Behind Lebanon’s protests
Paris, Jan.6.– Lebanon's telecommunications minister Mohammad Choucair decided on 17 October 2019 to introduce a tax of $2 a month — the ‘WhatsApp tax’ — on all free apps for mobile phones. That evening hundreds of young people, many among Lebanon’s poorest, demonstrated in major cities.
The next day they blocked the main roads and held sit-ins in symbolic spots such as Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square. The government shut down its offices, universities and state schools, paradoxically encouraging even more to take to the streets. The closure of Lebanon’s banks for two weeks from the start of the protests fuelled the anger, as depositors were denied access to their money.
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remain universal, and central to today’s politics. None is more influential than the idea that inequality has risen in the rich world. People read about it in newspapers, hear about it from their politicians and feel it in their daily lives. This belief motivates populists, who say selfish metropolitan elites have pulled the ladder of opportunity away from ordinary people. It has given succour to the left, who propose ever more radical ways to redistribute wealth (see article). And it has caused alarm among business people, many of whom now claim to pursue a higher social purpose, lest they be seen to subscribe to a model of capitalism that everyone knows has failed.