Most likely you have already heard that tune, ten times, or maybe one hundred, depending where you live and the circle of friends you have. But let me remind you how it goes: “I’ll never set foot in Singapore, because it is all business there.” Or: “Let others go to Gulf countries, I’d never do something like that. They have no culture and it is all showing off and glitz there, purchased with oil money… not to mention all those terrible conflicts they are fueling in the region.” Then, there is that big ugly “I” name: “Me going there? Over my dead body! It is illegitimate; it is sitting on other peoples’ land.”
So it goes…
While genuine criticism is always healthy, it is important to realize that many of those who get ignited by even hearing the names of places like Dubai or Singapore are actually living in the cities like New York, Paris or London. Some are even practicing law, or other mainstream professions that have to be defined as the true mainstays of Western regimes.
Most of those opinionated individuals regurgitating a variety of clichés are actually extremely selective in choosing the targets of their rage. They like playing it safe. Some admit that they are actually cowards, and would never openly rock the boat, never identify with any ‘radical’ (according to them, even being ‘Marxist’ or ‘revolutionary’ is ‘radical’ or ‘extreme’) labels, as they’d never march publicly under any (especially if the color is…