Who Will Tell the People?
This was the #5 e-mailed article from this week’s New York Times. It is a hard-hitting warning to Americans in an election year, and it has some analogies to election time in Kuwait.
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: May 4, 2008
Traveling the country these past five months while writing a book, I’ve had my own opportunity to take the pulse, far from the campaign crowds. My own totally unscientific polling has left me feeling that if there is one overwhelming hunger in our country today it’s this: People want to do nation-building. They really do. But they want to do nation-building in America.
They are not only tired of nation-building in Iraq and in Afghanistan, with so little to show for it. They sense something deeper — that we’re just not that strong anymore. We’re borrowing money to shore up our banks from city-states called Dubai and Singapore. Our generals regularly tell us that Iran is subverting our efforts in Iraq, but they do nothing about it because we have no leverage — as long as our forces are pinned down in Baghdad and our economy is pinned to Middle East oil.
Our president’s latest energy initiative was to go to Saudi Arabia and beg King Abdullah to give us a little relief on gasoline prices. I guess there was some justice in that. When you, the president, after 9/11, tell the country to go shopping instead of buckling down to break our addiction to oil, it ends with you, the president, shopping the world for discount gasoline.
We are not as powerful as we used to be because over the past three decades, the Asian values of our parents’ generation — work hard, study, save, invest, live within your means — have given way to subprime values: “You can have the American dream — a house — with no money down and no payments for two years.”
That’s why Donald Rumsfeld’s infamous defense of why he did not originally send more troops to Iraq is the mantra of our times: “You go to war with the army you have.” Hey, you march into the future with the country you have — not the one that you need, not the one you want, not the best you could have.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I flew from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Singapore. In J.F.K.’s waiting lounge we could barely find a place to sit. Eighteen hours later, we landed at Singapore’s ultramodern airport, with free Internet portals and children’s play zones throughout. We felt, as we have before, like we had just flown from the Flintstones to the Jetsons. If all Americans could compare Berlin’s luxurious central train station today with the grimy, decrepit Penn Station in New York City, they would swear we were the ones who lost World War II.
How could this be? We are a great power. How could we be borrowing money from Singapore? Maybe it’s because Singapore is investing billions of dollars, from its own savings, into infrastructure and scientific research to attract the world’s best talent — including Americans.
And us? Harvard’s president, Drew Faust, just told a Senate hearing that cutbacks in government research funds were resulting in “downsized labs, layoffs of post docs, slipping morale and more conservative science that shies away from the big research questions.” Today, she added, “China, India, Singapore … have adopted biomedical research and the building of biotechnology clusters as national goals. Suddenly, those who train in America have significant options elsewhere.”
Much nonsense has been written about how Hillary Clinton is “toughening up” Barack Obama so he’ll be tough enough to withstand Republican attacks. Sorry, we don’t need a president who is tough enough to withstand the lies of his opponents. We need a president who is tough enough to tell the truth to the American people. Any one of the candidates can answer the Red Phone at 3 a.m. in the White House bedroom. I’m voting for the one who can talk straight to the American people on national TV — at 8 p.m. — from the White House East Room.
Who will tell the people? We are not who we think we are. We are living on borrowed time and borrowed dimes. We still have all the potential for greatness, but only if we get back to work on our country.
I don’t know if Barack Obama can lead that, but the notion that the idealism he has inspired in so many young people doesn’t matter is dead wrong. “Of course, hope alone is not enough,” says Tim Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics, “but it’s not trivial. It’s not trivial to inspire people to want to get up and do something with someone else.”
It is especially not trivial now, because millions of Americans are dying to be enlisted — enlisted to fix education, enlisted to research renewable energy, enlisted to repair our infrastructure, enlisted to help others. Look at the kids lining up to join Teach for America. They want our country to matter again. They want it to be about building wealth and dignity — big profits and big purposes. When we just do one, we are less than the sum of our parts. When we do both, said Shriver, “no one can touch us.”
Quiet Morning Sunrise May 8, 2008
It wasn’t the Qatteri Cat ready for some fun and excitement. It wasn’t AdventureMan “purring.” I woke with a start, thinking “I have to remember to get an appointment for a teeth cleaning!” and once that adrenaline was running through my veins, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get back to sleep. It was early, but not WAY early. The sun was just up, and it was a beautiful and quiet time of the day.
Who knows why we are wired the way we are wired? I love the holiness of the earliest hours of the day. AdventureMan and QC are still sleeping, I have my coffee, the sun is rising. Alhamd’allah, life is serene and sweet.
