For example, most all national statistics focus on less than 33% of the country’s actual population. I.e., National statistics of any kind in Kuwait generally reflect only persons with a Kuwaiti citizenship.
These roughly 900,000 people (Kuwaiti citizens) out of over 3 million residents greatly skew the reality on the ground in Kuwait in terms of reliably measuring and observing poverty–or describe poverty in absolute or relative terms.
Furthermore, both the ghettoization of living space and work space also somewhat makes imaging poverty obscured from the reality or presence of the average student and researcher in sociology as well.
For example, Kuwait, as a social welfare state, on behalf of its citizens “collects 95% of its income from oil revenues”. This same rentier state has “a budgeted surplus of $23 billion or $23,000 for every Kuwaiti man women, and child. The trade surplus has doubled to $40billion. There are assets of $213 billion in reserves.”
Therefore, theoretically, “Kuwaiti citizens could live on the [current] income from the Reserve Fund for Future Generations at $20,000 per capita indefinitely.” This is a socialist’s dream economy!
However, Kuwait in reality may be interesting, but it is not the living dream of socialist values in many facets.
Olson notes that he has time-and-again met Kuwaiti students who on-the-face of it deny all the facts and realities of poverty around them and who adamantly claim poverty does not exist in Kuwait.
Olson remarks, “However, to the outside observer, student statements about poverty’s non-existence will seem ludicrous.”
“A drive through some sections of Kuwait will reveal crowded, often dilapidated structures, junk cars and dumpsters teaming with refuse.” Olson extrapolates, “These areas house the expatriate laborers from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Philippines and other parts of Middle East and Asian.”
Most workers are so underpaid that many of their own governments are now holding back on permitting their citizens to work in Gulf states, such as Kuwait, until current laws are better enforced or legislation is developed to protect labor.
For example, India has temporarily stopped allowing many of its citizens to travel to the Gulf until better standard minimum contracts are negotiated for the thousands of maids in the petroleum rich countries of the Gulf. Some maids work 80 hours a week for as little as 100 to 120 dollars a month in Kuwait.
India’s Minister of Overseas Affairs, Vayalar Ravi, has recently noted that maids are the most exploited group of the many exploited laborers in the Gulf. The minister is cited as claiming that there are “frequent complaints of harassment, overwork and low wages from female domestic workers.”
Apparently, according to the Indian ministry, maids are not even covered by many Gulf government’s labor legislation at all.
Meanwhile, the presence of over 2 million foreign workers who do 88% of the work in the private sector of Kuwait are not only ignored in terms of statistics and labor protection, but they are also often blamed for inflation and other evils in the country.
Worse still is the faceless-ness of their presence, and, therefore, the faceless-ness of their poverty in wealthy Kuwait.
Olson notes that foreigners, to a degree, have themselves to blame for keeping themselves off the radar of the average Kuwaiti--who as well appears to do his best to ignore the foreigner’s existence.
These roughly 900,000 people (Kuwaiti citizens) out of over 3 million residents greatly skew the reality on the ground in Kuwait in terms of reliably measuring and observing poverty–or describe poverty in absolute or relative terms.
Furthermore, both the ghettoization of living space and work space also somewhat makes imaging poverty obscured from the reality or presence of the average student and researcher in sociology as well.
For example, Kuwait, as a social welfare state, on behalf of its citizens “collects 95% of its income from oil revenues”. This same rentier state has “a budgeted surplus of $23 billion or $23,000 for every Kuwaiti man women, and child. The trade surplus has doubled to $40billion. There are assets of $213 billion in reserves.”
However, Kuwait in reality may be interesting, but it is not the living dream of socialist values in many facets.
Olson notes that he has time-and-again met Kuwaiti students who on-the-face of it deny all the facts and realities of poverty around them and who adamantly claim poverty does not exist in Kuwait.
Olson remarks, “However, to the outside observer, student statements about poverty’s non-existence will seem ludicrous.”
“A drive through some sections of Kuwait will reveal crowded, often dilapidated structures, junk cars and dumpsters teaming with refuse.” Olson extrapolates, “These areas house the expatriate laborers from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Philippines and other parts of Middle East and Asian.”
Most workers are so underpaid that many of their own governments are now holding back on permitting their citizens to work in Gulf states, such as Kuwait, until current laws are better enforced or legislation is developed to protect labor.
For example, India has temporarily stopped allowing many of its citizens to travel to the Gulf until better standard minimum contracts are negotiated for the thousands of maids in the petroleum rich countries of the Gulf. Some maids work 80 hours a week for as little as 100 to 120 dollars a month in Kuwait.
India’s Minister of Overseas Affairs, Vayalar Ravi, has recently noted that maids are the most exploited group of the many exploited laborers in the Gulf. The minister is cited as claiming that there are “frequent complaints of harassment, overwork and low wages from female domestic workers.”
Apparently, according to the Indian ministry, maids are not even covered by many Gulf government’s labor legislation at all.
Meanwhile, the presence of over 2 million foreign workers who do 88% of the work in the private sector of Kuwait are not only ignored in terms of statistics and labor protection, but they are also often blamed for inflation and other evils in the country.
Worse still is the faceless-ness of their presence, and, therefore, the faceless-ness of their poverty in wealthy Kuwait.
Olson notes that foreigners, to a degree, have themselves to blame for keeping themselves off the radar of the average Kuwaiti--who as well appears to do his best to ignore the foreigner’s existence.
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