What Arabs lack.

Tarek Heggy, writing at theOneRepublic, provokes thought on what makes them different from me.

I have written many books and articles over the last ten years about the defects in the Arab mind-set, all of which are cultural defects stemming from three main sources. The first is the repressive climate that prevails throughout Arab societies, the second a backward educational system that lags far behind modern educational systems and the third a mass-media apparatus operated by those responsible for the climate of political repression to serve their interests. The following are the most obvious defects from which the contemporary Arab mind-set suffers:

1. A lack of intellectual hospitality;

2. It is steeped in a culture that encourages conformity and discourages diversity;

3. Limited tolerance for the Other;

To put it mildly. My guess is Citizen Heggy is a scholar, and therefore polite.

4. Limited tolerance for criticism and the virtual absence of self- criticism;

5. The adoption of stands not on the basis of their coherence, validity or intrinsic value but on the basis of tribal or religious affiliations;

6. Deep feelings of inequality with others in terms of results and achievements makes for a sense of inadequacy that is sublimated into an exaggerated and unfounded pride;

7. A tendency to indulge in excessive self-praise and to glorify past achievements as a way of escaping our dismal reality;

8. The prevalence of what I call the big-talk culture‚ in which overblown rhetoric is used to compensate for the appalling lack of concrete achievements;

# 7 and #8 go hand in hand.

9. A lack of objectivity and the growth of individualism;

No Catholicism, if I may be so bold.

10. An unhealthy nostalgia for and escape into the past;

11. An aversion to the notion of compromise, which is deemed to be a form of capitulation and defeat;

12. Lack of respect for women;

13. A tendency to unquestioningly accept stereotypes at face value;

14. Setting great store by the conspiracy theory and believing that the Arabs are always the victims of heinous plots hatched against them by their enemies;

15. An ill-defined sense of national identity: is it Arab, Muslim, Asian, African or Mediterranean?

16. The spread of the personality cult phenomenon in Arab societies, where the relationship with the ruler is based not on mutual respect and accountability but on the excessive adulation, not to say deification, of the ruler;

17. The prevalence of an insular culture that knows next to nothing about the outside world and the real balance of power by which it is governed, let alone the science or culture of others;

18. A lack of appreciation for the value of the bond that links the human species together, which is their common humanity. For most people in the region, the only bonds that count are either tribal, sectarian or nationalistic, although humanity is the most exalted common denominator of all;

19. The spread of a mentality of fanaticism due to a number of factors, the most important being the tribalism that dominates the Arab mind-set to varying degrees;

20. Finally, the Arab mind-set is not overly concerned with the notion of freedom for the simple reason that the Arabs have enjoyed only limited doses of political rights and civil liberties.

How about property rights, religious freedom, freedom of association, representative government, et cetera. In a word, how about all those things we free men cherish and value beyond even our own lives...

Ha! I knew I couldn't type that with a straight face. It seems the Arabs want the same things our betters have taken from us after lulling us to sleep with promises of porn and easy divorce and no responsibility for our actions and 72 virgins and...Rats! Now I'm getting all sleepy and confused. Somebody get me some condoms and a second automobile.