An Emirati man has taken vanity to a disgusting extreme — spending $5 million for a plate with the number 1 on it. For the vast majority of people struggling to feed their families, the auction price is obscene. Yet for local businessman, Arif Ahmad Al Zarouni, it was just something that he had to have as a matter of pride.
Zarouni explained that “I attended the license plate auction only to win number 1. My ambition is always to be number 1.” Of course, he could have had the ambition to use $5 million to hire hundreds of teachers or create a medical clinic but some people set their goals quite low in life.
Other buyers paid out huge sums for plates reading 333, 777, 2016, 99999, and other notable numbers. What is even more notable is that Zarouni got a bargain at $5 million in comparison to the sale of plate number 1 in Dubai for $14 million.
It seems to me that generally being shallow is what is characterized by most of the native born people of the GCC countries. Even the clerics are shallow. Maybe it has something to do with the environment?
Of course, a bunch of Americans commenting about how greedy arabs/Muslims are. Meanwhile, millions are starving/homeless in the richest nation on the planet. Those greedy Muslims.
I recall that yesterday the photo of the tenthead guy had him holding a plate with numeral: 1. What happened?
I wholeheartedly agree with Ralph @1:23 am. These crude, uneducated Bedouins–obscenely wealthy because they were lucky enough to have ancestors park their camels and tents over vast amounts of oil–should not be mistaken with those individuals who have, via their wits, wisdom and hard work, accumulated wealth and fortune. It’s a mistake to confuse the enormous wealth and fortune, showered upon these desert Bedouins, with any semblance of intelligence or humanitarianism. There’s a reason why Muslims, in parts of the Arab world, with access to seemingly unending resources and unlimited funding, fail to invent and/or produce anything of any substance. People may say what they wish about the Donald Trumps in the West, but those same individuals often donate millions to various charities, medical research facilities and institutions of higher learning. The Arab billionaires merely spend their loot on high-priced whores and license plates, never dreaming of creating or producing anything of any substance or value.
Jonathan:
I think you missed an important point. By paying a high price for the license plate, he failed to spend it on food and other things poor people need. That lack of competition for those things tends to reduce their price, which is good for the poor.
It seems to me that if you want to help the poor by making consumption cheaper, you should advocate for rich people not consuming what the poor need.
Elton you crack me up… “My s___ don’t stink!” In America these can be easily found in country clubs, church groups and of course in the Republicon Party. We had them in the Democratic Party.
The Dems have a fair share of the same club: Pelosi, Clintons, Obama…the list can go on and on.
Yeah, these Bidet Bedouins own F-16s. That’s right F-16s.
“Some of the most mysterious things are facts clearly stated”.
Lisette Model
The problem is the wealthy sand creatures* can afford expensive weapons to defend themselves against their citizenry.
$5million for a license plate doesn’t bother me.
This does:
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-the-uae-is-the-middle-easts-rising-military-power-2014-11
* use this definition incase clarity of my words are needed:”a fictional or imaginary being, typically a frightening one”
It would appear to me the $5 million is going to the state. It is nothing more than a tax. Do you want the rich to pay tax or not?
He really got rooked because the plate says number 233 not number 1.
I have never understood vanity plates. But they are a voluntary tax, so let it be.
Please, professor and the Muslim haters. What was a bigger waste of money, that license plate which would likely be a business write off in the US, or paying good money for Trump U enrollment?
If you paid $5 million for Toys.com then that would be ok in the good ols USA?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_domain_names How many children would the cost of defense waste feed:
Or maybe this is a better way to feed the children, US style: The mystery began the moment a telephone bidder bought Francis Bacon’s triptych “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” for $142.4 million at Christie’s New York.
With $8.5 Trillion Unaccounted for, Why Should Congress Increase the Defense Budget? | The Fiscal Times http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/03/19/85-Trillion-Unaccounted-Should-Congress-Increase-Defense-Budget
Grabbing the number 1 license plate for the highest bid is good old American capitalism. Am I right?
Ralph Adamo’s comment above is spot on.
I will add another observation about humanity. In each culture, cult, society, tribe, there is a certain type of human who wants to be in the elite category of not having their feces stink. “My s___ don’t stink!” In America these can be easily found in country clubs, church groups and of course in the Republicon Party. We had them in the Democratic Party. FDR was a “cross over” from the Republican side of TR. The Kennedy family is a fine example. They now have a foundation which does all they can to glorify the Kennedy name. Same with the Bush family. Your s_ _ t won’t stink whether you reside in Kennybuncport, Massachusetts or Midland, Texas.
If you REALLY want to study vanity and insanity together, DONALD is your man!
It sounds like a stupid thing to spend that much money on, the question in my mind is where the money went. If it was a bribe to an official of their DMV equivalent, then it’s bad. If it goes into the government’s coffers, doesn’t it just augment their tax collections presumably for the well-being of the citizenry – at least to the same extent as any other funds their government collects?
Zarouni’s just a typical Muslim. He could care less about bettering the world in any shape or form. That is why no Muslim has won a Nobel Prize in science, medicine, or economics — the real Nobel Prizes — in decades, even though they represent more than 25% of the population. They create nothing, invent nothing, and do nothing for humanity. Many of the Muslim billionaires and multimillionaires spend loads of money funding terrorism. They are strictly a cult of the 4Ds: death, destruction, depravity, and deception. So call his purchase of the license plate an act of depravity. That only would make him proud.
If Mr Z wants it and can afford it, what is the harm?? Everything is relative, and this $5 million price tag may be minuscule as against his total net worth. I am sure that he is not depriving his family of their other required necessities in order to indulge himself with his desired # 1 tag, and that he will put his new tag on a vehicle worthy of such an honor. DMD