God I hate Dubai!

God I hate Dubai! It is funny when I think about how I will look back at my time here… a time spent learning so much about things I only read about in books. Learning about how unfair the world is, how unequal the distribution of resources is. But here I am after being here for 8 months and I have had enough of it all!

The sad thing is that all I want to do is run away from it all and bury my head in the sand of a comfortable western lifestyle, once again immune and ignorant to the plight of the majority. But to tell you the truth it really weighs you down seeing how unfair the world is to people and how lucky I have it. I mean I lie on my bed having a nice Saturday afternoon siesta and I feel guilty as the gardener is outside, slaving away in the sun. I know the low wages he earns, I know he is going back to a room he shares with several other people, I know he doesn’t have a kitchen, I know he rarely sees his family, the list goes on. And my gardener has it better than the laborer, who lives in the “labor camps” outside the city limits, where they even resort to eating cats for food (yes this was front page news a few months back - http://secretdubai.blogspot.com/2007/01/kitty-kebabs.html). And then I have to think about India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, where these people have come from, where conditions are infinitely worse.

It’s enough to make you scream to the heavens “My God, my God, why have you forsaken them all????”

So my question is; Where to from here? I mean all good and well for me to go off and move back into the world I consider normal and enjoy myself, but is there not more I owe this world. I now know that I am clearly in the top one percent of the world’s people when it comes to wealth and resources. What should I do about all this? One need look no further than the Bible: Jesus Said: But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort already (Luke 6:24). I mean what does this say for our next life, we privileged top percent of the global pecking order? Are we enjoying now at the expense of tomorrow… Anyways it’s all a bit much for me at the moment.

It just shocks me, that is all. I mean is it okay to be wealthy whilst others starve? I mean I am not even wealthy. By western standards I am merely middle class, nothing more. Should the mode of comparison be local, national or global? I have to think with globalization and all the benefits it brings it also brings responsibilities. No longer can we be immune to the plight of those thousands of miles away. And me, I am much closer to the slums of Mumbai, than I am to the comfortable suburbs of Wollongong where I grew up.

I guess what aggravates this frustration more is the way some live out here. Those in my office worry themselves with which series BMW or Mercedes someone drives…. I know an expat manager here who owns a 7 series BMW and a Ferrari!?!!? I mean when is enough enough? I would think an Indian would have more sympathy to the plight of the impoverished, given they were faced with it every day as they grew up. But I think they are more used to it than the average western person and accept it as a fact of life, part of the cosmic balance of the universe (a key tenant to the functioning of the caste system).

Well it is not for me to judge. All I can say is that I have learnt that this world is a harsh place, but not a place devoid of hope and opportunity; I mean people out here are making a better life for themselves and their families back home. I just wish I knew where to head from here. Well I am confident in the fact that I have chosen the ideal life partner, one who shares all these concerns with me and that together we can at least try to make some kind of difference, rather than just make ourselves feel good about ourselves and less guilty about the kind fortunes that God has bestowed upon us.

Ha! But then one sees the IPCC report released this week and well…. Once again the poor lose out. Sometimes I cannot help but think God has it in for the less fortunate. Or maybe there is no God and it is up to us, the more fortunate ones to make things right. Maybe God was invented as someone to blame for the plight of the less fortunate, a convenient excuse for us to sit back, relax having a siesta, and do nothing to make these horribly unjust things right.

True Cost Economics

Economic theory states that social and environmental concerns should be left to the function of regulators and the Government and that businesses should stick to what they do best, which is making profits for their shareholders. Any move on the behalf on a corporation to invest time, money and resources in general in the pursuit of improving the conditions of anything other than that of the bank balance of their shareholders would be in contradiction of their charter and hence irresponsible and possibly even unethical.

This has always been something that bothered me. I mean when you consider that the corporation itself is considered in a legal sense as a individual and hence bestowed with the rights of the individual, would it not be fair that all the responsibilities of being an individual and hence citizen be levied on a corporation? The question is what are the responsibilities of a citizen? Is it ethical for a person to focus on the profits of their shareholders (themselves and immediate family) at the expense of all other parties of the society in which the individual lives?

I guess I have been thinking of this a great deal ever since I took economics at university. What do corporations owe society? Is the payment of tax all that is required? Should the social function of a corporation not extend beyond this point? The same should be asked of the citizen. Does the citizen owe anything else to society?

A good example is war. In times gone past, when a country goes to war it was a “duty” of the citizen to support the war effort of their nation, whether by physically fighting on the front line or simply by accepting the rationing of their personal resources in the support of the campaign. Now although conscription is a thing of the past it is important to my point here. The citizen is intrinsically, as part of their involvement with society, expected to be willing and able to give more of themselves than simply their annual tax payment. So given this, it should be expected that more than corporate tax revenues should be expected from corporations.

So what? What does this mean? We are not at war anyways so who cares, right? Well besides the fact that we are technically at war (most western nations are involved in the ongoing war on terror and occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan etc) the logic of owing something to society should hold true at all times, whether at war or not.

