A Different Drummer

A brilliant, righteous editorial in The National today by Ayman Safadi:

Winning in the Olympics requires planning, hard work, commitment and institutions that design strategies and invest in the requirements for success. All these are missing in an Arab world still intoxicated by a false sense of supremacy and unwilling to admit failure. The fiasco at the Olympics is not a rare disappointment. It is repeated in almost all aspects of life...

It is telling that there are no role models in the Arab world. Bed-time stories still summon personalities belonging to centuries gone by. Disgruntlement with the present and lack of trust in a better future force people to remain stuck in the perceived glories of the past. Dreams take people centuries backward rather than carrying them into the future. The personalities celebrated in popular culture are mainly historical war heroes, invoking memories of a “golden era” with little or no actual relevance to the present. They do not provide incentives for excellence in sport or the arts.

Only political leaders are allowed to compete with glorified historical figures. The majority of them, however, does not inspire excellence or innovation or the belief that hard work yields success. Nor do these leaders invest in the conditions necessary for nurturing the talent of their populations. State resources are mainly channelled toward erecting security structures that protect their regimes. In some Arab countries, the sum of money spent on arms, mainly used to suppress domestic discontent, is far greater than the money spent on education, health and, of course, sport."

Read it all.

The best part? Hosni Mubarak has ordered an enquiry into why Egypt did so poorly at the Games. Gee, I wonder.