71–80 of 356 posts
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Ah yes, cultural relativism! Justifying barbaric behaviour since, well, the Barbarians.
Well, that is what I mean: some people divide the world to "civilized" and "barbaric" and anything that does not fit their world view must be barbaric of course.
As a Bay Area native who moved to Abu Dhabi / Dubai roughly four years ago, I have a lot of issues with the way the UAE is portrayed across sites like Hacker News and Reddit. A lot of them are in the comments for this story, focusing on all the negatives of the country, structural racism, human rights abuse, etc and we certainly have a right to raise these things (of which I actively fight against here every day). Th…
Funny how what would be extremely backward and illegal beliefs in the west just become "complicated" once huge amounts of money are involved.
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You wax poetically about UAE (mostly emotion, little fact), then remind the reader that it is an Islamic dictatorship. Why would any intelligent person ever set foot there? I'd lose over half of my current rights as it stands.
It's easy to think you have a lot of rights until you try to do something unpopular with them. I left the west for somewhere where I have a lot fewer rights on paper, but I feel so much freer now, no longer constantly worrying about what the mob thinks of everything I say. I won't defend the UAE, but the level of freedom you have in actual daily life is surprisingly disconnected from what's written in a constitution…
Nonsense argument. Lacks details and specifics.
> I left the west for somewhere where I have a lot fewer rights on paper, but I feel so much freer now, no longer constantly worrying about what the mob thinks of everything I say.
That's where you fucked up: Caring about what [random] people think about you. Also I would love to know what country you feel more free in. For some reason I suspect this will not be answered.
> I won't defend the UAE, but the level of freedom you have in actual daily life is surprisingly disconnected from what's written in a constitution or what the government is doing.
More blah blah blah nonsense. Examples, give them. I have numerous freedoms I exercise daily (speech, worship, association, ownership of war weapons).
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Does the same apply to America? Plenty of racism, people shot in their homes by police, Guantanamo Bay still open.
I really think an educational program is needed to take people from the US to visit some non-western countries with "human rights issues" and see what this actually looks like for a bit to cure this kind of whataboutism deflections that crop up anytime criticisms are made of conditions for people in foreign countries.
I'm sure once they come to Dubai they'll be horrified how the streets aren't covered in human shit and used needles.
1. Almost all of the labour comes from India and Pakistan. The native population is very small. So Dubai is an international city really, and it can't stop being one. The upkeep of everything they built is extremely labour intensive. If the immigrants went away the city would disintegrate back into sand within a few years.
2. The amount of wealth concentrated in such a tiny spot, with no military to protect it, is probably not sustainable. Just judging by the amount of effort that went into protecting castles in Europe. This place will get raided eventually.
3. Only the wealthiest of the wealthy can afford a home with a backyard in Dubai. So if you have one, appreciate it.
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Saudi Arabia is considerably worse on every aspect, it just gets even less press.
Totally correct. It's a North Korea with oil, and welfare programs, and, now, rave parties* * https://youtu.be/8PBz9yaPksM
One of many reasons that I will never enter the UAE. There is no rule of law, and so no protection if anyone decides to charge you for anything. I've read of women being raped and then being charged for reporting it which essentially admits sex outside of marriage, or of foreigners who get driven into by a local and then charged as if they were the ones being reckless. That's not even going into their de facto slaver…
>There is no rule of law In San Francisco if someone walks into your shop and steals less than $950 worth of goods there's pretty much nothing you can do about it; is that rule of law?
Rule of law basically means laws apply to everyone the same.
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I've been to Dubai, and other parts of the UAE, a few times. It can be enjoyable for short durations, but I am not sure I'd want to live there long term. I am not saying the things you mentioned do not happen, but they're not as overly apparent as they are in some other parts of the Middle East, or China. The heat though, yeah, that's a thing. When you have air conditioned bus stops, it's a different level.
Of course it’s enjoyable for brief tourist/business visits, you’ve got literal slaves attending to you.
One of many reasons that I will never enter the UAE. There is no rule of law, and so no protection if anyone decides to charge you for anything. I've read of women being raped and then being charged for reporting it which essentially admits sex outside of marriage, or of foreigners who get driven into by a local and then charged as if they were the ones being reckless. That's not even going into their de facto slaver…
>There is no rule of law In San Francisco if someone walks into your shop and steals less than $950 worth of goods there's pretty much nothing you can do about it; is that rule of law?
In other places you have no such thing and, trust me, things are much worse.
One of many reasons that I will never enter the UAE. There is no rule of law, and so no protection if anyone decides to charge you for anything. I've read of women being raped and then being charged for reporting it which essentially admits sex outside of marriage, or of foreigners who get driven into by a local and then charged as if they were the ones being reckless. That's not even going into their de facto slaver…
>There is no rule of law In San Francisco if someone walks into your shop and steals less than $950 worth of goods there's pretty much nothing you can do about it; is that rule of law?
I'd argue that I'd rather let someone steal than let them rot in jail for such a long time, for such a low monetary value, be it from debt or from theft. I understand you may disagree, that's why we do politics.
Additionally, which country has the best "rule of law", comparatively? Talking in absolutes in that regard is moot in my opinion.