Originally Posted By: Vikas
The experience was surreal. They actually have a "ruler" and it has been ruled by the same family for generation aka Kingdom. The underbelly of the city is supported completely by mostly Asian cheap labor. Less than 10% of the population of the city is native. 90% are temporary migrants. You can have family here and your kids could be born here but they will never be awarded citizenship. In reality, 90% of the population can never call this city their home even if they have spent entire life here.
But what this city proves is that smart ruler(s) can use their windfall wealth to build infrastructure instead of building weapons of mass destruction. It has gleaming Metro, Tram and Monorail apart from public bus system. Dubai may have started its exponential growth on oil revenue but now it relies on being the financial capital and the Mecca for tourism for its survival and growth. And it is growing like wildfire. I wonder if there is any other city in the world which has more cranes per square kilometer than Dubai and they operate 24 hours a day, 6 days a week. Ironically, the city has no rainfall and no natural water resources but uses (wastes?) more water per capita than either US or Europe. As an engineer, that aspect of water desalination really impressed me the most. Heck, they even have an indoor ski resort attached to a shopping mall. My kids did the skiing there. The place was jam packed. I was asking my family "Why does a New England family goes to Dubai and ski???" Impressive water park and unbelievable flower garden is their way of telling the world that what used to be scarcest commodity, now they have it in abundant.
We as a country have no foresight and let our infrastructure rot and let our military have whatever they want to have with no oversight. The contrast could not have been starker when we got back on the pothole filled I-93 in Boston to head home.
Your analysis is deeply flawed. You blame our military, that consumes 16% of our Federal budget (the lowest percentage in US history by the way, and less than the interest on the national debt), for our failures. But that's a specious conclusion and a perpetuation of a myth...
Most Gulf States spend a much higher percentage of their GDP on defense than we do. They have some big threats right across the water. Look at UAE - they spend 16% of GDP on military...we spend about 3% of GDP...
The secret to their success lies in this part of your observation: "90% are temporary migrants. You can have family here and your kids could be born here but they will never be awarded citizenship. In reality, 90% of the population can never call this city their home even if they have spent entire life here."
And that means they will never get one dime of government assistance. Not one dime.
So, by keeping the wealth in the hands of the 10% of the "native born" and excluding benefits from ALL immigrants, they have built this city that so impresses you...
But you ignore the complete lack of economic and personal freedom accorded to the vast majority of inhabitants.
