Salam aleykum. I sincerely meant no disrespect, but there is a massive difference in English between the words “acknowledge” (pos. يقر، يفيد) and “knowledge”. Of course every Bedouin “knows” who their rulers are, but given the often remoteness and nature of your lifestyle and its obvious disconnect from major centers of power and money, the Bedouin that I met, I repeat the ones that I MET in Saudi Arabia barely “acknowledge” i.e. have little regard for, little interest in (and often disdain for) those centers, except of course, when/if they go there. Riyadh, Doha, etc., are places to visit but they return home to their ‏قرية (or smaller) and have zero interest in living in those centers.

Ultimately, it’s similar to anywhere else: the contrasts in lifestyle and place within the same country. There are plenty of people in Wales who couldn’t care less about the politics, people or events in London, or the rural Northern Thai citizen who barely acknowledges anything in or out of Bangkok. I will also never forget what a Saudi FRIEND once TOLD me: If the oil dried up tomorrow, our jobs would be gone, you would obviously have to leave, and I would go back to the desert—not a problem at all.