No, actually, I’m not exultant because of his correct portrayal of the emirate. I am worried because his analysis resonates true to the rest of the Gulf.
An Arab man's attempt at bridging the cultural gap and trying to make a difference. Failing a lot. Succeeding once in a while.
No, actually, I’m not exultant because of his correct portrayal of the emirate. I am worried because his analysis resonates true to the rest of the Gulf.
Comments
Dubai
You just need your own Carl Hiaasen to start writing about Dubai’s nature…
mac
Dubai
“Indeed, the deep thinkers at the American Enterprise and Cato institutes must salivate when they contemplate the system of classes and entitlements in Dubai.”
This was a silly comment by a lefty numbskull. American conservatives do not think in terms of classes and entitlements. That’s a Marxist mindset. And conservatives believe in labor rights as essential to a productive society. You can not run a competitive economy on slave labor. Slaves have no incentive to innovate. To maximize the creation of wealth, labor must have a stake in the society and every mind must be fully engaged in the market.
Beyond that, this whole word picture of Dubai sounds like something that you would see as the home of Dr. Evil in the next James Bond flick.
Steve
Dubai
If you ask me, I would say that guy is simply jealouse
from his tone and the way he speak he sound that 100%
He talks as if prostitues exist only in dubai…I think from where he come it is encouraged. It exists in each country in the whole world wide world.
He might be just a patriotic american that doesn’t want to see any other nation competing with great america, or the west world. They want to keep the greatness to themselves.
I dont like dubai or how it is managed, yet that guy seems to be speaking of jealousey.
If he has a point, i think its only about the kids used in camel races and we dont know that if they are really treated unfairly. They might be getting enough money that you wouldn’t know of.
Olympic stars or atheletes in specific kinds of sports start at age 3 maybe younger sometimes. heck they retire at 22 just a year after the legal adult age!
That guy just want to make money selling books.
Re: Dubai
Slavery is slavery no matter if its prostitution or camel jockying.
billT
Re: Dubai
I thought his commentary praised Dubai for the first two-thirds of the article. I don’t think he was bashing any of the projects out of jealousy, but his main point was the things that you don’t see in that city.
The most important part (besides the camel jockeys, which are a handful of children and are more a symbol for the predominant mentality, as well as the prositutes which are actually encouraged by the government’s lack of control over the issue) was about the [b]labor camps[/b]. These not only exist in Dubai but in many other Gulf states as well, including Bahrain. Those people are the hands that built the city, yet when people come to see it they are quietly brushed underneath the carpet. They suffer through terrible, even fatal working conditions (as anyone living in the Gulf in this summer heat at the moment will attest to!) and are practically slaves to their masters the contractors. All of this is allowed to encourage development, since all construction projects are so much more profitable when you’re not paying proper salaries to your builders.
-Mo
Dubai
i dont see any jealousy. What I see is someone making a comment on what dreams can be achieved with money – and what the price is…. because there is always a cost. And it is not always financial.
And slave labor exists in the Gulf. In significant numbers. In fact, I remember reading that more money leaves Bahrain as a percentage of GDP in repatriations than any other country in the Gulf!
We have developed a very bad habit of dependency on low wage labor. Not just in construction. But in our homes. How many of our kids are brought up by maids? Not qualified nannies, but maids who are hardly more than children themselves. Where is the resposnibility of the parent when it comes to upbringing? And even the number of children that they have?
This addiction to low wage labor is, imho, as dangerous as an addicition to cocaine. It is totally self destructive. And just look at the nature of our society as a result.
Dubai
I read the posts of some people regarding this article and had to say something.
Marxist?? You bastard! I’m sorry to call you that but you are total bastard! I live in Dubai and I can tell you the way this guy represents Dubai is totally 100% acccurate. You think things like workers rights is “a silly comment by a lefty numbskull?” How about about that fact that Dubai is also one of the last bastions of racism and feudalism in the world? Its not jealousy. Its the absolute truth.
