This was fascinating to read and really absorbing. I was initially taken by that apocalyptic idea of Dubai as a vision of our future and of the shopper as the emblem of humanity as the "end of history." Forgive me for being a gadfly -- I know Substack prefers sunny support to critical questions -- but I'm wondering about how well Dubai represents the rest of the world? Particularly in the claims this line are beginning to make: "The feeling is that this is what the future looks like—what the world is tilting towards: harshly capitalistic, authoritarian, deeply unequal, deeply unfree, but everything working smoothly." Man, that is a seductive line. But does it map onto the U.S.? We presently have an investigation of Trump, possible indictment -- pretty clear resistance to authoritarianism. Iowa and Florida are beginning to feel dangerously unfree. But I'm not sure this is true in Pennsylvania, where I live. Maybe the real power lies in the warning?
This was fascinating to read and really absorbing. I was initially taken by that apocalyptic idea of Dubai as a vision of our future and of the shopper as the emblem of humanity as the "end of history." Forgive me for being a gadfly -- I know Substack prefers sunny support to critical questions -- but I'm wondering about how well Dubai represents the rest of the world? Particularly in the claims this line are beginning to make: "The feeling is that this is what the future looks like—what the world is tilting towards: harshly capitalistic, authoritarian, deeply unequal, deeply unfree, but everything working smoothly." Man, that is a seductive line. But does it map onto the U.S.? We presently have an investigation of Trump, possible indictment -- pretty clear resistance to authoritarianism. Iowa and Florida are beginning to feel dangerously unfree. But I'm not sure this is true in Pennsylvania, where I live. Maybe the real power lies in the warning?