When nomadic pastoralism takes root in the heads

   We can almost certainly say that the Bedouin pastoral culture is dominant in Arab societies, Most, if not all, of the behaviors of these societies are manifestations of this Bedouin pastoral culture, which is characterized by several features, the most important of which is the phenomenon of denial and the inability to see the negatives that must be corrected realistically, not fabricated through manifestations of boasting, arrogance, pride, and inflated egos, The pastoral culture does not practically allow for the practice of objectivity, neither an admission of weakness nor an acknowledgment of defeat nor an admission of error, The pastoral culture does not err and is always right, and the Bedouin pastoral culture is even right in its plundering and looting! Because she reclaims what is rightfully hers, and what her swords can achieve, The Bedouin , does not criticize herself nor apologize, because self-criticism is humiliating and apology is scandalous, Whoever claims that this hypothesis is wrong should take a brief look at how the collective and personal mind deals with the phenomenon of genocide, and how they justify and legitimize it! The killing of about 1.5 million Armenians was a national duty, the slaughter of Banu Qurayza was a rescue of the religion, the slaughter of Ibn Nuwayra was an application of the tax law, and the robbery of Zaynab was an execution of a divine command, etc.

The nomadic pastoralism manifests itself in the context of “dialogues” by using all available weapons to crush the interlocutor or intellectual opponent in a way that leaves no escape, Dialogue under the nomadic pastoral formula turns into a fight and a duel for the dignity of the individual, his family, his tribe, and the dignity of one and a half billion believers, The Bedouin dialogue knows no other outcome than victory or defeat, like a duel between the knights of the tribes, either kill or be killed! Even if there are objective reasons for defeat, defeat is equivalent to the loss of honor and dignity, One of the necessities of dialogue is to crush the intellectual opponent with insults, for example, and crushing is necessary because there is no way to change the values ​​rooted in the souls of the Bedouin, and even the survival of the opponent represents, for the nomadic pastoralist, a humiliation or a scandal!

As for dealing with the girl’s honor, the Bedouin pastoralism manifests itself here in its clearest form, Protecting the girl’s honor requires eliminating the one who has tainted the family’s honor, and if this is not possible, she is eliminated and removed from existence, then victory is declared and pride is taken in the deed, The process of an honor crime represents the removal of the terror of loss of honor by means that have no relation to honor, Protecting honor is not done by consecrating dishonor, it is not done by savagery that transcends even the limits of the jungle, it is not done by meanness, arrogance, swelling of the ego, and then practicing bravado, bidding up, selfishness, and savagery.

The Bedouin pastoral mind rejects the practice of analysis and deconstruction, because analysis and deconstruction run counter to the Bedouin dogmatism, which knows only the credibility of the limits of constants and the sword that separates life and death, The sword is one of the requirements of Bedouin pastoral life; it is the source of livelihood, With the sword, they plundered and defended their stolen goods, i.e., the spoils of war, And by virtue of being accustomed to the culture of the sword, they practiced bloody wars and conflicts, sometimes as a sport and a hobby, Therefore, manifestations of strength, ferocity, and boasting of violence were among the characteristics of Bedouinism, which seeped into urban life and dominated urban culture in this region. Thus, things went against logic, which sees that it is natural for the advanced urban to direct the backward Bedouin culture, which is based on the equation of raising the status of the self and lowering the status of the other,  The mere existence of the other is a threat to it, so the other must be eliminated by any means.

The Bedouin pastoral   self-respect is a translation of the other’s respect for her, and the other’s respect does not mean anything but the other’s submission and inferiority, The system of virtue for the Bedouin pastoral ,, does not stem from within her, but rather from the perception of others of her in the duality of her pride – their decline. The Bedouin pastoral ,does not look at her inner self, but rather at her image in the mind of others, In general, it is a terrible ignorance to hide behind people’s opinion of you, an opinion dictated by your dominance over them, their fear of your sword, and their dependence on the crumbs of your generosity, as is the case with many Arab leaders!

What has been mentioned are but examples of the Bedouin pastoral mind that was in decline in the face of urban life, and the religion that wanted to limit Bedouinism by establishing the concept of “the nation”, submitted even in the Saqifa to the logic of Bedouinism, and adopted its system of virtues represented by the logic of the sword, oppression and domination,Bedouin pastoralism turned against religion and dominated it and molded it in its mold, and the molding is effective until this moment.

The peoples of the region live in an environment shaped by a Bedouin mentality centered on violence, the sword, and the shepherd-flock mentality, This mentality has transformed the human being into a mere “tool” waiting to receive their rights as favors from the shepherd, The citizen’s rights are linked to the shepherd’s favors, not to the state’s duties towards the citizen, This situation, framed by an aura of giving, leads to a change in the nature of rights, from acquired rights to granted rights, These are formulas that are not subject to the concept of justice or law, a formula that deludes the deceiver and the deceived, It deludes the deceitful shepherd into thinking that he is devoted to the other, and deludes the deceived subjects into thinking that they have obtained their rights! These rights are represented by pleasing him, that is, pleasing some of the flatterers! Pleasing is one thing, and rights are something else entirely.

The pastoral Bedouin mentality imposed a system of governance that has no connection whatsoever to the philosophy of the state, Even classifying those who rule and control the peoples of the region between the ocean and the Gulf in a pre-state category was an injustice to the concept of the pre-state, Pastoral Bedouinism cannot establish a state, but at best, it can establish a tribe alongside other tribes that fight with each other and plunder each other, There is no escape for Bedouins from plundering, which we call the corruption of war spoils and, more recently, is called looting. Corruption is not only made by the shepherd, but by the shepherd and the flock, that is, by the mind of pastoral Bedouinism.

   We consider combating the nomadic pastoral mentality as the basis for a cultural revolution of the self, a revolution that changes people’s passion for practicing corruption and relying on the economy of raids, reduces people’s ability to tolerate and accept dictatorships, and prepares society for democracy and liberation. Nomadic pastoralism is cultural colonialism, and as long as this colonialism remains, backwardness will remain, dictatorships will remain, and corruption and enslavement will remain!