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.
Can happen in democracies just as much.
And it's working... somewhat. Less well than I'd like, and less well than it did in Trump's first term, but he is at least somewhat restrained by the system.
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.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Trump_-_...
And I hate to use that overused analogy, but in WW2, after the initial success of Hitler with the Blitzkrieg, there was not much criticism of him anymore (unlike popular believe, he was not a absolute Dictator but under serious pressure at various points). That only started again after they began loosing.
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.
Read any government document from almost any department and the language for citizen has become customer. Language matters, I’m not a customer, but no one cares.
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.
"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.
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!
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
Nov 2017, 9 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...
The average racist/sexist American voter? No one “put” Trump in power except voters, he was the outside candidate that unexpectedly won.
• 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.
Maybe the misunderstanding is about my first message - when I said “these peoples” I meant Arab countries, not this Salman whatever guy.
"These people" very often codes for racism. "Arab countries" (as opposed to "Muslim countries") usually means countries inhabited by Arabs - and especially in a post that is talking about Saudi Arabia!
Look, you may not be a racist. I hope you aren't. But a racist could have written the exact same post, and then used "not a race" as a motte-and-bailey defense of their veiled racism.
So, at a minimum, be aware that the way you are writing is giving off that vibe.
