benjamin_the_donkey's Open Salon Blog

Alas, Oman

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:03:57 -0400

Even the normally placid Sultanate of Oman has been caught up in the Arab world's recent wave of protest and rebellion. Though the protests have been largely peaceful and the police have generally taken a hands-off approach, there was some violence in the industrial city of Sohar, with at least one protester killed and several buildings burned.

What's it about? Unlike in Egypt, Bahrain, Lybia, Yemen or Syria, it's not about major political change; the benevolent Sultan is revered here to the point of idolatry. No, the protesters say it's the economy. They cite absurd unemployment levels-- as high as 30%, low wages and high prices. In short, they are demanding that the government force businesses to hire Omanis instead of low-wage foreign workers and drastically raise the minimum wage. And they want lower prices. They don't seem to see the inherent contradictions here.

There's also an ethical issue. While I'm all for fair, liveable wages, I'm also enough of an egalitarian to be appalled at the arrogance of these demands. At this time, an Omani working for minimum wage at, say, a fast-food restaurant makes two and a half times what his Indian or Filipino colleagues earn-- with the same work, same hours, and much better benefits. You might wonder why, in this case, McDonald's, Howard Johnson's or Pizza Hut would hire much more expensive Omani workers. The answer is that, through the Ministy of Labor's "Omanization" program, employers are forced to have a 30-50% Omani workforce. Without this, unemployment would be more well over 50%.

The protesters are now demanding that that Omani worker be paid FIVE times what his foreign colleagues make. How he could look his co-workers in the face is beyond me.

To my internationalist mind, the obvious solution would be to raise the minimum wage for everyone. If foreign workers are no longer much cheaper to employ, then Omani applicants will instantly become more attractive-- assuming, of course, that they have the necessary basic skills. Which brings me to my next point....

Not to be outdone, university students are now protesting for lower entrance exam requirements, fewer required credit hours for graduation, and reducing the score for a passing course grade from 60 to 50. Oh, and they also want guaranteed jobs upon graduation. Think you'll be retaining the services of an Omani physician, architect or engineer anytime soon?

The most astonishing part of it all is that Omanis already live a stunningly privileged life, supported by the country's oil reserves. Salaries may be low by Western standards-- about the same as in Taiwan or South Korea-- but the social sevices offered are lavish and there's no income tax. This is the only country I've seen where a taxi driver or store clerk can have a comfortable life-- including a big house and a couple of cars-- with five or more children, and maybe multiple wives.

But the oil is already diminishing, and will run out completely in forty years at most. A country that turns out substandard scientists, scholars and workers won't find another source of wealth anytime soon. The wakeup call, when it comes, is going to be a harsh one.

One Reason Why the Middle East Isn't China

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 01:02:32 -0500

I've been away for many months now, mainly for personal reasons. I'm back.

In response to the regime-toppling protests in Egypt, China's government recently banned internet seaches of the county's name. No more reseach on the pharaohs or the pyramids, kids! Presumably Bahrain, where protesters have stood their ground and won in pitched battles with the police, and Lybia, now descending into civil war and anarchy, are next on the forbidden list.

While this may seem laughable, it does point out the very real, paranoid fear that China's masters have of their own people. It also got me thinking about the relative success of China's authoritarian style of oppression, and why it hasn't yet collapsed of its own unsubtle absurdity. While I don't want to ignore other factors, much of it comes down to the simple fact of scale.

China's vastness, while itself contributing to ethnic untrest, is also an asset to the dictatorship. In the abscence of a free flow of information, people are separated by both space and their very numbers. What percentage of the billion Chinese people know what really happened in 1989 in Tianenmen Square? How many know anything about the latest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize? How many have actually discussed politics with a Uigher, a Tibetan or a Taiwanese?

Bahrain is a city-state with about 600,000 citizens (who are the primary participants in the protests), and about an equal number of foreign workers. Just imagine Chinese-style massacres, heavy-handed censorship and torture taking place and then being successfully hushed up in a sovereign, independent Milwaukee or Nashville. Likely it would be your father who was shot, your best friend who was tortured, your sister who disappeared-- and your cousin making the arrests and doing the torturing. It can't be sustained, not for long.

Bahrain is an extreme example, but not an unreasonable one. Even larger Arab nations like Jordan, Algeria and Tunisia have quite small populations. In the region, only Turkey, Iran and Egypt are large and populous enough to make effective suppression of information possible.

