressing the issue of independence, Materialistic Independence and Spiritual Independence.<br />الإستقلال االمادي و الإستقلال الروحي النفسي<br /><br />A lot of us think that independence is a political achievement, whereby we recognize it by assigning a date on which we celebrate the liberation of our country from foreign occupation. This concept is trivial and shallow, as independence has more to it than being free from foreign military occupation.<br /><br />Today there is not a semblance of independence in our nation, as we heavily feel the influence of foreign nations' WILLS on our daily life, even though we do not have any foreign troops on our soil. Yet, we cannot decide on ANY matter, being it political, social, or economic, without the interference of foreign influence.<br /><br />So then what is independence? How do free nations enjoy independence? How do free nations protect and immunize their independence?<br /><br />Independence is the state whereby a nation is completely free and sovereign in tackling its life matters without any external influence. In other words, it is a state whereby the nation has reached a national maturity to acknowledge its identity, decide upon the nature of its interest and apply its will on all matters concerning its life, prosperity and progress.<br /><br />Factors of Independence:<br /><br />Social:<br /><br />The social factor of independence is when a society knows its character and decides upon its course in life, reflecting its own vision according to its needs for a better life. It is the spirit whereby the people can never accept any dictating from external powers on internal matters.<br /><br />Saadeh's philosophy revolves around the concept of considering all values of life as social values. Therefore, his ideology addresses values of life as being absolute within a nation/society, and relative between nations/societies.<br />القيّم ألإنسانية هي قيّم مجتمعية مطلقة في المجتمع الواحد, و نسبيّة بين المجتمعات<br /><br />Every society's vision on values of life is derived from its own character, history, traditions, needs and interests, as well as its potential and ability to seek better levels of life. So the way a Nation sees beauty, (beauty of life) is absolute within its society, yet not necessarily similar to the way another society sees it. This is true for sacrifice, freedom, rights, and every other value of life.<br /><br />Based on the above, every nation's independence is a reflection of its view of its values; the Way it explores its potential, the way it pursues its values.<br /><br />This is called spiritual independence. الإستقلال الروحي النفسيNourhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17741879089276139111noreply@blogger.com