David Rauschenbach

Simon Black recently recommended a book to his readers titled Emergency, by Neil Strauss. The recommendation was this:

“Neil tells an important story that we are all completely dependent on a functioning system of complex infrastructure.

We don't think about, for example, whether or not the lights will turn [on] when we flip the switch. We don't think about whether or not water will come out of the faucet, if the toilet will flush, if the grocery store down the road has food in stock, or if the gas station will be pumping fuel tomorrow. We take these things for granted... Emergency tells Neil's story about making this realization, ...”

I call this coming to one's senses, which happened to me at some point.

And as complex as the issue is, I think it can be reduced to a single question: “What is the ideal place to live?”. The relevance might not seem apparent on the surface, but bear with me.

In 2008, Synchronica acquired Axis Mobile, and sent me to Israel to check out the goods. Synchronica does business in Dubai, and in other places where mobile phones are sold and used, and it was explained to me that if I ever had to enter Dubai, I'd now require a second passport, because Dubai mistreats, harasses, delays, or detains those with an Israeli stamp in their passport. Does that sound like a business trip you want to take?

Notice that I did not say that Dubai cares whether you have travelled to Israel. If that were the case, second passports would not exist, and commerce would soon stop at ALL borders, worldwide, which is called protectionism, or nation-state suicide.