I attended the Louvre in Abu Dhabi and was reminded of a sorrowful admission. The dismissiveness of culture is rampant in modern society. In a global landscape where there is a palpable shepherding of the masses towards solely focusing on making money, society has lost its grasp on connecting with all that is around us. Forming a bond with the tools, the spaces, and the creative possibilities at our disposal. Instead, we are looking for the lazy, less fulfilling route as opposed to one that takes a little longer but is far more rewarding. We would prefer to generate images, paintings, and drawings instead of investing in those who are skilled at creating them. As a result, we are abandoning authenticity derived from people and thus dispensing with the agency, the voices, and the talents that are linked to significant cultural ties.

If we take a look at businesses today, very few, if any, are investing in cultural institutions and entities. They are missing out on an opportunity to make more money. For instance, e&, the leading tech and telecom company in the UAE, has at its disposal potential avenues to be associated with the Louvre in Abu Dhabi, the Mohammed bin Rashid Library in Dubai, the Dubai Opera, and other cultural institutions for the purposes of driving economic growth, brand visibility, and all that jazz. They don’t see it because culture is off the radar in the mindset of money-driven makers.

I find it astonishing that I must spend some time reminding everyone of the value and importance of culture. The disintegration of society through their laziness, low-level capitalist urgency, and the immediacy with which they desire to accomplish their baby-limited capitalistic urges is crippling humanity. By baby-limited and low-level capitalism, I am naturally referring to the tunnel vision definition of modern-day capitalism based on the ideology of the 3 Fs: fame, fortune, and fornication.

People are still not using the tools, whether AI or not, correctly. There needs to be a sharp turn to reframing what we are about as individuals and to understanding where we are headed as a society. If we all agree, because total compliance and movement are impossible without putting it to a democratic vote, that we don’t need culture or don’t want it, then by all means, let us resume our present course.

Should we prefer to keep culture, then let’s embed it in our daily lives and champion those who wish to create, who know how to cultivate, and who understand how to nourish. So that those who have limitations when it comes to creation can feel stimulated mentally, provoked emotionally, and moved to create as well. That is the definition of art. Without a mind and heart attraction, plus giving people the will to create, it is not art but purely for the purposes of making a quick buck.

I am not opposed to money-making. I love what money can bring and offer, but it’s not seeing the light of day in our cultural institutions and initiatives. Nowhere near enough. That’s due to our poorly articulated definitions of democracy, capitalism, education, and all the high concepts that are faltering and failing society. I encourage the thinkers and the doers to meet, discuss, implement, meet again, discuss some more, and re-implement until we get it right.

By getting it right, I mean helping people realize what they are about and how we are walking as a society. Yes, it does take a lot of effort, but what else would you rather be doing? Something less profound and meaningful? Sure, there’s plenty of time to take breaks, but we should never stop working on what is fundamentally important. We have to live with ourselves, and we have to live amongst each other. It is vital that we sort out these two questions: What am I about? How am I walking? Before we can march alongside each other towards the Home of Peace.

The problem with thinkers is that their pessimism prevents them from doing, and the issue with the doers is that they might start off performing in an accurate and meaningful way but get lost on the path. Whereby they don’t realize that at a certain point, what they are doing is ultimately meaningless. Which is why it is important for people to think and do, and not one or the other. It’s about one and the other. I would venture that with all the money in my pockets and all the money in your pockets, you prefer to lead a meaningful existence should one be presented to you.

Then what are we doing, and why are we waiting? Don’t you recognize that all of us are suffocating? Whether we have a permanent residency in the Four Seasons Hotel or live in a box with a balcony, we are all suffering. Let us go then, you and I, where the evening is stretched out against the sky like a patient etherized upon a table. Let us go make our visit, talk, and act. It’s enough!