A Cup of Paradox

In Animal Farm, Orson Wells famously wrote “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” For me, this paradox underlines the moral challenge I faced in traveling to Qatar to cheer on Team Canada in the World Cup. A tournament in a nation whose citizens rapidly and recently transitioned from relatively impoverished to excessively wealthy, but a nation that lacks meaningful equality in any of its forms. Worse, experiencing Qatar was like hanging with the tech-bro of nation states: wildly but newly wealthy, overcompensating, and entitled. To be one of only 300,000 Qatari citizens is to be “more equal” than all others. It means to have substantial wealth, to have substantially more rights, and few responsibilities.

At the same time, Qatar is a coming together of kind, generous, curious, industrious people from around the world. I met them in cafés, barber shops, hotels and more, and enjoyed every encounter. But this large majority of 2.5 million Qatari residents will never be welcomed as citizens of Qatar or have remotely the same rights. Qatar chased the World Cup and invested hundreds of billions in hosting to improve its reputation and to stand with established nations as equals. But in its distinct lack of equality, in its homophobic outlawing rainbows, and in disregarding the health, wellbeing, and human rights of non-Qatari, I left feeling Qatar has a very long way to go, conflicted about my experience, and in no hurry to return.