Of course, one could argue that intimidation and terror are sufficient tools for a tyranny, even when everyone knows what's happening. Look at the last half of the 20th century in Albania. Look at Burma. That's true, but only has long as the facade of power doesn't show any serious cracks or ever admit defeat. Across the Arab world, the cracks are now obvious and spreading. Even if this round of protests is temporarily quashed, old resentments have been irreparably deepened and the people have seen their power. They'll be back.

Equality at Last!

Tue, 5 Jul 2011 05:07:11 -0400

This July 4th, despite the discoraging news at home and from abroad, despite a failing economy and the triumph of shameless, naked greed, despite three wars and and more on the way, despite our land's seeming irreversible slide into oligarchic oppression, we have one bit of good news worthy of celebration.

New York has granted the right of mariage to same-sex couples. This, coming on the heels of the military's repudiation of its absurd "don't ask, don't tell" policy, may indicate that all is not lost, that the USA is, however shakily, still fumbling its awkward way toward equality. And there's still more the be thankful for...

Those lucky same-sex lovebirds can also celebrate the fact that they, like their heterosexual fellow-citizens, can have their most intimate e-mails and phone calls monitored and recorded by law-enforcement agencies, without need of warrant.

And when the they and their loved ones travel by air to celebrate the long-deferred nuptuals, they, their spouses and family members, regardless of sexual orientation, are equally subject to electronic and physical strip searches, gropings, and other humiliations, all in the name of keeping this great nation secure. And if the newly empowered gay man or woman has any remotely questionable political affiliations or activist history, he or she has the common, equal right to have his or her computer, iPhone, or other electonic device inspected, its private information copied, and even the now-universally enjoyed right to have the device seized and impounded, perhaps indefinitely.

Like other citizens, these proud gay and lesbian Americans can look forward to the possibility, however hypothetical, of indefinite detention at one of the nation's state-of-the-art facilities offering "enhanced interrogation," and prolonged solitary confinement. And, like their straight American brethren, a very special few may even be singled out, by the President Himself, for the rare distinction of being targeted for extra-legal assassination.

The hearts of all my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, particularly those already serving in the military, are no doubt swelling with long-deserved pride at this moment. Rejoice! The door to full and equal 21st-century Americanhood is open at last!

One Day, All this Will be Nothing but Memory

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:11:12 -0500

My sons sitting in a sunlit window, a few days before I write these words, the first really cool day of the year. A half-eaten banana in the older boy's hand, the little one looking up at his brother with--what? A new expression, maybe a new feeling? One not quite like any I'd seen before. Both boys wonderfully themselves, wonderfully unaware of their father and his camera.

One day, all this will be nothing but memory. This is the sadness of photography, that it reminds us of this fact, even before moment is over. The click of the shutter is the snick of a lock, a door closed forever.

What else is there? Outside the window, a blurred mass of trees, a high-rise construction project. Inside, was there music? A stray fly buzzing? A lingering smell of eggs from breakfast? I can't say; it's gone already.

Very soon, all this will be nothing but memory. And later, not even memory. My wife was out that day, in class. My sons won't remember. They're too young, and, even if they were older, there's no reason. It's not a birthday, a wedding, a funeral, a tragedy or a celebration. Just a day like any other, a banana like any other, a typical morning in early autumn in Taipei. When I and my memory are gone at last, there will be only this image, this surface, indecipherable even to the boys it pictures.

It's not that I will die--everyone dies-- but that this particular moment, this exact sunlight, this unexpected cool air, this moment in the life of these boys, that all this should die with me-- that's what is unbearable. And so I go on shooting photos. What else can I do?

A Men's Room Story with no Republicans Involved

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:11:43 -0500

A couple of weeks ago, while walking with my 6-month-old son, my peanut-sized bladder made its needs known. Fortunately, I was passing a local park, and Taipei provides excellent toilet facilities in such places.

It was the usual setup--a few toilet stalls, a bank of uninals. I parked Julian's stroller by the sinks, within sight, and took the stance of relief. During the rather lengthy process, a young man in a smart business suit took a urinal between me and my son; at the same time I heard a tentative cry. I leaned back a bit and said, "Mei shi, baba kan ni!" (Don't worry, daddy sees you!)

I think the fellow jumped about half a vertical foot.

I'm happy to see that my Mandarin is improving.