NEOM NIGHTMARE: Member Of Saudi Psychopathic Ruling Class Announces New Smart City To Be Built In The Desert
Here I present my analysis of NEOM, a new smart city project. Research resources will also be listed throughout.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently announced an ambitious plan to build a half trillion dollar Mega-Smart-City. The city is named NEOM.
I’d like to dig into the details of this plan and give my take on why it, and other projects of this nature, are a net loss to human liberty.
Before I get into the details from the NEOM website, I’d like to share one of the overarching concepts that Smart Cities fall under. The concept is technocracy. What is technocracy?
From wikipedia
Technocracy is a system of governance where decision-makers are selected on the basis of technological knowledge. Scientists, engineers, technologists, or experts in any field, would compose the governing body, instead of elected representatives.
In short, it’s rule by so-called experts; a scientific dictatorship. Toss personal liberty and free will out the window! You can’t argue with the experts in such a dystopia!
Let’s start by taking a look at some of the details regarding NEOM, straight from its official website.
The city will be self-governing and will geographically be located mostly in Northwestern Saudi Arabia, but also occupy parts of Egypt and Jordan.
It will utilize autonomous vehicles and drones, as well as artificial intelligence and the internet of things.
Will offer what they call “high quality education”.
NEOM will also…
Provide its residents with comfortable living conditions set within an idyllic society that promotes inclusion and encourages personal growth and lives by world-class social norms.
Government “services” will be fully automated.
A number of concerns arise just from this brief look at NEOM. First of all, Saudi Arabia has some of the most tyrannical laws in the world and one of the most corrupt and absolute regimes. One has to wonder how much influence the authoritarian psychopaths calling themselves Saudi royalty will have on the laws and regulations in NEOM. Let’s take a brief look at what I’m referring to.
From
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/saudi-arabia/local-laws-and-customs
It is forbidden to eat, drink or smoke in public during daylight hours during the month of Ramadan. The law is strictly enforced.
The public practice of any form of religion other than Islam is illegal.
Islamic codes of behaviour and dress are strictly enforced. Women should wear conservative, loose-fitting clothes as well as a full length cloak (abaya) and a headscarf. Men should not wear shorts in public.
Penalties for the possession of, or trade in alcohol are severe. Both result in prison sentences. Do not arrive in Saudi Arabia under the influence of alcohol.
If you bring medication with you, carry a doctor’s prescription. Importing pork products is forbidden. The possession of pornographic material, or of illustrations of scantily dressed people, especially women, is prohibited. Electronic devices may be screened by customs officials on arrival and departure.
The punishment for smuggling drugs includes the death penalty.
Photographing government buildings, military installations, and palaces is not allowed. You should avoid photographing local people. Binoculars should not be brought into Saudi Arabia and may be confiscated at the port of entry.
UNLESS YOU’RE PART OF THE RULING CLASS
From
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/07/wikileaks-cables-saudi-princes-parties
In what may prove a particularly incendiary cable, US diplomats describe a world of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll behind the official pieties of Saudi Arabian royalty.
Jeddah consulate officials described an underground Halloween party, thrown last year by a member of the royal family, which broke all the country's Islamic taboos. Liquor and prostitutes were present in abundance, according to leaked dispatches, behind the heavily-guarded villa gates.
Moving on…..
What role will AI play?
According to this article from the Washington Times
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/oct/24/saudi-arabias-new-city-neom-mecca-robots/
“Robots,” said Marc Raibert, the CEO of Boston Dynamics, to the conference crowd, “could perform a variety of functions, covering areas such as security, logistics, home deliveries and even looking after the elderly and infirm.”
The big red flag for me is the “security” part. As if dealing with robotic, ignorant, order-following cops in the current paradigm isn’t bad enough, can you imagine what a cold feeling it will be to confront a robot that runs strictly on logic and efficiency? Not just that, but who will be programming these robots?
Next let’s tackle the internet of things. For those not familiar, the internet of things is.....
(definition from Wikipedia)
The Internet of things (IoT) is the network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances, and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity which enable these objects to connect and exchange data.