Given we are arguably in the middle of the fight for the survival of the planet I would say that the call for something more than just taxes is called from all global citizens, including corporations. By saying “survival” I refer to the numerous negative impacts the human race is having upon our biosphere (Climate Charge, habit destruction, toxic waste etc), impacts that will in the next fifty years start to seriously impact not only the successful functioning of the biosphere but of the existence of the human race and heaven forbid the fat bottom line of the world’s major corporations.

So when the call the arms comes (it has already come, we are just waiting for the official declaration of war to be announced) we should expect corporations to join the fight with all the resources at their disposal. Profits for shareholders are not enough, corporations, as part of their contribution, beyond taxes (which they attempt to minimise at all times anyway), is the start help solve the problem. Corporations need to consider all their impacts on the society they function in. They need to factor in costs of advertising (which increases unsustainable consumption of goods [insert info on record personal debt levels in developed nations here] which are often unhealthy for their consumers and the world as a whole), pollution (CO2, hazardous waste etc), workers rights (increasing employee insecurity and over work is causing an epidemic of stress/depression in the west resulting in a great strain on our health care systems worldwide), contributions to cultural diversity (rapid globalization has tended to greatly reduce cultural diversity – Just look at Central America or the Gulf countries in the Middle East or even Indian and Chinese “Pop Culture”) and creativity (What movies and music are the most profitable? How many remakes and sequels are on at the movies these days?), Journalistic independence (anyone watched Fox News or CNN of late?) etc and etc.

The corporation after all is the same as a Government, it is just owned by fewer people and is mandated only to care about the needs of these few. But in the end the fate of the corporation, the Government and the citizen are all tied to the fate of the planet. It has been the attempted compartmentalization of society by economists and other theorists that have caused so many of the problems we face today. The sooner we all realize that we are in this fight together the sooner we will be able to rally all resources for the good fight, the fight that will help ensure the sustainable future of the planet and of the human race. Were corporations and individuals to focus on their immediate needs at the expense of their true and complete involvement with the world as a whole then we, corporations, Governments and citizens included are all doomed.

The goal: True cost economics. We need to include all costs and impacts in all decisions. We need to have the confidence that when we invest money in BHP Billiton that they are making decisions that promote sustainable interactions with the biosphere, increases to fourth quarter earnings are no longer sufficient custodianship of our resources. As all resources come from the earth and all will go back. The sooner the business world realizes that the sooner we can start to rebuild the economic order in a manner that suits the children born in one thousand years time as today will be gone tomorrow but forever will be with us for eternity.

http://www.truecosteconomics.org

Also have put up photos of Paris... what a place... and what better person to be there with than Farah aka Brown Squirrel! http://lucas.intercate.net/gallery/farahnlucas

Christmas and My Birthday in March

I get to see Farah tomorrow!

And although it is only six days that I have her by my side I am thankful for this gift....

She will be taken back into the arms of Canada so quickly... But that will be our last goodbye... As when she comes back to me again in August there will be no more goodbyes.

So the gift of Farah I will gladly enjoy this coming week, in London and in Paris. And every moment will be cherished...

There are few who know this joy, but Farah and I know it. Seeing your love after so long apart is like Christmas and your Birthday all mixed into one moment of pure joy.

I am positively ecstatic!

There and back without a map...

Well I managed a 450km drive from one country to another without a map.... but not without getting lost :-P

Can you believe that I naively thought that I could rely on the fact that a petrol station would sell a map of the country of which they were located in and also a map of the capital city of that country a capital city that was down the road from the said petrol station... ha! Well I am the fool aren’t I!? I stopped at six, yes six petrol stations and none of them had maps... And now with a little internet map 100m sq of where my hotel was I knew I would be in need of a map... Oh well... off to Muscat without a map... not to mention driving on the other side of the road and driving for the first time in the Middle East... Well nothing like a challenge to make you feel alive..

Well did I mention that the little map I did have had the hotel located in the wrong area? Oh and that Muscat does not allow u-turns? Well I ended up making a 5hr drive into a 8hr drive and I was almost in tears several times... But I did, in the end, make it! Result!

Muscat is a lovely little place and a very pleasant change from Dubai. Cars stop to let you walk across the road (yes, hard to believe for a Middle East resident I know) and locals are everywhere, as opposed to Dubai where I have yet to spot any... People are talkative and are prone to wave at you for no reason other than they want to seem welcoming.

The place is clean and well ordered and although a little quiet it seemed like a nice place to live. However, one thing that became clear to me in Muscat was that I no longer want to travel alone. I don't like this adventure by myself thing... I don't know how people bother.... All I can say is that from August my little Farah will be dragged everywhere with me... As nothing compares to experiencing wonderful things with a wonderful thing!

Please check new picks of my trip:

http://lucas.intercate.net/gallery/muscat?page=1

Different Perspectives

I went to my first Hindi movie last night... It has been sometime coming but I am glad to have gotten there in the end. My friend from work Shibu took me with his mates and I sat there in the cinema, the only white person and enjoyed the romantic comedy "Honeymoon". And well minus the fact it was all in Hindi I didn't really see too much difference from western romantic comedies, well minus the sex and add a tendency to be a little more "wholesome" in it's themes, although it dealt with the perplexities of relationships, homosexuality and feminism. But I guess what became apparent to me again last night as we watched the movie, went out to dinner and then went to the beach to chill and play the guitar is how we learn so little from staying in our box...

