If you are ever trying to conceptualize how different the world is outside the American bubble and how male instincts are globally coordinated, this city is a great place to start. Dubai is really one of the wonders of the world and is still shrouded in mystery for most who view it extraneously. In recent years, I have become fascinated by the developments and architectural experiments constantly being undertaken by the UAE as well as the cultural turmoil that still exists despite the city's function as a global economic hub. Dubai has been known for starting multi-million dollar projects without having the foresight or the funds to wrap them up during economically turbulent times like they saw in 2010 (just like the fucking new expansion of the Bay Bridge we keep paying $6 tolls for). Once you get past the near-radioactive display of lights and metallic shimmer that cloaks the city, there is an even clearer display of the disparity of wealth, and how mankind was able to exploit this advantage in a very short period of time. Many look upon Dubai as a billionaire playground and its ostentatious displays provide us with a quintessential image of power, but when you throw enough money in the air it clouds what we should be able to see right in front of us. Dubai's blind spot is mainly in the area of labor and human rights, as more than 250,000 international workers come to participate in constructing Dubai's lavish projects and live in abject conditions to just to feed off of the surrounding wealth, but the ports that the city uses to generate the majority of its revenue have also lead to a large human trafficking dilemma in the city, mainly for prostitution.
The high number of expatriates visiting or living the city coupled with the wealth of the top earning citizens have made this enterprise incredibly lucrative- and it is only growing. Dubai's growth has been relatively quick considering that the city's real emergence only began in 1996 when the discovery of oil propelled it to exponential growth. It is fascinating how quickly the rich decided to separate themselves from the poor in such a short amount of time, sometimes needing to be a couple hundred stories off the ground just to make this disparity painstakingly clear. It is also interesting to see how different successful human societies allocate their funds when placed in an opulent position, but most prioritize their wealth in much the same way; Dubai is just an exceptional display of this because we can watch it occur over the last 50 years. However, I am never against taking things at face value for a little while, and this is one of the most beautiful cityscapes on the planet infused with a beautiful arabic culture and mysterious origins. This city has definitely sparked my intrigue and I hope when looking at it in the future you take a new perspective on what it costs to keep something like this beautiful. Consume responsibly.
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