Discussion»Statements»Rosie's Corner» What would the Saudis be without their OIL and extreme wealth? Just another Muslim country worth crap right? What's the US worth? WHY?
Don't underestimate Saudi Arabia. It is well aware its oil will run out once day, and is planning ahead for that. I don't know what they have in mind - tourism is one but I can't see that being a big money-spinner for them.
A thought just occurred to me Durdle. Why are there countries where the men dress like women in flowing robes? For that matter why do priests wear flowing garments? What is that supposed to signify? Do you have any idea? When women first started wearing trousers or jeans (I think Katharine Hepburn was among the first to do that) it was scandalous! When did you ever hear of men wearing flowing robes be considered scandalous? Another double standard? That's really not material to your point but it seems so odd to me that a man who ordered the torture murder beheading dismemberment of a target wears flowing robes and head scarves. Weird. I'm going to ask. As for you point when do you think they will run out of oil? Are there any stats on that? They could go into the "hit man" business. The world can engage them as murderers beheaders dismemberers. It's a living! Thank you for your reply! :)
Those countries don't see men's robes as cross-dressing, but as a traditional answer to their hot climates - not only in the Middle East but also parts of Asia too, and worn by the Ancient Greeks.
Clothes have nothing to do with judicial traditions; but robes have long been a symbol among the judiciary and clergy. For the latter, it might reflect the religions' Middle Eastern origins; but I think it's more a matter of simple ceremonial wear. They are anyway worn over ordinary trousers.
Trousers for men are really associated with cooler latitudes, but I don't known how the tradition of trousers for men and dresses for women arose. The scandal around Katherine Hepburn wearing trousers is from Western, and possibly more especially USA, social norms; but women had worn trousers at times elsewhere from quite early in the 20C when doing something for which a skirt was impracticable.
I do not know if Saudi Arabia has published their expected oil reserves. It might be in their interests not to do so.
Wearing long robes in hot climates makes no sense to me Durdle. The lighter and less voluminous the clothing the cooler you are. No? I know that modesty plays a role in it of course. Thank you for your thoughtful and informative reply. How clothing styles/norms developed is kinda interesting. I know early on they used animal hides/skin/fur. I don't know when weaving was born or the use of cotton or how they made yard out of that crop. How things begin is of endless mystery. Who figured out what to do with coffee beans or cocoa beans to make a product from them that was not only palatable but enjoyable? How many iterations of trial and error did it take to get there to a hot cup of cocoa, chocolate ice cream or coffee that many of us drink every morning? :)
Well, you've answered your first sentence in the second. Those robes, and Asian saris, are light, and being loose-fitting helps ventilation. I don't know what they do nowadays but in the past, I doubt anyone wore anything more than perhaps a loin-cloth under them.
I doubt anyone knows who discovered or invented those things you mention, nor how, but once trading over long distances developed the ideas would have spread. What is certain is that practical skills go back for thousands of years, as do artistic tastes. For example, it was not long after the discovery that you can make useful storage vessels by working clay then firing it at high temperature, that those pioneering potters started considering aesthetic form and decoration as well as function, and the style of some of those Neolithic - Bronze Age pots would not look out of place coming from a modern art pottery.
I think coffee was more widely drunk than tea for a long time; certainly in the Middle East and parts of Asia. Mainly black too, probably, in hot countries where milk is scarce and rapidly sours. (I've no idea why chain coffee-bars call plain coffee "Americano", as it's no more American than it is Italian.)
An amusing aspect of tea was that when traders started bringing it to England in the 18C (I think, certainly 19C) it did not occur to them to ask their suppliers, how to make the beverage from the dried leaves. Consequently, their own customers for this new but very expensive, imported delicacy had to work it out for themselves. As well as discovering that the water needs to be boiling when added to the leaves, they found eventually that it's rather more pleasant to drink the infusion and discard the soggy tea-leaves, than vice-versa!
(An old favourite fruit-cake recipe I have involves steeping the fruit overnight in a quantity of tea. Naturally, I make more tea than the recipe calls for, and naturally have to drink it.)
Excuse me. But that seems to me to make any country powerful.
I think they should not be ashamed of their wealth. I don't know what the government is like in Arabia. I don't know how horrid it is, or even if it is all that horrid.
Don't know. MONEY makes countries better if it is in the right hands. Money helps us not have countries like Ethiopia. We need rich countries everywhere. Democratic countries. Not countries that try to keep it all in TRUMPLAND.
Durdle 