Mr. Ibrahim Gharaibeh
The Center for Strategic Studies has issued a new book by the researcher at the Center, Mr. Ibrahim Gharaibeh, entitled: “The Genealogy of Progress”: Economic, Political and Social Formation for Reform and Development, and the following is a summary of this book, a summary and index:
Progress practically means change towards positive development in a set of indicators, the most important of which are economic growth, standard of living (well-being), social and economic justice, freedoms and democracy. (Samuel Huntington – Cultures and the values of progress) nations and their progress.If it is difficult to anticipate dangerous or rare events, this does not mean that they are overlooked or not prepared for them. The United Nations Human Development Report helps us to note the existing and expected risks in the absence of sustainability and equity. Development, according to the report, depends mainly on an environment of justice that ensures that all citizens benefit equally. From development opportunities, public resources and the ability to sustain institutions and development achievements, as institutions are established and progress is made in services and works provided by the state and markets, but they decline or fail after a period of time. How can the work of institutions and achievements be sustained to continue their accumulation and continuous positive impact, and to achieve a sufficient amount of Stability encourages businesses, investments, cities, services and utilities?
In their answer to the question why nations fail? Dargun Acemoglu and James A. Robinson argues that the failure or progress of nations is based on the institutionalization by which the state operates; If the existing “monopolistic” economic and political institutions benefit a few or “comprehensive” segments of society, they advance the standard of living, services, and economic and social opportunities for all citizens.
The low level of education can be simply linked to the economic level and the efficiency of institutions. Failed and limited markets also lead to a failure to build and attract talent. It is clear that there is a close relationship between pluralism and inclusive economic institutions. On the other hand, the monopolistic political and economic institutions work for the benefit of a limited group, erecting barriers and suppressing the performance of the market and societies. The system of slavery and forced labor, for example, was protected by repressive political institutions. Today, the same situation or close to it can be observed in the performance of factional and dominant elites in large parts of the world And those whose interests are shaped around failure, and an evil cycle revolves around creating and protecting failure.
“ Everyone ” is the password for development and progress, but everyone means values and a social moral system more than they are independent scientific plans and policies. All stories and cases of success and achievement in countries and societies turn to work against themselves if they are not within a work and development environment that includes all citizens, and all Categories and all regions, .. This “all” is the password for development and not the stories and models of progress that are presented in education, health, investment, work or creativity, .. Or say whatever cases and models you want. For “everyone” to be covered by development programs and basic services means equality, social satisfaction, reducing the gap, a better ability to belong, participate, confront crime, target inequality, groups affected and not benefit from public spending, basic services such as pockets of poverty, specific groups of citizens such as women, children, the elderly, the sick, the disabled and refugees Migrant workers,…
The supposed primary driver of people’s gatherings and relationships in a state of prosperity will be based on the organization and provision of services and daily, economic and social life. On this basis, interests, businesses, markets, social, educational and health institutions, resource and expenditure management, the relationship with the government and its role, public spending, management of public resources, tax and central policies, and consumer protection are based. In this, citizens compete and form themselves into blocs, currents, and alliances. It may break the continuum of economic and social formation, or deviate into violence and destructive conflict in the event of not being able to notice the relationship between freedoms, justice, prosperity and improvement of life. This makes markets and knowledge work against themselves.
The United Nations measures human development in all countries and regions of the world through an annual report that it publishes. This report is a practical guide for governments, societies, as well as individuals and intellectuals to note achievement and shortcomings in a practical and clear manner. countries with very high development; Which get an index of more than 0.8, high-development countries that get an index of 0.7 – 0.799, medium-developed countries that get an index: 0.55 – 0.699, and low-development countries that get an index of less than 0.55
The index reflects a large and complex set of indicators and detailed readings in education, health, social care, income level, social satisfaction and equality. The report also provides a general indicator of equality called the “Gini coefficient” and the number 0 indicates complete equality and the number 100 indicates absolute inequality.
The state, through its commitment towards its citizens, visitors and residents with justice, security, provision of basic services, welfare and social solidarity towards all population and social groups, creates a state of national and regional stability that encourages peace and cooperation, and in light of this prosperity, peace and prosperity, citizens, residents, investors, visitors and tourists find a wide scope for work, cooperation and living together. protection from risks, and political, security and economic stability in general automatically leads to regional and global stability, and the opposite is also true; A country facing economic and security challenges turns into a focus of instability for its citizens and the surrounding region, and the impact of this extends to the world, as we note, for example, in the challenges of violence, terrorism, epidemic, refugees, epidemics and piracy, since although they are in their origin and essence crises and challenges related to countries and groups, they turn to global challenges.
