This is the problem with having a king, all it takes is one moron and you destroy your country.
Anyone could have told you his genius ideas like “turn a city into a thin line across desert/mountains” were the stupidest thing anyone had ever said. But you can’t tell him because he’s the king and he’ll kill you.
I’m going to be pedantic and point out the titular role of “king” in the UK is now ceremonial, and only harkens back to historical absolute rulers. Still, even from modern a political standpoint, the definition of a king is typically defined as an autocratic position, with absolute rule the de facto function.
The British monarchy has far more powers than is commonly thought, even if they are held in reserve.
And they also get to exempt themselves from laws they don't like, like racial discrimination laws (well into the 1970s, brown and black people were deemed unfit for anything more exalted than cleaning toiletsat Buckingham Palace). Or the Cornish or Lancastrian tenants of the crown who have far fewer protections than any others in the UK.
I worked on this project for a little under a year and it was fractally stupid. The top-level concepts are stupid, but so are the details. The whole thing has a cyberpunk aesthetic because that’s what MBS likes. The ski resort has a dam that’s made out of failure modes because that was the only way to combine that aesthetic with the requirement that the lake be able to host international rowing events. One day we had to work out how to freeze the lake over because MBS liked a render someone made of people ice skating on the lake. And so on.
Perhaps he was trying to get line of sight into the desert by building the line...
Fun fact, MBS is a big fan of Age of Empires 2 and plays it in the mornings. Also funny story, I once saw a match being played, around US night time, where one player built a line of houses into the enemy territory so that the opponent was forced to micro their soldiers manually. Think of that what you may.
Insane how the plans dove straight into being so grand and expensive.
The location itself is kinda decent for development. It could've been pretty feasible if the plan was to pump desalled water up the mountains and let it flow down like rivers through smaller developments, while pumping out water laterally for irrigation.
Could've slowly greened their side of the Red Sea, hooked themselves up with a bridge to Sharm (and onwards to Cairo I believe with Egypt's HSR plans), built a few marinas, resorts, and stuff, and become quite a popular destination for a fraction of the cost.
Didn't they have a whole plan for processing the brine into concrete for development, too?
The plans were kind of nuts. There have been some successful developments in that part of the world, Dubai being the best known. El Gouna is also nice in a more modest way.
> enjoyed the close to unanimous support domestically
That’s what Russian propaganda wants you to believe. And I see no reasons to trust it. Assessing public opinion in an autocracy is from hard to impossible - people afraid to tell what they think and they have good reasons for this.
It's definitely not unanimous support in reality. Maybe majority support but I remember the meetings when Putin launched the thing and most people in attendance looking horrified but scared to say anything.
The UAE is also an absolute monarchy and a police state to boot, but unlike Saudi Arabia they are very efficiently run, and rank better than Israel on the Transparency International corruption index.
The greatest achievement of renewable energy will not be averting climate disaster, as people are going to screw up the planet regardless, but rather making retarded arab countries irrelevant
Personally I feel exactly the same - these peoples simply do not have, in average, the intelligence required to deal with such amounts of wealth and power.
Personally I feel exactly the same - these peoples simply do not have, on average, the intelligence required to deal with such amounts of wealth and power.
They would still have trillions invested across EU and US, if their relevance bothers you then you should direct your anger at the leaders and voters who made them as relevant.
Those investments are paying for the generous welfare states that keep GCC countries populations pacified. End that and you could end up like Egypt or Syria, a population even more prone to radicalization and even streaming towards Europe in migration waves. That is not in anyone's interest.
The oil might "just" run out, either way it was obvious to everyone that natural resource-based wealth won't last forever, just like in that Sheikh Rashid quote from around 1988:
"My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I ride a Mercedes, my son rides a Land Rover, and my grandson is going to ride a Land Rover…but my great-grandson is going to have to ride a camel again"
Keep laundering some of it via the PIF to mobile gaming companies?
Keep getting inundated with Monopoly Go / Scopely ads because McDonald's is funneling money back up the chain for McDonalds Monopoly. It's that time of year again!
Mhm ... The voters... What about the deep pockets ? :
• Donald Trump's Top Individual Donors: Trump's primary financial backers include major multi-millionaire and billionaire donors such as Miriam Adelson ($148 million supporting pro-Trump and Republican efforts), Elon Musk ($260 million total political giving), Timothy Mellon ($172 million), and Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein ($143 million).
• Trump Super PAC Support: Donald Trump's main outside support group, MAGA Inc., held over $304 million, with massive contributions from donors like the Schwarzman family ($5 million to MAGA Inc.) and Greg and Anna Brockman ($25 million to MAGA Inc.).
• AIPAC and Pro-Israel Lobby Role: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and its affiliated super PAC, the United Democracy Project, operate separately and raise tens of millions. Latest analysis uncovered >$230 MILLION in spending by pro-Israel interest groups benefiting President Donald Trump since 2020. Miriam Adelson's Preserve America PAC is by far the biggest spender, pouring $215 million+ into U.S. presidential elections to help Trump.
Oct 16 is way past primaries, and $1.25M was pocket change in 2016. The voters chose Trump and the voters made him a viable candidate in the primaries. The money and institutional backing came afterwards.
