Category: Diary

Let’s get this next decade right (open letter to the world)

Don’t let your empathy drown in your fears. Love more and fight less. Forgive debts. Transcend your evolutionary psychology. Sing in the shower but don’t shower too long. Create systems and incentives that share wealth and health and education equally with the entire world. Take chances with yourself but not with the planet. Brush after meals. Don’t bomb people or kill them in other ways that are intentional no matter what they do to you or who told you to or what they’re paying you. Eat well and local. That is not “just the way it is” and it is not true that sometimes “the use of force is necessary and morally justified”. Create long term solutions to the problems of today even if it costs more money now. Don’t shop in ugly buildings or for ugly things unless the kitsch value is redeeming and even then in moderation. Inspire others to be great and let them know that they are. Don’t be an angry drunk. Don’t build walls unless they are flush with the earth on one side and have steps. Be nice to animals. Move on. Don’t start forest fires or kill things. Tell the truth. Be kind to strangers but don’t take their candy. If you feel like you want to make someone sad in order to make yourself happy, perhaps go see a movie or make something beautiful from garbage instead. Travel and learn about other people. Take public transport. Move downtown. Don’t say, “don’t be naive.” Write at least one book or one song or draw one picture this decade even if you never share it with anyone. Don’t make commercials that play on amygdalal emotions to sell health insurance, public office, computers, or fossil fuels. If you must be a Republican at least be a honest one. Don’t steal or act jealously (this goes double for nations). Be sustainable. Don’t use the word “sustainable” unless you really mean it and it really is like for 500 years and not just twenty. Earn a good living for yourself but not too good. Spell “a lot” correctly in emails, etc. Read. Plant ten trees. Watch less sports. Play more sports. Buy solar panels and put them on your roof. Give gifts that you make. Stop sending people into space. Respect people’s hangups. Lose yours. If you feel like you must have children don’t have more than two. Don’t eat meat, especially ammonia meat, etc. Don’t let your beliefs cloud your consciousness and decision making. Don’t wallow. Find the nuance. Study the lives of those who you admire until the truth about their faults reveals to you that they are really no better than you are. Continue to admire them and strive to outdo them but try to not pay attention to them too much after that. Get out into nature and get dirty, then use biodegradable laundry detergent. Be yourself insofar as it does not come at the expense of others. Don’t be preachy.

Jordan

On our way home to the US for the holidays we stopped over in Jordan for 4 days. Here are the photos in chronological order. It was really one of the most amazing experiences that we’ve had. It is a magical place.

Views from the plane on the way from Dubai to Amman

Madaba

Driving down the King’s Highway

Petra, land of the Nabataeans

Driving South to Aqaba

Wadi Rum

Shobak Castle

Driving to the Dead Sea

Amman

Glass Houses and Other Metaphors

USA Sovereign Debt = $11,656 per capita*
UK Sovereign Debt = $12,343 per capita
UAE Sovereign Debt = $9,480 per capita

It seems like some of the recent coverage and commentary about Dubai’s financial situation are being written while smiling a little too widely in their editorial aspect with headlines like Sheikhy Foundations and Dubai Babylon: The glitz, the glamour – and now the gloom. It may be like poking fun at the person ahead of you in line to the gallows as if you were not also in that same line. The words of political statecraft, where officials are focused on national self-interest, are one thing, but in this interconnected world, I don’t see the value in articles of public record picking sides and reveling in the potential woes of other people.

While Dubai’s troubles are serious, they are by no means cataclysmic either and they are not alone in the world. The 3 million barrels of oil that are produced each day by the UAE at $50 per barrel would, in less than a year, equal all of Dubai World’s collective obligations. Sure, 95% of the oil reserves are in Abu Dhabi. But the ties that bind the country together are very strong as the celebrations of today’s 38th National Day attest. In the end, Abu Dhabi and Dubai will not part ways over this matter; they both need each other. It may in fact end up bringing the country closer together.

Anyway, I’m optimistic. While, in my personal opinion, the scale of development as it was conceived prior to 2008 was not sustainable and planned with too much emphasis on impressions, it is all past now. And this moment of pause will perhaps allow the planning of the city to proceed from here on out in a more measured and humanistic scale—one that is more aware of the environment, energy use, history, and universal human needs.

As guests residing here, we feel an affinity to the people and the place so perhaps we are a little biased. But I think that some of the recent coverage of the crisis sit in too lofty a judgement and paint with too broad a brush from outside while lacking an understanding of the more complicated history and context of the place.

Meanwhile, it may benefit the US and the UK to pay closer attention to stories about their own sovereign debt situation and stop using Dubai as a distraction.

*numbers at the top edited to reflect only debt held by foreign interests. It is a little confusing as to how to measure with strict parity. See here and here for more information. The USA total government debt does stand at over 13.4 trillion, but only 3.5 of that is foreign held. I think the numbers are now accurate comparisons. As percent of GDP is also a good measure to compare.