17 February 2007

Have some morrocanity in you

I was reading one of those Middle East report analysis about Morocco yesterday. The piece reviewed the years of the king Hassan II, and assesses the changes that occurred or are occurring now that his son is in power. Although very interesting, I am not sure if it is fair to blame everything that is not working in Morocco on the ruler.

Hassan II made mistakes, nobody can deny that. Mohammed VI maybe the savior, he is trying to heal Morocco from those "makhzanian" years, can't say! But what are we Moroccans doing? Waiting for the sky to open and send opportunities our way? I am not sure about the rest of the Moroccans but I believe that nothing is going to change In Morocco unless we Moroccans, the citizens change.

Living abroad, teaches you so many things and reveals so many things about you and about where you come from. And one of the unfortunate things that I have come to realize is that, we Moroccans hate our country. And no matter how much we are given, our country won't go anywhere. Why? Simple, we are selfish, opportunistic, narrow minded and we lack vision. We only shoot for the immediate result, never for the long and common benefit.

Go to Morocco, and walk down the streets of Casablanca, we have not been educated to respect our country or to love it. I look at Tunisians for instance, and I envy them. They love their country and they're willing to sacrifice their own liberties for the greater good of Tunisia. Nobody is perfect I know, but why don't we at least have the decency, at least for once, to blame ourselves for what is not working in Morocco. To try to make it right, work towards the benefit of the country that has given so much and quit pointing fingers.

Our rulers are but what we allow them to be. If they are despotic then we only have ourselves to blame. Our administration is gangrenous, but we can’t amputate it. We can heal it however; by applying certain principles…we need to be civilized to build a civilized environment.