Does nobody learn about thermodynamics in school any more? It's not like an economic system is not susceptible to the same laws that govern any other physical system. If some people are living like kings then there must be others that are living like slaves.
The dark side of Dubai
61–70 of 72 posts
Re: The dark side of Dubai
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
> > Sorry. But after reading that article, I just don't believe your > > personal experience is indicative of what's going on in Dubai. > > You're the one who sounds out of touch. > > I want to put this down in a way to further the conversation. "But > after reading that article, I just don't believe..." - that > statement. You read a news article - I've read many too - and you > feel educated enough to make a judgme…
I understand where you're at and I respect it - bad things happened in Dubai and should be addressed. When I came in and commented, there were lots of sentiment against Dubai. Heck, there's "Fuck Dubai" comment at +12 right now. So I knew pretty well that if I offered a perspective that the article isn't representative of everything happening there, there's a good chance it wouldn't be well-received. The reception's…
Thank you, Lionhearted, for gently bringing some maturity and perspective to this thread. Dubai is an amazing and special place, not to be dismissed lightly and put into some prefab category.
A friend is working there now. He loves Dubai because it rewards hard work. He finds the pace faster than in the US. More buildings going up, more vision, more investment, and less red tape.
I hope that whatever economic problems Dubai has will soon be resolved. And I trust that over time Dubai will solve some of the problems which annoyed this author.
Re: The dark side of Dubai
#63I have a hard time believing this about Australians:
"...Madam made me work from 6am to 1am every day, with no day off. I was exhausted and pleaded for a break, but they just shouted: 'You came here to work, not sleep!' Then one day I just couldn't go on, and Madam beat me. She beat me with her fists and kicked me. "
Re: The dark side of Dubai
#64While these are truly horrible stories, it has to be noted that you cannot just explain them with some racist reference to arabs. This is just the logical conclusion of certain free market policies without regard for human rights and human well being. In fact for every horrible story you read about in this article there is a politician in the US trying to bring that story to America. If you enact tort reform, reform…
There's a balance. Too few protections or too many are destabilizing.
Re: The dark side of Dubai
#65This was already submitted when it was published back in the spring: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=550719
Re: The dark side of Dubai
#66Does nobody learn about thermodynamics in school any more? It's not like an economic system is not susceptible to the same laws that govern any other physical system. If some people are living like kings then there must be others that are living like slaves.
What the hell man? What's with the downvotes.
Re: The dark side of Dubai
#67This is no surprise. If you build a whole investment empire based solely on the value of housing, those cheap bricks you build turn against you one day. No social investments, no technology, just plain luxury and housing. Have you seen that artificial palm drawn on the sea? For me, that symbolizes how artificial things were in Dubai, and good old karma gave them what they deserved.
I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling schadenfreude at Dubai's current predicament. I, at least, feel vindicated that good old common sense appears to have trumped wild disconnection from reality caused by wealth. More proof that no country can survive without producing any of tangible value.
Hopefully this poetic justice will engulf the Web 2.0 startup economy too.
Re: The dark side of Dubai
#68Joi Ito has another view on this:
Re: The dark side of Dubai
#69The more I read about Dubai's "debt is illegal" policy, the more counter-productive it seems. If you lose your job, the employer has to notify the bank. The bank freezes your accounts and you are prevented from leaving the country. Thus, you are left with absolutely zero way to ever pay off your debt. What's the proper economics term for this? Something along the lines of a self-fulfilling negative spiral.
It certainly seems short sited. I think a good part of the secret sauce for the U.S. is that we allow people/businesses to fail (bankruptcy).
I'm not sure how secret that sauce is. Declaring bankruptcy in one form or another is common throughout the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankrupcy#In_individual_countri...
Re: The dark side of Dubai
#70Does nobody learn about thermodynamics in school any more? It's not like an economic system is not susceptible to the same laws that govern any other physical system. If some people are living like kings then there must be others that are living like slaves.
What the hell man? What's with the downvotes.
Economics is not physics, and quality of life is not a zero sum game.