I've been thinking a lot about freedom lately, and what it means in the West today. The freedom to take to the streets and take a stand, the freedom to express one's view, even if it offends others. The freedom to travel, even to leave one’s country and a find a new home, as I’m easily able to do, while so many others facing great hardship or mortal danger are not.
“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” former US president Donald Trump said during his debate this month with Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, referring to Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.
The moderators refuted the claim, but it was too late. Within days, bomb threats led to the evacuation of Springfield City Hall, two elementary schools and the motor vehicle agency. Haitians faced harassment; several cars were vandalised and some considered leaving.
How it happened may be instructive. Just over a year ago, 11-year-old Aiden Clark was thrown from his school bus and died after the unlicenced Haitian driver of a minivan veered into oncoming traffic. The incident unsettled blue-collar Springfield, sparking angry rhetoric about the 20,000 Haitians who had settled in the area since 2020.
The anger had receded by July, when Mr Trump named JD Vance as his running mate. But the US senator from Ohio soon sought to revive it. Blaming Haitians for bringing disease and increasing housing prices and crime, he portrayed them as a Biden administration failure. He said Aiden Clark had been “murdered by a Haitian migrant” and repeated false claims that Haitians had stolen and eaten local pets.
The Haitians are legally authorised to work in the US and Springfield-born Ohio Governor Mike DeWine says they have helped revitalise the town. Aiden Clark’s father told the Springfield town council that his son had been accidentally killed. “Don’t spin this towards hate,” he urged, tears streaming down his face. Hours later, Mr Trump delivered his cats and dogs line.
This echoes the origin of the recent UK riots. In late July, three young girls were killed in a knife attack on a dance class in Southport. A false news report that the suspect in custody was Muslim soon spread like wildfire, prompting locals to take to the streets and inspiring a broad wave of anti-Muslim demonstrations and assaults.
Similarly, in Dublin last year, a near-deadly knife attack on children sparked almost unprecedented rioting, and shouts of “Get them out”, after reports that the main suspect was an immigrant. In all three cases, the death or near-death of a child plus the spread of migrant-linked misinformation spurred anger and retribution.
Mining legitimate, deep-seated frustrations among mainly working-class voters, the anti-migrant far right appears to have built an online infrastructure that’s able to whip up and direct considerable animosity at the flip of a switch. A crucial element, as my colleague Gavin Esler recently pointed out, is the “prominent public figures who add fuel to the fire”.
Former British home secretary Suella Braverman argued in an opinion piece in The Times early this year that Islamists had taken control of the country. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on X on the weekend that all migrants who enter the country illegally will be deported, a policy that sounds logistically impossible.
It’s not hard to imagine AI-driven social media algorithms feeding us a stream of extremist hate, spurring catastrophic polarisation
X owner Elon Musk approved of Ms Meloni’s stance. He has also shared falsehoods about the recent UK riots and signalled agreement with the great replacement theory, which imagines migrants repopulating and gaining control of western nations. This may explain why Brazil has blocked access to X and the EU’s chief digital officer recently urged Mr Musk to mitigate the amplification of harmful content.
In response, Mr Vance called for the US to pull out of Nato if the EU blocked X. “We are in a type of global war when it comes to freedom of speech,” Russell Brand posted last week on X. Whatever you think of the unruly British actor-turned-right-wing-pundit, he’s got a point.
Online and across the West, two competing versions of free speech are engaged in a dark, bloody battle for supremacy. One side, with its so-called cancel culture, seeks to silence those who might offend with the wrong phrase or insinuation.
The other is all about being able to say whatever one likes, even if it’s hate-filled or untrue. “If I have to create stories so the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people,” Mr Vance said last week, “then that’s what I’m going to do.”
This idea – that as long as you seek to protect the homeland you need not worry about inciting chaos or adhering to the truth – seems to be the dividing line. Mr Musk, who controls one of the world’s largest public forums, has expressed support for the Trumpian view, yet some who might gain from it have begun to push back.
Mr Trump’s tall tales about pet-eating migrants are a missed opportunity for Republicans to highlight the real outrages of mass migration, a prominent conservative pundit, Batya Ungar-Sargon, recently argued. Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook recently banned RT and other Russian-run media outlets for peddling disinformation.
“As a supporter of former President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance,” Governor DeWine wrote last week in The New York Times, “I am saddened by how they and others continue to repeat claims that lack evidence and disparage the legal migrants in Springfield.”
The problem with such claims is not, or not only, that they are anti-migrant. Politicians in the US and beyond may at some point have good reason to curb immigration. Perhaps new arrivals are depressing wages or taking too many jobs, increasing local hardship.
The real problem is that this rhetoric keeps politicians and the public from taking a close look at immigration, finding real trouble spots and developing solutions. Instead, the deceptions mainly spread fear and hate. Following the recent riots, for instance, the share of UK Muslims who are very worried about their safety is up four-fold.
Real freedom involves transparency with information, encouraging discussion and, when needed, correction. Controlling information and the narrative in an attempt to generate a specific response, on the other hand, strikes me as a curb on freedom.
Going down that road, it’s not hard to imagine AI-driven social media algorithms feeding us a stream of extremist hate, spurring catastrophic polarisation. That may even be the goal, just look at Springfield and Southport.
Is that the type of freedom the western world prefers?
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Have you been targeted?
Tuan Phan of SimplyFI.org lists five signs you have been mis-sold to:
1. Your pension fund has been placed inside an offshore insurance wrapper with a hefty upfront commission.
2. The money has been transferred into a structured note. These products have high upfront, recurring commission and should never be in a pension account.
3. You have also been sold investment funds with an upfront initial charge of around 5 per cent. ETFs, for example, have no upfront charges.
4. The adviser charges a 1 per cent charge for managing your assets. They are being paid for doing nothing. They have already claimed massive amounts in hidden upfront commission.
5. Total annual management cost for your pension account is 2 per cent or more, including platform, underlying fund and advice charges.
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Recipe
Garlicky shrimp in olive oil
Gambas Al Ajillo
Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
180ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 to 5 large cloves of garlic, minced or pureed (or 3 to 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped); 1 or 2 small hot red chillies, dried (or ¼ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes); 400g raw prawns, deveined, heads removed and tails left intact; a generous splash of sweet chilli vinegar; sea salt flakes for seasoning; a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Method
▶ Heat the oil in a terracotta dish or frying pan. Once the oil is sizzling hot, add the garlic and chilli, stirring continuously for about 10 seconds until golden and aromatic.
▶ Add a splash of sweet chilli vinegar and as it vigorously simmers, releasing perfumed aromas, add the prawns and cook, stirring a few times.
▶ Once the prawns turn pink, after 1 or 2 minutes of cooking, remove from the heat and season with sea salt flakes.
▶ Once the prawns are cool enough to eat, scatter with parsley and serve with small forks or toothpicks as the perfect sharing starter. Finish off with crusty bread to soak up all that flavour-infused olive oil.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Super Saturday race card
4pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 | US$350,000 | (Dirt) | 1,200m
4.35pm: Al Bastakiya Listed | $300,000 | (D) | 1,900m
5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 | $350,000 | (Turf) | 1,200m
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 | $350,000 | (D) | 1,600m
6.20pm: Dubai City of Gold Group 2 | $300,000 | (T) | 2,410m
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 Group 1 | $600,000 | (D) | 2,000m
7.30pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 | $400,000 | (T) | 1,800m
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