On the other hand, the stable and prosperous state has high credibility in its regional political, relief and cultural role. Nations follow and endorse success, and the state committed to economic and political progress is trying to perpetuate its success with a cultural, social system and global cooperation policies. Of course, it cannot continue its work and spend it in cultural and regional fields, which is Facing economic and internal challenges, there are many well-known countries that have managed good programs, projects and commitments in education, culture, translation, scholarships, and cooperation with countries and peoples of the world, but they have not been able to continue their leading role due to internal economic and social challenges and transformations.
Thus, nations at all levels must remain states, societies and individuals committed first to their prosperity and stability so that they are able to participate in internal, regional and global stability, and so that humanitarian and external action is not an escape from internal crises, so they are working against themselves and against moderation and global stability.
In this transitional phase between the industrial age and its aftermath (the Shabak), we seem to be confronted with institutions that appear in the eyes of themselves and many people to be established and dominant, and from the point of view of the Shabakis, they appear to be collapsing. Schools that were established to meet the needs of society rather than to meet the needs of students, and universities Which appeared in her established novel expressing the needs and aspirations of religious and aristocratic institutions and professional unions, seems to be the subject of a radical reconsideration because societies, religious institutions, unions and social movements are fading, and the nationalities that rose with modernity turned into a tool of internal demolition, as if modernity produced its opposite, and became a burden on the It is itself, of course, a burden on the interdependence that globalization requires today.New societies and values are formed around the retina, in which individualism appears to be prevalent and independent of every social environment, but it is accompanied by frightening pain and struggles, and even from the point of view of optimists it does not seem to come as a positive alternative, and it is not, of course, the expected savior despite all its upcoming promises.
Today, wholesale businesses and institutions are disappearing, leaving large numbers of marginalized people, and many people lose their jobs, and lose the basic justification for their lives, and more difficult than that, as Alan Touraine analyzes the disconnect between the economy and work, large categories of business are no longer needed by new producers. Actions that are formed under such conditions also belong to the realm of social emptiness, where work is almost impossible, and death inflicted on the enemy as well as on the soul is the most appropriate answer to the conditions of social disintegration and marginalization.
In the context of talking about progress, the idea of social capital that creates prosperity is simply based on living together in our countries and societies to which we belong, and being part of the world that we accept and accept, and that we help ourselves and others to face the challenges of living together, such as poverty, deprivation, marginalization, extremism and conflicts. Nations protect their achievements and aspirations with a social and cultural system of values, morals, social behavior and ideas, but they must also have sufficient awareness of the importance and value of progress, and otherwise waste opportunities for progress and a better life.
How do values of coexistence such as peace, love, tolerance, cooperation, moderation and friendship lead to prosperity and progress?
Nations protect their resources with a social system based on peace, solidarity and cooperation, and establish the values of moderation, tolerance, creativity, diversity, trust and stability, thus attracting talent, business, trade, tourism and investment, and encouraging markets, interests and venture capital, as money management transforms from saving or lazy investment to vital areas that increase employment. Economic and social participation, such as creative industries, the development of life and skills, participation in the global economy, increases trust and cooperation between people, knowledge and business grow and develop, and security and administrative burdens and costs are reduced.
On the other hand, there is an intuitive and automatic question: How do the values of hatred and intolerance harm the lives and interests of nations? Hatred leads to violence and fanaticism, and then harms oneself and human civilization, so people kill each other, countries and civilizations disappear, cities, villages, libraries and schools are destroyed, people are forced to leave their countries and migrate to others, the skills necessary for progress migrate, and investors and tourists are turned away from intolerant countries. The cost on markets, products and goods increases, job opportunities and improvement of life decrease, and societies disintegrate due to internal conflicts, wars and conflicts.
Man is motivated by two basic instincts: survival and improvement of survival, and contemplative research. Life progresses and improves to the extent that a person achieves the meaning he seeks. Meaning remains a supreme value that occupies nations, individuals, societies, and institutions. Therefore, all institutions justify their existence in a brief formulation of their vision and mission; The vision is what we like to be, and the mission is what we need to do to be what we like.
In research and meditation in order to improve survival and life, knowledge and ideas were formed; What are man’s conceptions of himself, life, the universe, death, and destiny after death; This is how philosophy arose; What is the question in order to understand the facts of things, then the human meeting with what is my practical and life understanding of the question and the answer; Or what was produced by philosophy and religions, and language was as the container of ideas and knowledge and its coding and organization, and the development of science as the perception of things as the senses comprehend them, and arts and literature as the tangible expression of thoughts and feelings and the search for
Beauty, and history as the recording of human experiences in a way that organizes ideas about what a person likes, wants, or ought to be.