I apply it to myself. Now I have spent much of my time in Dubai to myself, surfing the net, reading books, travelling for work, and on MSN with Farah. And it became apparent to me last night that to some extent I had forgotten why I had come here... for different perspectives. A night out, chilling and doing nothing completely special... was a nice change for me... and I had to contrast it to what a night would entail with a westerner.... inevitably drinking... It is funny. What is it with western culture and drinking? Well I can't judge as I love a drink too, especially if Farah and I have a few wines together, it's always nice. But it is the occasionality of the drinking that I prefer. Why do westerners drink so much? Are we so keen to forget all the troubles of our material abundances at the bottom of a bottle? I don't know what I am trying to say.

I guess it is the non-western vision I came in search of here. I mean I realised a while ago that something was going wrong with mainstream culture in the west. The move towards consumerism and individualism was not sitting right with me. I couldn't sit and just flow into that life thinking it was normal, nor did I want to spend my days banging my head against the brick wall that is pop culture. So I left... In search of new ways to live something that I worked with and that felt right, healthy and sustainable. Alas I confess to not having found it yet. Western life still has the lure of familiarity for me, although when I see it, especially in it's characaturic forms here in Dubai, I am sickened and want to run even faster in the opposite direction. But where do you run to? I mean Indian pop culture is running toward the west as is much of the world. And the sad thing is that they're running away from some pretty damn good things. Close families and communities, social capital that the west could only dream of, but they destroy it in the name of progress and economic and social liberation. Mmmmm... Why do we always think the west knows best?

I mean granted the west has offered so many great things, education, research and development on a scale only dreamed of the world over 100 years ago... But what has it taken from us? The meaning of belonging to something bigger and more important than ourselves, the freedom to sit down and relax to not be coaxed to buy at every turn, to value our fellowman more than the bottom line... And it has destroyed nature.. or at least subdued it to a shadow of it's former self....

Why one way? Why can't we mix with rather than replace other cultures? We are living in a time of social and biodiversity destruction... I see it before my very eyes here in Dubai...And I have seen it since leaving home... When will people realise what they lose when they exchange culture for a mobile phone, ipod and a Japanese sports car?

We have made it past half way...

We have made it past half way! I say we as truly this something both Farah and I are going through. Time apart has been the hardest thing I think either of us has ever done, but I seem to think it is a testament to our dedication toward each other, especially for Farah as she was not the maniac that thought this a good idea, myself being the maniac.

Well thanks to the wonders of technology we have managed a somewhat functional relationship over the wondrous communication channels of the World Wide Web.

So thanks for putting up with this babe… and also for supporting me with your love and affection as it does get lonely out here in the land of sand dunes and camels.

So where is my head at now? I have lived here for six months now; I have been to all the Gulf States and more or less done what I had come here to do in a personal sense. Well all I want to do now is move on and start my life with Farah. Every day down is a day closer to Farah and I getting back together and not having to say goodbye anymore. Wow, the amount of goodbyes we have both had to go through….

I can’t help but reflect on the lives of so many of the expats out here (non-white ones) who experience what I am going through as a matter of course in their lives. I mean this is normality for them. For Farah and I it is just one year and then it is over. For many out here it is their whole life…. Spent having one month a year with their wife and family and eleven months working twelve hour shifts for seven days a week. How and why do they do it will be one of the questions I will be leaving this place pondering for some time to come. I mean is life that bad at home? Are wives that happy to see their husbands go 90% of the time…? Just to have more money to raise a family the father never sees? Well given there are millions doing it there must be some rationality to it… but I fail to see it. I guess I come from a different generation, one that values the moment and pleasure and happiness for the self. These guys focus on the life of their family and especially that of their children.

I often think of my parents and especially my father when I think of these guys out here, driving their taxis, working on construction sites and the like.

My father is about to retire after working 40 years… yes FORTY YEARS at the steelworks in Wollongong!!!! And all this time on shift work… constant battles to organize a life and sleeping patterns around the production of steel and the provision for a family he dearly loves. Now although he is focusing on taking the time to prepare his finances for the rest of his and mums life I would like for him to know that I am truly thankful for the gift he has given me; a great life, education and opportunities that he never had. A selfless man in every sense of the word… Self-Less… a life without self, dedicated to others, something we don’t see enough of in the western world.

Thank you Mum and Dad for raising me…. Without you I would not exist and without your love and support I would not be where I am…. And thank you Farah… without you I would not be the man I have become in the past year and a half of knowing you and without you I will not become the man that I will be in the future.

Yes a soppy post, but a needed one, as I am a lucky person for the people God has blessed me with in my life.

Saudi Pics

Just uploaded a couple of pics of Saudi...

http://lucas.intercate.net/gallery/Saudi

Now taking photos was made legal a few months back... but I don't think people knew this... well I guessed this from the look on their faces... so photo ops were few for fear of being stoned... and no I don't mean stoned in the refer madness sense....

Enjoy :-)