A lot of candidates use money to get the votes. Trump’s message, unfortunately, resonated with a lot of voters so he was able to use the votes to get the money.
>Trump has spent much of the race so far breaking the mould of a traditional campaign, defeating a crowded field of primary opponents who vastly outspent him in ads and staff.
>During the Republican primary race, he often told his supporters not to contribute money and ridiculed opponents for accepting cash from special interest groups and wealthy contributors.
>He has so far showed little interest in calling donors to ask for money for his general election battle. He only began holding in-person fundraisers in late May.
Little thug who took power through brute force then thought he could bully the world like he bullied people all around him his whole life. Too bad the spot is already taken by the Don.
Imagine a whole country of nepo babies ruled by a nepo-baby hierarchy and nepo-baby ruler.
There are 25,000 princes and princesses. Forty percent of the population are imported workers who do all the hard work. Citizens work in government or government-owned companies, with good job security, good wages, and short hours. Low- and middle-income families also receive monthly cash transfers through the Citizen’s Account Program.
42 comments
[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 9.8 ms ] threadAnyone could have told you his genius ideas like “turn a city into a thin line across desert/mountains” were the stupidest thing anyone had ever said. But you can’t tell him because he’s the king and he’ll kill you.
And they also get to exempt themselves from laws they don't like, like racial discrimination laws (well into the 1970s, brown and black people were deemed unfit for anything more exalted than cleaning toiletsat Buckingham Palace). Or the Cornish or Lancastrian tenants of the crown who have far fewer protections than any others in the UK.
Fun fact, MBS is a big fan of Age of Empires 2 and plays it in the mornings. Also funny story, I once saw a match being played, around US night time, where one player built a line of houses into the enemy territory so that the opponent was forced to micro their soldiers manually. Think of that what you may.
"Let's exit one of the largest and most powerful economic and diplomatic unions"
"Let's give away control over our country to real estate agents"
There have been strong stupidest vibes all over in the recent years.
The location itself is kinda decent for development. It could've been pretty feasible if the plan was to pump desalled water up the mountains and let it flow down like rivers through smaller developments, while pumping out water laterally for irrigation.
Could've slowly greened their side of the Red Sea, hooked themselves up with a bridge to Sharm (and onwards to Cairo I believe with Egypt's HSR plans), built a few marinas, resorts, and stuff, and become quite a popular destination for a fraction of the cost.
Didn't they have a whole plan for processing the brine into concrete for development, too?
Someone called Putin started 100× worse war and enjoyed the close to unanimous support domestically.
Someone committed genocide in Palestine who cannot not be voted down.
I think I really don't see any better political systems.
That’s what Russian propaganda wants you to believe. And I see no reasons to trust it. Assessing public opinion in an autocracy is from hard to impossible - people afraid to tell what they think and they have good reasons for this.
Keep getting inundated with Monopoly Go / Scopely ads because McDonald's is funneling money back up the chain for McDonalds Monopoly. It's that time of year again!
Coz this is the result of ideological subversion on the saudis and the other GCC countries since 1933...
This whole thing culminated when MBS suddenly packed his family in that hotel about 15 years ago...
You guys have to understand that the people that put people like Trump in power are also the same ones that pull the strings in the middle east...
Stop looking at things in vacuum...
Here is a short history lesson for the interested : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Lvv1f5Qu4
I am always happy to spread the comedic brilliance of Trevor Moore R.I.P.
Here is another history lesson i like : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-mEDPlJHEM
The average racist/sexist American voter?
• Donald Trump's Top Individual Donors: Trump's primary financial backers include major multi-millionaire and billionaire donors such as Miriam Adelson ($148 million supporting pro-Trump and Republican efforts), Elon Musk ($260 million total political giving), Timothy Mellon ($172 million), and Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein ($143 million).
• Trump Super PAC Support: Donald Trump's main outside support group, MAGA Inc., held over $304 million, with massive contributions from donors like the Schwarzman family ($5 million to MAGA Inc.) and Greg and Anna Brockman ($25 million to MAGA Inc.).
• AIPAC and Pro-Israel Lobby Role: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and its affiliated super PAC, the United Democracy Project, operate separately and raise tens of millions. Latest analysis uncovered >$230 MILLION in spending by pro-Israel interest groups benefiting President Donald Trump since 2020. Miriam Adelson's Preserve America PAC is by far the biggest spender, pouring $215 million+ into U.S. presidential elections to help Trump.
Look at the date and the name.
A lot of candidates use money to get the votes. Trump’s message, unfortunately, resonated with a lot of voters so he was able to use the votes to get the money.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/19/us/politics/robert-mercer...
https://www.reuters.com/article/world/trump-shrugs-off-campa...
>Trump has spent much of the race so far breaking the mould of a traditional campaign, defeating a crowded field of primary opponents who vastly outspent him in ads and staff.
>During the Republican primary race, he often told his supporters not to contribute money and ridiculed opponents for accepting cash from special interest groups and wealthy contributors.
>He has so far showed little interest in calling donors to ask for money for his general election battle. He only began holding in-person fundraisers in late May.
There are 25,000 princes and princesses. Forty percent of the population are imported workers who do all the hard work. Citizens work in government or government-owned companies, with good job security, good wages, and short hours. Low- and middle-income families also receive monthly cash transfers through the Citizen’s Account Program.