I was born after the Lebanese Civil War. If you regularly read this blog, you probably were too. In the past few years, with all the political turmoil and rollercoaster of high hopes that interrupted a general feel of depressing hopelessness, one thing has been tough to do: find a common denominator between us all.

You can see the diversity in every spontaneous movement, which eventually fractures into several groups each occupying a different lane on a highway that kinda seems to be leading to the same destination. Whether you’re a YouStink advocate, or a Badna Nhaseb supporter, joined Sabaa or are part of Mouwatinon wa Mouwatinat, your longterm goals are quite similar: an independent, secular, transparent and progressive Lebanon you can be proud of.

The Post-War Generation

Perhaps the unifying theme in all the movements, no matter where they lie on the political spectrum, is that we’re all the post-war generation.

We’re the folks that hear about the war from those around us older than us, but never had to go through it ourselves.

We’re the ones that inherited a bias to one side or the other depending on where our parents stood during those dark 15 years.

We’re the folks that suffer the consequences of the war we were never part of, witness to or even taught about after the guns were silenced.

We’re the folks that got stuck with the war’s warlords as our politicians and leaders, warlords that we never chose.

The War Generation Has Failed Us

Those that were alive during the war, have failed us miserably after it. The hostilities stopped, but the war mentality never did. The warlords took off their military fatigues and donned ill-fitting suits, gave themselves amnesty and pretended like nothing happened, and moved to bank on the “rebuilding” efforts since the early 1990s when that became more lucrative than fighting.

Not Your Cash Cows

Perhaps the biggest sin of that generation, is that they see us as Lebanon’s finest (and only) export. We spend fortunes going to overpriced universities, are wrapped up in a nice package and sent off to other countries for a few years to generate some disposable income, and are expected to come back and spend it here, all the while regularly sending money back to replenish a struggling economy where we still don’t have electricity 24/7, decent Internet or a road not perpetually blocked by suffocating traffic.

We’re not seen as active participants in our society, but only the crutch older generations lean on to pay for their decades of incompetence, lack of vision and criminal corruption. We don’t have a say in how things are run, we can’t even vote when we turn 18. I’m almost 27 years old and I’ve never voted in a parliamentary election yet…

We’re not allowed to vote. We’re not allowed to run. We’re encouraged to get a degree, land a job in the Gulf somewhere, save up and come back to spend on an economy that has never seen a single reform, just lots of tax hikes, burdened by public debt we will never be able to pay off and growth that has proven to be unsustainable since the turn of the century.

The Mada Network

Mada is one answer to that current situation. I don’t want to leave Lebanon and work a job I don’t like, in a country I don’t want to live in, cause this piece of shit minister or that piece of shit member of parliament’s needs me to send money back to pay for the taxes that get siphoned off to their own pockets. I’m not the only one who feels that way, and I believe you share those same beliefs if you clicked on this post and are still reading.

Mada was born to coordinate and group Lebanon’s student movements and youth under one network working towards reforms and demands that Lebanon desperately needs, and that we deserve as this country’s youth.

Mada wants to restore our role in Lebanon’s political, social and economic life. A secular, progressive, civil liberties focused network of young men and women that seek to achieve affordable education, employment opportunities, civil rights gains such as civil marriage, the right to vote when you turn 18 and gender equality and more.

Most of us start to be progressive and proactive in our thinking when we’re still on campuses like AUB’s, but often, after graduating, there’s nowhere to go, no alternative to the parties and movements that were part of the war. Mada might be the answer to that. After your 3 or 4 years at university, and all the progress you might have made there, you can still sustain that in a movement that goes beyond campuses and into society at large.

Join the Effort

We whine a lot. It’s so much easier to complain, protest and post snarky statuses on Facebook. Stop complaining, and do something. Connect with Mada during this early stage, and help form it into what you want it to be. It’s high time the youth become a force to be reckoned with in this country, not just another cash cow to exploit by the country’s loser politicians.

We live during a time where protest and demand movements are transforming into organized efforts that have the potential and ability to set the tone and conversation, instead of just repeat empty slogans and futile rants.

Don’t like the performance of Lebanon’s independent movements? Join them and put what you have to offer on the table. In 2015, we broke the fear barrier and demarcation lines to discover that we weren’t alone, and that we are a majority that no longer wants to be silent.

If issues such as affordable education, sustainable jobs, economic reform, civil liberties, democracy, freedom of speech, gender equality and civil marriage are what you want, then it’s time to start organizing and mobilizing. The elections are coming up, and to ensure they actually do happen, and we transition from being beaten up in the streets, to sitting in elected office, we need to start work. Now.

Connect with Mada today, and be part of the change that’s been long overdue.