kanelli wrote:If I recall, Chocs donates money and goods to charitable causes in Dubai.
Yes, she does.
She bought me a drink the other night.
It was a very worthy cause!
Knight
-- Sun Aug 01, 2010 8:39 am --
I suppose the capitalistic standpoint would be that these mega rich few will actually be able to help a larger number of poorer people by investing their, not so hard earned, billions into commercial ventures that will ultimately provide jobs and security for many, thereby creating a stronger economic ecosystem and further increase their already vast earning capacity.
In a democratic capitalist environment, Darwinian theory clearly shows that a corporation must adapt to the changing business environment or be overtaken by faster, leaner, more efficient corporations. In the Gulf, the need to compete in an open international market is put aside as protectionism, exploitation, monopolisation and government supported blocking of free trade competition is endemic. You have to follow the golden rule: He who has the gold...rules!
With the globally disproportionate numbers of rich vs poor, even if you stripped every billionaire of every cent of his worth and distributed it evenly to every citizen of the planet, there would still not be enough to go around.
For anyone who knows any Emirati history, in the early days of the union when the oil revenue started rolling in, Sheikh Zayed once pulled every dollar from the Central Bank and distributed it (in cash!) to the major families in the country based on their particular needs and personal requests. The caveat was that the money was a one time handout and should be used to build commerce and infrastructure that would help the long term greater good. Some, the sensible ones, took this to heart and put it to good use. In one fell swoop, he kick started the UAE economy as this injection of capital into the system allowed locals to invest in business ventures and create employment and wealth for themselves as well as the rapidly growing expatriate workforce.
In more recent times, the realisation that the sand on the surface was worth more than the oil underneath it, created the real estate feeding frenzy and the vultures that fed off it. The concept of 'Selling Sand by the Dirham' allowed the privileged few to bolster their already significant coffers to unrealistic proportions in an extremely short period of time and spawned the current generation of spoiled rich kids who think that money grows on palm trees and is merely there to further their own selfish impulses.
The financial crash may have been a wake up call, but when the money snowball is rolling down the mountain and has got so big that this global glitch is just a mere bump in the way that is easily ridden over with just a small dent in the surface, the need to flaunt that wealth to the less fortunate is increased. Sad, but an unfortunate fact of nature.
Personally I feel sorry for them. If jetting off to London with your gold plated d*ck extension in the cargo hold gets you off? Then so be it. Just don't expect any respect from the real people.
Knight