Inheritance/Emirati-Miracle

One thing that really gets on my nerves is the nerrrve of Malians always asking for their share. Whenever I go out of village, people are always asking me to bring them a gift. Whenever I come back, people are always asking for their gift. Where does this sense of entitlement come from? If I ever asked that after the age of 10, I think my mom would've slapped me. It's just rude to ask, at least from a Western perspective. But, a recent conversation I had sparked a new way to think about this.

Although I still find it rude, the African nations are owed a lot. I mean, this entire continent has been (and still is) ripped off and so many others have made their riches off of a land that doesn't belong to them. Very few Africans have benefited from the many riches this land has, but why only a few?

I know that there are many different reasons as to why. I mean, the same situation has happened to many other indigenous people taken over by colonization, but I couldn't help but notice that the Emirates stand out. How did they escape being robbed by the British?

The Emiratis are a small nation, and 40 years ago, the United Emirates didn't even exist. They were a migrant culture. They moved with the sands, ate dates, rode camels and lived in tents. Now, they take vacations to Austria, eat anything they want, drive Bentleys and live in mansions. And although the Emiratis are only 20 percent of the population, they are the biggest shareholders of their oil dynasty. How in the world did this small nation, with very few educated people, outwit the British?

The British had found the oil in the Emirates and they told the people, brought in drilling equipment, took their share, and they left. Luckily for the Emiratis, colonization wasn't looked upon very kindly in the 60's and they flourished. But, how did they protect themselves from being taken advantage of? They have written in their law that no non-Emirati can be head of any governmental position, and any business venture must have an Emirati partner, that's how. The Emirati's have their hands on all operating powers in their country.

When I learned all of this, I felt so proud of them for learning to protect themselves from theives. I only wish that some of the African nations had had this luck too.