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When I lived in DC I would hang out with my neighbor from Saudi who grew up in international schools and spoke perfect English with an NYC accent. Nice guy, very Snow Crash timeline vibe. I got to hear a little about what it's like over there.
He pointed out that there are a lot of American engineers who move there to make bank for a few years, then go home. Mormons do especially well-- the lifestyle is a little closer to Saudi defaults, and the mission trips instill confidence with living abroad.
As a Westerner, it's understood that you're outside of the system, and no one's going to mess with you as long as you don't mess with them.
You're not going to stand on a street corner with a sandwich board yelling about Muhammad (pbuh) and nine year olds.
But if you want to rent out a basketball gym on Sunday mornings and hold a suitably discreet church service, no one's going to narc on you either.
But if you want to rent out a basketball gym on Sunday mornings and hold a suitably discreet church service, no one's going to narc on you either.
Similarly you're not going to crack open a cold one in a cafe, but if you want to make a weekend beer run to Bahrain no one's going to stop you.
In other words, the Saudi system makes allowances, both official and unofficial but stably iterated, for people who are in but not of it.
I had these conversations years ago, but I notice myself mentally referring to these ideas with increasing frequency at work now: "I am a foreigner here. I will not needlessly disturb their religious system, but neither do I wish to be implicated in it."
In Saudi, there could be a certain dignity in understanding that you live as a guest in a strange land, at the pleasure of the king.
There could be common knowledge that you don't believe that there's any special significance in bowing towards Mecca, but also that you aren't going to distribute pamphlets or interrupt evening prayers with an airhorn. And if that was tolerable for you, you'd be fine.
By contrast, the prevailing cultural trend towards "bringing one's whole self to work" really means "bringing a very specific self to work".
After my first brush with HR in Woke Capital (over, of all things, discussing Infinite Jest in the water cooler slack channel), I asked whether it would not be easier to simply draw up a list of approved opinions and have everyone either sign it or agree not to contradict it.
People got REALLY MAD about that.
Multicultural empires aren't that weird, world-historically. In fact it's almost the definition of an empire (as opposed to a nation).
But it is pretty weird to have a multicultural society without explicit recognition of this fact. Usually you have some kind of millet system.
But it is pretty weird to have a multicultural society without explicit recognition of this fact. Usually you have some kind of millet system.
Which makes a bit of sense if you think of cultures as bundles of social technologies (consensus-making, conflict resolution, use of force, family structure, &c.) instead of superficial aesthetic features (costumes, foods, dances) that you can arbitrarily reskin.
Islam, having formed in multicultural ancient Arabia (viz. Christians, Jews, Sabians, pagans, &c.) had baked-in interfaces for dealing with people outside Islam. Jizya was tough but fair, and you could at least predict and plan around it.
A lot of people in tech are paying de facto jizya now, but with the odd wrinkle that it is unilateral-- there is no official cognizance of it.
For example, it may be the case that leading a team now requires you to positively affirm an entire system of thought about how the world is and ought to be. If you're not up for that, simply don't be a manager.
(and sure, dealing with any large organization will always require a degree of tolerance of hypocrisy, but this is the difference between sloshing around knee-deep and planting neck-deep upside down.)
Most mature multicultural systems evolved over centuries, and died out if they did not achieve some minimum compatibility with human flourishing.
Ours is roughly fifty five years old.
Ours is roughly fifty five years old.
I will be curious to see how this new system evolves.
Meanwhile, working in tech has given me some appreciation for the relative intellectual freedom of the Islamic world, especially in those countries where it finds its purest expression.
Meanwhile, working in tech has given me some appreciation for the relative intellectual freedom of the Islamic world, especially in those countries where it finds its purest expression.
