A Philosophical Perspective of Maghreb
Travel and holiday are an opportunity to expand a philosophical perspective. In the monotony of everyday life as well as the differences experienced through travel, one can take a philosophical attitude of observing and being available to what is considered normal to some, what is essential to humanity, and what is interesting in being human.
The following are some observations of humanity from a trip to Morocco.
Symbiosis of nature and society: Life makes way for nature, nature adapts to its conditions, and society works within its environment. The plant is in a pot, growing in the city streets, and when it meets the wall it continues to grow in the other direction. The environment is perfect for argan trees, so the people harvest the plant to eat its nuts, to make soap from its oil, to burn its wood for heat, and to sell the products to tourists. Coexisting, nature and people intertwine, adapting to each other.
Necessity of life: There is energy in the crowded souk market that forces you to go with the flow, lose a sense of time, and adapt to the environment. The energy is strong, yet not chaotic, but you are not able to fight against it, like electrons that go everywhere and no electron is able to resist joining. The motorcycle who does not seem to have the right to be driving down such a narrow pedestrian path beeps the polite horn as he clears his path. People and motors coexist, affirm, adapt, and yield themselves by different proportions.
Dialogue is storytelling: You are looking for some important information as a tourist, maybe the museum’s opening times or the material of the carpet, but the lede is buried unlike a well written news article. You can discover the answers to your questions, but they are intricately woven throughout the story you receive. None of the sentences are succinct enough to be a quote in isolation to capture the essence of the idea—you can discover through being a captive audience.
Bargaining: The Maghrebi like making offers, trades, everything is what can be exchanged between two parties. The bargaining is an art, with social conventions of dialogue, where the two parties enter in willing to exchange but reveal slowly like a dance what they offer and how they value what they want. There is no set price or open rule of law—everything is settled through process and negotiation.
Dialogue is the price of engagement: Every interaction is via dialogue, nothing happens without the social roles and cultural exchange. The host offers some tea and the guest sits down to drink it. They call each other friend within moments. They make connections: they both speak x language, one knows the place where the other is from, one wants to share the beauty the other came to appreciate.
To engage on the other’s terms: The shopkeeper coerces you to step across the threshold and have a seat with an arm directing you where to go. The taxi driver wants to help you put your bags in the trunk of the car, so when you arrive at the destination he can demand more money while you are at his mercy to open the trunk. You are in their territory, so they have the home field advantage. They are experienced in their art.
Functional: Something has to work, but no one cares about stability. The buildings are constructed with no level, just material and grout stacked where they need to go. The side of the building that starts to sag is supported with three wood boards haphazardly but functionally nailed together. They do what is needed to be done in a practical way, without grace or much concern for gentleness. Nothing is measured, the wood pieces are made to fit where they need to fit by hand; crafting is fluid, changing to fit the use.
Vigilance of availability: Like the sports player who has a bend in the knees, balancing on the balls of his feet ready for action, the Maghrebi is ready to respond to the environment to get what he wants. Vigilant in awareness of the tourist and developed in tricks to engage them with offers and reel them in like a fish. It only takes a glance of curiosity from the tourist to initiate: “We were waiting for you!” “Woo you’re American!” “Come on, just for look.” “My friend, how do we do business if we don’t trust each other?”
Value of manual labor: Manual labor is cheap and plentiful. There are no complex machines to be seen, but simple latches on doors that have functioned for centuries. If one thing breaks, one takes it to be repaired; if one is crafting, one replicates the moves repetitively in a day, in a week, in a year. The task is just done—the efficiency and immediacy of the moment. It is a primitive method to accomplish the mission. The willingness to contribute to ongoing life is considered a virtue: dedicate your efforts and attention to the work to prove you belong.
Practical artisanal: Woodworking and tile adorn every space, repeating patterns crafted for the particular space. Individual artisanal pieces are created to fit exactly in their intended purpose, hand carved to the exact situation and placement. Intricate patterns emerge, yet each piece is not interchangeable since it was customized.
Aggression: Aggression is part of the game. The interaction can be violent, since it is a drama as much as a dialogue, and the drama even contributes to the expression and thinking. The Maghrebis can get emotionally involved in the negotiation or debate, conveying their offense, but then walk away from the exchange unscathed. The violence is a tool that adds to the effect of their position and advocacy.
Life is dirty: Living dirties cleanliness the moment the cleaning is done. There is a moment when everything is orderly and there is pleasure in it, but the order is for the purpose of life that happens after, not the other way around. Hygiene is observed more as a ritual to enjoy than to keep clean. It is inevitable that one interacts with the world, with others, and therefore with contaminants. If you want clean and neat, have a woman do it. Survival of the fittest.
Abstraction: Everywhere there are forms. Realism is rare, it is not welcome in the way of seeing the beauty. In religion, muslims do not represent the prophet Muhammad, it is forbidden, it is a denaturation of the purity of the mediator of God, it is a reduction of the principle of God. But forms are used to conceptualize the essence of God, reflecting the patterns that emerge in nature. In the mosque there are squares, circles, diamonds, octagons, and stars. Beauty of the resolution in abstraction are the motto.
Gender differences acknowledged: The Maghrebi man drives in the streets, carves and solders, negotiates business dealings—he is serious and hard with his position. He looks into the face of the other with sincerity of advocacy, creating relation with external strangers and selling the product. The Maghrebi women make tea, weave carpet, and clean—they are nurturing, warm, and communal. She has all the pattern in her mind before the work and the patience to follow the steps and cycles. She is more able to create links with the wheel, gestating strong matrices in one unity which is represented by the completed carpet. Each gender can be capable of some crude replication of the work of the other, but the characteristics that make each ideal for various roles are acknowledged and prioritized to maximize the quality of life.