Hello, Lebanon. It’s me, your friendly Green Patriot. Today was an interesting day in Beirut, filled with protesters, eggs, garbage, negotiations, and more. It appears as though finally, our leaders have put forth a proposal, which is to allow garbage collection to be the decision of the municipality.

While this is done in many countries and tends to be more effective, this does not solve our political crisis–it shifts the problem on another governmental apparatus! Moreover, do our existing municipalities have the facilities to process garbage effectively? If not, will the government help them secure these resources? Is anyone willing to answer these questions?

These leaders have been eating away at our governmental apparatus for their own gains, and the disease of corruption in our government could not be more clear. Now is the time for accountability, for functional government, for respect for law, and to have a country that we deserve. It is also time for us to stop willingly agreeing to function within such a corrupt apparatus–we need to have these values ourselves. It is up to us, Lebanon.