Ideas and knowledge of what is the attempt to elevate the self have given man his social and spiritual effectiveness, and accordingly it is assumed that he will be emptied when the separation occurs between reality and his perceptions of reality, or he rises in himself and his resources as close to the perceptions that he created from reality. Culture, as self-awareness, constitutes the outcome of human interaction and experiences with work and meditation, and turns into a practical guide for human behavior without the need to research and think every time a person faces a situation or a continuous question how to live his life and how to behave. This is how customs, traditions, values, norms and ways of life arose. In food, dress, architecture, music, the arts,…
Man strives for good and peace, and always looks forward to elevating himself and his life, with knowledge and science. This founding value forms the ideas and trends of those engaged in reform, conflict resolution, training in cooperation and coexistence. Social communication forms the basis of the economic, political and cultural life of nations.
Societies, in their relations and experiences, follow the values and morals that they establish or are humbled to respect, and then political and public institutions revolve around them or aim to change and develop political and social movements and currents, but they are values and morals that are supposed to be established by a rational position. If morals and values are not rational, the individual political and social behavior And the collective can turn into immoral compromises, and provide backwardness with ideological or social and cultural justifications and justifications.
Reform begins with reducing the economic and social differences between groups (bridging the economic and social gap) and merging them together by returning to the values of the middle class, which is the leader and guide for all segments of society and its institutions.
This book consists of six parts according to the proposed components of reform and progress. It is in addition to this introduction, which was entitled How Nations Progress; Adequate and equitable management of resources or economic and development formation, good governance or political and urban formation, independent societies and self-awareness or social formation
and cultural values, and the values of progress derived from living together, moderation and trust, and rejecting hatred and extremism, and finally, a future outlook derived from a proposed conception or model for progress and development.
Finally, it must be said that the book is a work of cultural knowledge; Considering that the intellectual uses knowledge for a social mission, and this may be biased from an academic or logical point of view, but it is a necessary bias to bridge between scientific knowledge and the social mission. It is well known, of course, that cognitive competence at its best does not cover more than one-fifth of the available knowledge, and the author of this fifth may not have more than one-fifth. The intellectual, as the French philosopher Regis Debray says, unlike the scientific researcher who organizes a theory or proves facts, is the one who makes the opinion, and wants to influence the course of things and win people over. History is transformed into continuous vital processes independent of what researchers and academics do. In their love for the place, the intellectuals create a affiliation that expands to every citizen, and allows us to see ourselves and create an awareness of ourselves as we would like to be.
index
| Introduction: How Nations Progress | |
| Economic and Development Organization: Managing and Regulating Resources with Equity and Efficiency II1- Water and Energy II2- Labor II3- Human Capital II4- Human Development II4-1- Cultural Freedom in Our Diversified World II4-2- Equality Development: Class Similarities in Lifestyle II4-3- Development For all II4-4- Social integration II5- Confronting poverty and marginalization II6- Confronting the shabby economy II8- The required development role of the state..justice, good governance and empowering communities | |
| Good Governance: Political and Urban Organization for All People III1- Democracy and the Social Contract III2- Political Parties and Elites III3- From Microphone to Tractor.. Political Reform III4- Cities: Reorganizing States and Societies | |
| Social and cultural capital IV1- Culture as self-awareness IV2- Development as culture IV3- Progress inferred by poetry, music and architecture IV4- Culture as human capital and moral social organization IV5- Way of life.. for a life worth living IV6- Independent societies IV8- How societies contribute to reform IV8 -1- Societies in the face of corruption | |
| Living Together.. Values of Progress V1- Belonging and Participation V2- Social Responsibility V3- Moderation V3-1- Tolerance and Cooperation V3-2- Social Interaction V3-3- Listening and Dialogue V3-4- Friendship V3-5- Love of Life V3-6- Love V3- 8- Trust V3-9- Volunteering V4- Attitudes against progress..Cruelty, fanaticism and hate V4-1- Cruelty V4-2- Extremism and fanaticism V4-3- Violence V4-4- Injustice V4-5- Atonement V5- Extremism that is nobility turns corruption V6- Prosperity is moderation, failure is extremism V8- Why should we revise the dominant culture? | |
| The future.. A narrative of development and progress VI1- A narrative of development and progress VI2- Building the values of progress and coexistence VI2-1- The active self VI3- Social and economic policies that create coexistence and development VI3-1- Strength and social cohesion VI3-2- Managing diversity and pluralism VI4- The war of ideas: How to protect ourselves Our societies are full of hatred and intolerance |