Thinking of the Future

This morning I posted an entry in my personal blog about what the ideal candidate should have in terms of skill-sets and qualities, and later on, it hit me…perceptions differ from one voter to another.

Ours is a very traditionalist-oriented society, one that find comfort in repeating the usual practices of ‘doing the same thing’, including supporting the usual candidate. But we live in an unusual period in our lifetime right now.

POINT: Iran, our close neighbor, is already future-proofed it’s economy, by employing an alternative source of energy, which also doubles as a military deterrent as a force multiplier to its large army.

POINT: Saudi Arabia has realized that extremist movements like ‘The Promotion of Virtue & Prevention of Vice’ is a threat to its society and government, and has already defanged it, and revamped its educational system.

POINT: Qatar, with it’s newly-discovered natural gas resources, is taking slow steps to exploit its primary natural resource, while reaping every penny from its revenue towards economic and infrastructural development.

POINT: China, Japan, the EU, and others among the world’s strongest economies, have recently announced drastic measures to save what’s left of their economies.

POINT: Globalisation has rendered traditional classroom lectures and tests wholly useless, and as a result, many colleges and universities are now providing their curriculum and coursework online!

POINT: With so many university graduates looking for highly paid jobs, job placement is scarce…and I’m referring to the world all over, not just Kuwait!

POINT: We are an Oil-producing and exporting country, but we still don’t have a specialized Petroleum Studies College that can produce the Kuwaiti labour needed for self-sufficiency in this critical and strategic sector – Abu Dhabi has a highly reputable one called The Petroleum Institute!

What we need to do is dare to think outside the confines of our traditionalist ways, and encourage other to do so as well. We need to shed the light on these critical issues, and highlight them as cornerstones of our demands as a people from our government, through the candidates who possess the qualities that would enable them to voice our demands properly and accurately. We need to dare to believe in actual change in our hearts before we demand it of others.

Call me a Liberal, but like it or not, this is what will save and secure our country’s future.

A blind, ignorant belief in faith is not enough (I dare to say so!) to deliver us from the evils of this world, and neither is the struggle to implement this faith from within a political agenda, nor is the support of those who strive for it. If one studies history, one would realize that it was the concept of ‘practicality’ – not just faith – that had delivered Europe from Facist and Stalinist ideologies, or be closer to home, saved the Middle East from Mongol domination.

Back to the present, and in closing, and also to complement my earlier post, whoever can address these issues, and is able to provide practical solutions to address them within 5-7 years can be sure of my vote!

4 thoughts on “Thinking of the Future

  1. Aggressor, really excellent work, a very astute analysis of democracy vs Gulf/Arab traditionalism. I wholeheartedly agree, Kuwait is still not really in ‘globalization’ mode the way Qatar and the other Gulf states are (building technologically Western advanced universities wired to the world etc). There is much to be done in Kuwait, but we need a real timetable, a vision to implement ideas.
    I am enjoying this new feature of HILALIYA, so many great writers (with differing viewpoints) talking about Kuwait (in English!) This blog is now #1 on my feed wire. Well done guys!

  2. I will call you a Liberal and I mean it as a compliment, not an insult.. I hope you will one day be proud to call yourself a Liberal

  3. I am and will always be one of those people who’ll be described as a liberal. I’m infact proud of the fact that people think of me as one, however people like me (we are few and far between …. but we do exist) have spent far too much time and effort trying to understand and influence society in their given field and have only met with neglect and ignorance making me and others the types of people who are unmotivated, dumbed down and the kinds of people who will do nothing more than the bear minimum because they know anything else will just be a waste of their time.
    So the problem we have in this country has nothing to do with politics, our schools, google style management (blekh) or building a new centre for something old.
    We need to change the way we think, we need to become more mature, to be able to understand what it means to be part of a society and the responsibilities it comes with.
    might have been the most sensible thing I’ve said all week….. bunch of four year olds I have to put up with ……

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