And I couldn’t agree more, also with the notion that “at least the people will benefit.” Material conditions are- perhaps not everything, but they are the foundation upon which everything can be built upon. Admittedly, much of the same logic is something I’ve come to understand- after much cringe, western-idealizing “freedom and democracy and liberal values” behavior (thankfully at least, years past- perhaps half a decade past) myself, in regards to my own birthplace and where my family is from, Singapore (though I was raised in, and presently live in the west), another deeply imperfect nation with many similarities to the gulf states in its position within the present world system.
As someone who lived and worked in the US. I don’t know how anyone does it while also having school debt. The healthcare debt alone was too much. Only after living and working in the US that I came to realize all this advertisement about “freedom and democracy and liberal values” is meaningless if you are stressing about things you shouldn’t stress about, like medical bills. I understand many countries in Western Europe are better on this but you still have to pay taxes.
Pretty much, you can’t eat “freedom.” “Freedom” can’t provide shelter, or dignified and equal treatment as a human being, or medical care, or other necessities of life. The west celebrates negative freedoms, a series of hypotheticals that ultimately all hinge upon the completely neglected material conditions for their empowerment- the rich and poor alike have the “freedom” to march on the street as open Nazis, the “freedom” to hike rents, exploit laborers, and engage in all kinds of corruption and cruelty as they please (and can afford), the “freedom” of choosing to sleep under a bridge (and be removed by cops exercising capital’s “freedom” in turn to remove “eyesores” or to sleep in mansion.
What substance there is to the genuine western “freedoms” (as someone who is trans, and a racial minority, etc) is ephemeral, treated as an easily-revoked privilege rather than fact. Just table scraps, fought over (with said fights, demagoguery, divisions, culture wars being instigated and set aflame by the state and all the pillars of capital) as the foundations of actual human sustenance and all freedoms are stolen from under our feet.
Maybe most other cultures may be “socially backwards” in many aspects, and/or less permissive- or rather, most are. But once again, it is the material conditions (which the west has destroyed across the globe) upon which real progress is built- and frankly if you ask me, within decades if even that no one with sense will be able to claim societies like China are less “free,” less socially developed than the west (rather the opposite); given enough time (albeit much more, as the west has strategically promoted Islamism and reactionary monarchies over secular government in the region and those scars will last a long time), I think the same can even probably be said of the Gulf states or even Iran, if things continue as-is. Because these societies are not built upon exploiting the divisions, at least certainly not to any extent comparable to that of the west; because these societies do actually focus on uplifting the material conditions of their people (from which the social uplifting in other ways can then thrive); because these societies, flawed as they (and all societies) are, still have an understanding of a basic human dignity to be maintained, even if that understanding all too often only extends to their own citizenry; because these societies, for all that they have played a role within the imperialist world system, are not generally speaking directly imperialist (not in any comparable sense, anyways) themselves, but rather are indigenous and have built themselves up of their own merits and production, and do not face the same contradictions like that of the west.
As someone who lived and worked in the US. I don’t know how anyone does it while also having school debt. The healthcare debt alone was too much. Only after living and working in the US that I came to realize all this advertisement about “freedom and democracy and liberal values” is meaningless if you are stressing about things you shouldn’t stress about, like medical bills. I understand many countries in Western Europe are better on this but you still have to pay taxes.
Pretty much, you can’t eat “freedom.” “Freedom” can’t provide shelter, or dignified and equal treatment as a human being, or medical care, or other necessities of life. The west celebrates negative freedoms, a series of hypotheticals that ultimately all hinge upon the completely neglected material conditions for their empowerment- the rich and poor alike have the “freedom” to march on the street as open Nazis, the “freedom” to hike rents, exploit laborers, and engage in all kinds of corruption and cruelty as they please (and can afford), the “freedom” of choosing to sleep under a bridge (and be removed by cops exercising capital’s “freedom” in turn to remove “eyesores” or to sleep in mansion.
What substance there is to the genuine western “freedoms” (as someone who is trans, and a racial minority, etc) is ephemeral, treated as an easily-revoked privilege rather than fact. Just table scraps, fought over (with said fights, demagoguery, divisions, culture wars being instigated and set aflame by the state and all the pillars of capital) as the foundations of actual human sustenance and all freedoms are stolen from under our feet.
Maybe most other cultures may be “socially backwards” in many aspects, and/or less permissive- or rather, most are. But once again, it is the material conditions (which the west has destroyed across the globe) upon which real progress is built- and frankly if you ask me, within decades if even that no one with sense will be able to claim societies like China are less “free,” less socially developed than the west (rather the opposite); given enough time (albeit much more, as the west has strategically promoted Islamism and reactionary monarchies over secular government in the region and those scars will last a long time), I think the same can even probably be said of the Gulf states or even Iran, if things continue as-is. Because these societies are not built upon exploiting the divisions, at least certainly not to any extent comparable to that of the west; because these societies do actually focus on uplifting the material conditions of their people (from which the social uplifting in other ways can then thrive); because these societies, flawed as they (and all societies) are, still have an understanding of a basic human dignity to be maintained, even if that understanding all too often only extends to their own citizenry; because these societies, for all that they have played a role within the imperialist world system, are not generally speaking directly imperialist (not in any comparable sense, anyways) themselves, but rather are indigenous and have built themselves up of their own merits and production, and do not face the same contradictions like that of the west.