It is only 79°F / 26°C, but it is also only 5:45 ayem.
LOL Cat for Today
This one had me howling – it even looks like the Qatteri Cat, who thinks he wants to be outside . . . probably for the same reason. Poor QC vaguely remembers a time when he lived outside. He doesn’t remember the bad parts. 😦
Kuwait isn’t a good place for a cat who lives outside.
more cat pictures
NYT: In Democracy Kuwait Trusts, but Not Much
The New York Times had a full length article on the upcoming Kuwait election yesterday:
KUWAIT — In a vast, high-ceilinged tent, Ali al-Rashed sounded an anguished note as he delivered the first speech of his campaign for Parliament.
“Kuwait used to be No. 1 in the economy, in politics, in sports, in culture, in everything,” he said, his voice floating out in the warm evening air to hundreds of potential voters seated on white damask-lined chairs. “What happened?”
It is a question many people are asking as this tiny, oil-rich nation of 2.6 million people approaches its latest round of elections. And the unlikely answer being whispered around, both here and in neighboring countries on the Persian Gulf: too much democracy.
In a region where autocracy is the rule, Kuwait is a remarkable exception, with a powerful and truculent elected Parliament that sets the emir’s salary and is the nation’s sole source of legislation. Women gained the right to vote and run for office two years ago, and a popular movement won further electoral changes.
Despite those gains, Kuwait has been overshadowed by its dynamic neighbors — Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar — where economies are booming under absolute monarchies. Efforts to overhaul Kuwait’s sclerotic welfare state have stalled in its fractious and divided Parliament, and scandals led the emir to dissolve the chamber last month for the second time in less than two years, forcing new elections.
All this has left many Kuwaitis deeply disenchanted with their 50-member elected legislature. The collapse of the Bush administration’s efforts to promote democracy in the region and the continuing chaos in Iraq, just to the north — once heralded as the birthplace of a new democratic model — have also contributed to a popular suspicion that democracy itself is one Western import that has not lived up to its advertising.
“People say democracy is just slowing us down, and that we’d be better off if we were more like Dubai,” said Waleed al-Sager, 24, who is advising his father’s campaign for Parliament.
Like many Kuwaitis, Mr. Sager quickly distanced himself from that view. But as the May 17 parliamentary elections approach, with near-constant coverage in a dozen new newspapers and on satellite television stations, candidates refer again and again to a “halat ihbaat” — state of frustration. His father, Mohammed al-Sager, a longtime member of Parliament, delivered his own opening campaign speech shortly after Mr. Rashed two weeks ago, and spent much of it urgently reminding his listeners of the need for an elected assembly.
“Some people have called for a permanent dissolution of Parliament,” he said, his face telecast on an enormous screen to a thick overflow crowd outside the tent. “But everywhere in the world — in Africa, in Palestine, in the old Soviet Union — people have turned to elections to solve their problems, not away from them. Whatever problems we have in our Parliament, we must remember that it is much better than no Parliament at all.”
One source of frustration has been the failure to reform Kuwait’s state-controlled economy. After the 2006 elections, many Kuwaitis were hoping for changes to cumbersome government rules that allow land to be allocated for business projects. Instead, the effort was blocked in Parliament. The slow pace of efforts to privatize the national airline and parts of the oil sector has also caused disappointment.
Many Kuwaitis also complain about government neglect of public hospitals and schools. Problems with the power grid caused brownouts last summer.
Although parts of Kuwait City were rebuilt after the Iraqi invasion of 1990, much of it looks faded and tatty, a striking contrast with the gleaming hyper-modernity of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.
The current political malaise is especially striking because most Kuwaitis take pride in their nation’s relatively democratic traditions. The ruling Sabah family acquired its position not through conquest, but with an agreement among the coastal traders of the region in the mid-18th century. After Kuwait gained independence from the British in 1961, the emir approved a written Constitution that sharply limited his power in relation to Parliament.
The article is long – you can read the rest HERE.
Indistinct Sunrise
The sunrise this morning is so pale that while you can see colors, they are all pale and impressionistic, hazy an indistinct:
From the Animal Friends League Newsletter
These people do such amazing work with limited resources and limitless hearts. If you can help them out in any way, please give them a call.
