[aruanan]

For this reason, Arab countries either have poorly maintained infrastructure and equipment (including military stuff), or import a lot of foreigners, possessing the right attitudes, to maintain everything. That minority of Arabs who do have the right attitude towards maintenance and personal responsibility are considered odd, but useful.

This attitude made it into Latin American culture (que sera, sera) through the Moorish occupation of Spain. I know of one guy who was a mechanic in the Dominican Republic who was always thought strange for keeping the machines in his care in daily maintenance.

[muawiyah]

Medieval Spain saw the origination of the world's first true industrial workforce ~ they are called Jews ~ they are still around. Some even have surnames that are readily understood in Ladino as being trade names, e.g. Schmidlapp (which has many spellings, means "sheet maker", that is, one who makes paper. Then there's "Bookbinder", a rather famous name in Jewish culture. And so on.

For a variety of reasons Isabella and Ferdinand thought it best that they convert or be expelled. Kind of like telling NASA's engineering teams to become Scientologists to keep their jobs.

Spain and Spanish culture and its derivatives haven't been the same since.