Dubai, October 2011
Isn’t it just my luck that right when things are heating up
in my own country, and finally getting to be interesting with the “Occupy Wall Street”
protests; here I am in Dubai. First let me qualify that I will only be in Dubai
for a total of four days, and therefore all of my comments and observations are
based on a very limited perspective.
Having said that, here goes:
Wikipedia, "The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates
Dubai is probably the antithesis of the “Occupy” movement,
and perhaps the model of the new society as envisioned by those who have gone a
long way toward structuring both the world financial globalization, and the
current global financial crisis. If you remember, the Bush’s (both father and
son) were very good friends and extensive business partners with the royal family
of the United Arab Republic. I understand that, contrary to some popular
opinion, the Bush’s did not create the current money-resource crises. There
were a great many other contributing factors, but they are a viable symbol of
the initial first awareness that, “...something is happening here But you don’t know what it is Do you, Mister Jones?”
Only 18% of Emirates
On the surface, Dubai is a prosperous, industrious,
efficiently managed, and interesting city. The showcases like the Dubai Mall
are filled with waterfalls, walk-through aquariums, cinemas, and shops with all
the top brands worldwide. The mall was packed the entire day I spent there, and
although I could see signs of some economic conservation in empty shops and
anxious sales staff, there was also a great deal of commerce. The opulence here
is best illustrated by the fact that most of the cars are Mercedes-Benz, BMW’s,
Lexus, luxury land rovers, and even Rolls Royce’s. I did not see one single
“fuel economy” car. I sat in a BMW tour bus for over 40 minutes with the engine
running, and the air conditioner on because there is absolutely no concept of
conserving fuel or resources here. The highways are like German autobahns with
top speeds of 120 mph, and minimum speed of 60 mph.Dubai has modern highways and buildings that remind me of
the 1950’s sci-fi covers on books by Robert Heinlein and Ray Bradbury;
buildings that rise up in strange geometrical shapes out of the vast Sahara
desert like future cities on Mars. At night, everything lights up in a weird
Arabian Las Vegas theme, but with a bit more exotica and a lot more class.
Arab men in white robes and head covers are the essence of
“cool”. They have taken “cool” to a new level. They are aloof, and have no
interest in foreigners. They have had the world by the balls for a long time
now, and they know it. The woman also have a simple, elegant way of ignoring you completely. They know who has money and power, and who does not; and they seem to have no interest who those who "have not".
There is some evidence that the rulers realized, because
they are a very smart and very large family, that this domination would end. Their president was known
to say, “I rode in on a camel and built my dream of Dubai. My son rides a BMW, his son
will ride a Ferrari, and his son will ride again a camel." Oil reserves here are
said to be enough for about another 10 years at the current rate of
consumption. Therefore, the Royal family has been very busy diversifying; and
they now own the bulk of their wealth in real estate and development. I doubt their
descendants will be riding a camel anytime in the near future. The camels now
are only for the tourists.
This is the world most of the upper class elite of the world
think they would love to live in; and it was created for them. The reality is
they are not flocking here. There are many exclusive buildings, villas,
apartments empty. Yes, Richard Branson and Donald Trump stay here; and I’m sure
many others, but the rich are not leaving wherever they are now to come here. Mainly, I think, because it is a
made up place in the middle of the desert and once you've shopped, and dined,
and gone dune hopping, and swam in the pool or ocean, and gone on a yacht; there is nothing else to do with all your wealth but more of the same.
There is nothing left except to repeat all of those events over and over, reassuring
yourself that you are rich and you are having a wonderful life.
When we talk about the current globalization of the world
economy, we do need to remember that the minds that created Dubai out of the
desert sands using oil to fuel their dream are the same minds that had a great
influence on the current structure of the world economy. Perhaps they were not
the most powerful influence, but they most certainly had a say. Therefore,
Dubai is a small microcosm of what they envisioned for the world, and it is
certainly evident in the slow change in the structure of America. Especially in
the rise of upper class wealth, the loss of a middle class in America, and the influx
of an immigrant workforce. These things may all seem coincidental, and anyone
who suggests that there is some plan at work will be accused of being a
paranoid world conspiracy buff. But there is no denying that the reality of
these changes is having a profound effect not only on the structure of the
American Dream, but on what that dream has meant to the rest of the world. Even
though anyone who has studied American History knows that that dream has only
been a reality for a small part of the whole, it is still a dream that is very
much believed in, or had been until the past few decades.
It seems as if now the only choice most of us will have is
whether we will live in a country based on this model of a moneyed upper class,
and a large working or servant class; and the only distinction will be does the
system provide for our needs. Dubai and
billionaires like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates seem to have the same working
model of providing for the needs of the people; while the current American
system, and most of the rest of the world are oriented toward discarding the
needs of the many, while sucking up more and more of the resources available
for the few.
So here I am in Dubai, the working model for everything that
is being protested against in the world; and although I am well-fed and sitting
here by a pool in a semi-luxury hotel writing this, I can’t help wishing I was
out there marching with the rest of the world…because, although I love to live
in a world with plenty of food, water, industry, and entertainment, I would also
like that world to be available to everyone.