ANIMAL FRIENDS LEAGUE OF KUWAIT
SHELTER NEWSLETTER
5 May, 2008
+965-700-1622 (Tel) info@animalfriendskuwait.org +965-244-3859(Fax)
http://www.animalfriendskuwait.org
SHELTER UPDATE
Well it is that time of year. People are leaving for
the summer and animals are getting dumped left,
right and center. Our intake is very high right now
with 15 dogs and 17 cats in just over the last two
days. With the holidays under way, it also means
our adoptions have come to a grinding halt. We will
be holding a few adoption fairs over the next
couple months in town to make it a little easier for
people to access us and our animals.
The good news is, things are still under control.
Although we are bursting at the seams, with the
hard work of our precious kennel staff and the
help of our volunteers and the coordination of our
shelter manager, Stephanie Wriede, every animal
continues to get the highest quality care both
physically and mentally.
If you have time over the summer and want to
volunteer, please contact us as we do lose a lot of
our volunteers over the summer.
GOLF COURSE DOG PARK
We were recently contacted by a gentleman that is
managing the construction of a golf course on the way to
Wafra. The desert camp-grounds dismantled and many
people left their dogs behind.
Now a large number of dogs have moved onto the golf course seeking out the
cool grass and refreshing lakes. We visited the site and
counted over thirty dogs in broad daylight. The Harris
says it rises to well over fifty at night and of course
there are puppies galore! Although the manager loves
dogs, the invasion has caused a lot of problems with the
construction and they need to be moved out. Due to the
fact that there is no animal control in Kuwait, we have
to take on yet another massive project that is well
above and beyond our means.
We have started the work and moved the first five dogs on Friday. We will continue
to move the dogs in small groups until we gain control of
the situation. If you would be willing to help us with this
effort please let us know as it is a big one!
Kuwait Blue Sky
On our way downtown the other day, I glumly told my friends I miss the true-blue skies we see in Kuwait in the winter time. All we get these days is this white haze, or at best, a light blue haze. I shot a few photos – and to my surprise, when I uploaded them, we had a genuine blue sky in the background!
Here is one of the renovated minarets – have you noticed a lot of the historical locations are getting a facelift?
For my friends who think we live in tents and drive our camels to work, a nice shot of downtown Kuwait:
Graceful shoppers exiting the Manshar Mall in Fehaheel:
The Grand Mosque in downtown Kuwait:
A saucer-topped building (and the sky is indeed blue):
Last, but not least, a boat on the gulf – and no horizon, no delineation between sea and sky:
Jewaira Sunrise
When I saw the sunrise this morning, I thought of Jewaira, another blogger who in her own way and in her own head is also here, there and everywhere. She loves silvery sunrises, and oh man, this is one shimmering, silvery sunrise:
It must be the haze that exaggerates the size of the sun so – and makes it appear to throb, even in the photo.
It is 79°F / 26°C at 0630 with dust expected today according to Q8weather.com.
Kuwait Book Store
After all the months my reading and blogging friends have been recommending the Kuwait Book Store, I finally got there.
I thought I was in heaven.
Another friend, with us, said she is planning a date night with her husband at the Kuwait Book Store – you can spend hours there, and you can top off the evening with an ice cream cone right outside the door.
This is the only place in Kuwait I have seen Jehan Rejab’s book about the Invasion of Kuwait. I found several other books by her, and by her husband. I found four books on Kuwait by Claudia Al-Rashoud, another of my favorite authors and Kuwait photographers. They have a great selection of books on Kuwait – the best I have seen. They have another couple books which feature or include the unique architectural elements in Kuwait, but not The History of Architecture in Old Kuwait City, the book I reviewed earlier. Some of these other books may be even better! 🙂
There were all kinds of books. Acres of books. Books, and a good selection of greeting cards, and pens, and children’s books. The Kuwait Book Store is huge.
The Kuwait Book Store is just inside the main entrance to the Al Muthanna Mall and Residence, across from the JW Marriott in downtown Kuwait. You go down the escalator, and you are there. I like this mall; it has upper end quality kind of goods; some really good shoe stores, many other great resources. I’m not a big fan of malls, but this mall is a very useful mall.
I only regret it took me so long to get there! What a find! I think a date night at the Kuwait Book Store will be in my future, too. I didn’t get to hit all the shops, just had a brief glance. Do you have any favorites or recommendations at Al Muthanna?
Weather Forecast
This is from the Online weather site at the Kuwait airport:
Thunderstorms tomorrow. Dust on Wednesday. You’d think if we have thunderstorms, it would rain, and damp down the dust, wouldn’t it?
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