Comments - Reflections on Oman - by Will Manidis - Minutes
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Reflections on Oman
I spent 10 days in Oman in December. Read →
9 Comments
Top first
What happens when the oil runs out?
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Feb 22Edited
The Omanis predominantly follow a third branch of Islam, Ibadism, that’s neither Sunni nor Shia. It’s intellectually rigorous and strict about personal morality, but socially very quiet, tolerant, and focused on peace. This might have something to do with the path they’ve chosen.
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This was interesting - from the outside it seems that his father made a strong impression on him. Qaboos bin Said seems to have found that balance between the future he envisioned for his country, and the past that he watched his father protect so fiercely (if not slightly misguidedly).
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Feb 19Edited
Money + foresight + taste + unlimited power - sometimes it goes ok.
Also, I'd add that the restrictions he put in place are in many ways less burdensome than what we see in the huge tracts of single-family-only homes in the US.
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I only worry about the U.S. and Americans will do everything wrong until finding the right thing to do. Nor would they accept a leader such as you describe or a governance. Hopefully, we blunder into the proper future.
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The issue is that the West, or at least America, doesn't have a mechanism for the "unrepeatable will." In America specifically, power is diffused into bureaus across multiple levels of federalized government. There can be no unrepeatable will, for better or worse we named that tyranny long ago.
There is a possible exception in the deep blue and deep red states, where individual leaders can remake a party apparatus which will likely maintain power for a few decades. The organs of state on a federal level switch hands too often to maintain the type of vision that enables weaving between Shenzhen and Athens. But the Party can, if it cares to.
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Fascinating piece. During my time in the Arab World, I saw for the first time how people could live under an authoritarian dictatorship or monarchy, a structure so fundamentally different than what I knew through my “Americanness”. As long as a dictator kept up their end of the social contract, providing security and prosperity, the average man is willing to stomach authoritarianism or even prefers it. Oman has stood out as an example where this kind of political system is functional when the head of state is genuinely competent and well-advised.
I’m looking forward to Oman’s future of preserving its heritage as a foil to other GCC monarchies.
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Athens staggeringly beautiful? Well a few parts but most of it is Tehran (as in the series that was actually shot in Athens)
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Excellent piece, having spent in time in both Shenzen and Oman, I appreciated your perspectives on both, including the concept of deleting itself.
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