The excuse given for such technologies is to use resources efficiently for “sustainable development”. What it sounds like to me, and I’m not alone, is an Orwellian nightmare. Or maybe a NEOMian nightmare?
How is this a negative for liberty? Number one, it means no privacy. Just ask James Clapper.
From
“In the future, intelligence services might use the [internet of things] for identification, surveillance, monitoring, location tracking, and targeting for recruitment, or to gain access to networks or user credentials,” Clapper said.
Strike two against liberty is that living in a city like this takes away an individual’s ability to use the natural resources in their environment as they see fit. This is a gross violation of Natural Law (the law of liberty).
Another interesting nugget to note in this area is that Saudi Arabia recently granted citizenship, for the first time ever in the world, to a robot.
From
The kingdom of Saudi Arabia officially granted citizenship to the humanoid robot (Sophia) last week during a program at the Future Investment Initiative, a summit that links deep-pocketed Saudis with inventors hoping to shape the future.
Moving on to the subject of education. The NEOM website states that high education will be provided for residents. But will it be required? Will home education be illegal? To top it off, what they call “education” will actually be indoctrination, as all government run schools are.
On the subject of the claim that NEOM’s social norms will “promote inclusion”……
As noted above, if the laws in NEOM are anything even faintly resembling the current situation in Saudi Arabia, then that is a far cry from “inclusive”. Unless your definition of “inclusive” is “tyrannical”.
I’d like to state that the biggest concerns I have with a city like NEOM aren’t specifically aimed at NEOM just by itself. In the bigger picture, the trend is to build new “Smart Cities” and to transform current cities into “Smart Cities”. Here are some questions to ponder in regards to daily life in a Smart City.
Will biometrics be required? Will a social credit system, similar to what the Chinese are doing right now, be integrated in daily life? Will resources be rationed? Will I be allowed to have a garden? Can I own anything? Will vaccinations be mandatory? Will self-directed learning be an option, or will government indoctrination camps be the only “legal” option? What will security run by robots and drones look like?
As always, I try to answer these questions through the lens of liberty. From what I know of the current ruling class, I think it’s a safe bet to say that these smart cities will be detrimental to freedom, and only automatons will survive in them.
I’d like to close this article with a few quotes from former members of the managerial class. The first is from Charles Galton Darwin’s book “The Next Million Years”. The quote is in regards to life in the city.
“Civilization has taught man how to live in dense crowds, and by that very fact those crowds are likely ultimately to constitute a majority of the world’s population. Already there are many who prefer this crowded life, but there are others who do not, and these will gradually be eliminated. Life in the crowded conditions of cities has many unattractive features, but in the long run these may be overcome, not so much by altering them, but simply by changing the human race into liking them.”
The next two quotes are from Jacques Ellul’s book “The Technological Society”.
"No technique is possible when men are free. … Technique requires predictability and, no less, exactness of prediction. It is necessary, then, that technique prevail over the human being. … The individual must be fashioned by techniques … in order to wipe out the blots his personal determination introduces into the perfect design of the organization."
True technique will know how to maintain the illusion of liberty, choice, and individuality; but these will have been carefully calculated so that they will be integrated into the mathematical reality merely as appearances!
Other sources for this article
http://discoverneom.com/content/pdfs/NEOM_FACT_SHEET_RGB_100073132_LDN.pdf
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jacques_Ellul#The_Technological_Society_.281954.29
https://webbrain.com/brainpage/brain/D36749F1-3A40-09FA-957F-41294B88CB70#-1758
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technocracy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neom
http://www.wired.co.uk/article/chinese-government-social-credit-score-privacy-invasion
Top image is from wikimedia commons.
Questions and comments are welcomed with relish.
Thanks for your time and attention!
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STOPI think the NEOM city will be far better than the current Suadi environment. Let it be. Liberty is in choosing to live there or not moving to the new city.
The only concern is, how would NEOM be different despite all the technolog
Good points. Yes, at this time, it's voluntary to live in such a place. However, the trend is to make more cities with features similar to NEOM. In the near future, the choice might disappear. That's my main concern.