Westerners brought alien values to Kuwait, seducing the youth with provocative music, unseemly fashions and drug addiction, Tabtabai said. During the occupation, he added, Kuwaitis learned they could sweep their own streets, fix their own cars, make their own dinner. Now they have again lost their taste for work, and we have to rely on foreigners in our midst to do everything for us. To cope with 15,000 university graduates a year, officials maintain full employment by creating pointless state jobs. About 94 percent of Kuwaitis work for the government, and salaries absorb half the budget.
Liberals disagree on the details but argue along similar lines.
Naibari campaigns against what he says is officially condoned graft that costs Kuwait billions each year. He says corruption now extends to petty functionaries who demand money for basic services. Conflicting forces have created a singular society. On a Thursday night in Salmiya, young men cruise the malls in their Ferraris and BMW convertibles, California style. Behind fancy fountains and atriums, all the luxury lines are on display, Gucci hard by Tiffany.