Dubai is big bright and flashy but alot of people live horrible lives here. What he says about the different classes of society is also very true. The brits here live like kings, making 3 times what an Indian or a Gulf national would make doing the exact same job. The disparity in wealth between classes is also huge. You have one brit faggot and his skank wife living in a 4 bedroom palace (he will probably not even have his o’levels) and then you’ll have some filipino engineer with his whole family (wife 3 kids) living in a one bedroom apartment not 5 miles away. I must give the government some credit though. They have woken up a little to the reality of what they’re doing. They will not allow anyone to work outdoors in the afternoon during the summer months. Its a start and if not for people like Mike Davis it would never happen.
Even old Bahrain with its no econonmy is ahead of Dubai in terms of basic freedoms.
I hate that Americans think they “won” the coldwar and the ideals such as socialism and communism and everything that goes with it, (equality, workers rights, right to free education, right to free health care) have been firmly eradicated to make way for supersonic greed, ie capitalism. Well, you can bribe a few cunt russians but you can’t kill an idea. An idea will always linger and sooner or later with the way things are going, you are going to see the hammer and sickle again. Mark my words. And this time bribing some faggot traitor like Gorbachev is not going to do the trick either.
The lie that democracy and greed go hand in hand is not going to be so easy to swallow anymore.
Dubai
I dont see how this is slavery
these people can leave to their homes if they wantd…they come to work at well and being paid
not equal
yes
slavery?
NO
Dubai
You don’t see how this is slavery?
All i’m going to talk about could be approved by hundreds of thousand people, no argue on that.
well you should try it… try to work for at least 12hours under 45 to 50°C, building up skycrapers, for maybe 500 dhs a month, just to make a living for your family that will never be allowed to come to visit you, because you’re an under-human…
And you know what, they never complain, it seems to be enough for them. Anyway, try to complain while working in Dubai, in the best case they deport you to hire someone more docile.
I’ve been working there for a while, i had enough time to discover this so-called “”eldorado””.
I don’t think this guy is jealous, he’s just right in the truth !
About children he’s right, check Gulfnews, they finally released these poor kids kidnapped and they could fly back to Pakistan ( of course Sh. Mo is never mentioned, ’cause you just end up in the desert dropped from an helicopter if you disturb Sh. Mo… ). Too many of them were dying while falling off from camels, they now decided to use robots, at least they don’t fall, and jockeys staying on the ground can control them better than children. It seems that beating and raping them wasn’t enough to correctly educate them to ride camels.
i know i know, some olympic stars start their career very young, but when you’re 3 or 4 or 5 or just a kid, can you judge and understand what you’re told to do? Do you decide about it? Hello are you human, do you have children?? and then, where does it happen, in China only doesn’t it ?…….
Then about prostitution he’s still in the truth, i have to say i never saw so many prostitutes than in Dubai. Bangkok, Amsterdam… i guess Dubai is in the top5 destination for sexual tourism. Girls are just…EVERYWHERE, in any hotel ( just check…), in Karama or Deira corners ( check once again…), they are forced to roam the streets ( passport retention, preably kidnapped and raped )and the money just goes in the landlords pockets asking for a little bit too much expensive accomodation fees.
What about the C…. club in Dubai, this club owned by a so-called indian businessman is filled with HUNDRENDS of prostitutes. So listen, to open a club there, selling alcoohol, you need an hotel, a special accord and to pay substantial fees to the municipality of Dubai… it’s well understood that the rulers are happy with it, even if they say prostitution is only to attract gogos… just go and check this club, the ONLY one opened during Ramadan… isn’t it still amazing?
ok ok, it happens everywhere on earth, i just expected something made of less contradictions from a muslim country. But don’t worry, i’m not a fan of usa…
The list is not over, we could talk for hours about labour camps, indian way of life in Karama or Sharjah ( parked like fishes at the plant ), justice according to your nationality, impossible life for foreign single expats, well-established international mafias, extreme poverty for a part of the hidden local population, etc etc…
Dubai is just fantastic if you’re planing to settle up your multinational group for nearly no tax and ultra cheap docile labourers. It’s great for thousands of reasons, this list is not over too, but what i saw is that this Emirate maintains a mirage of megalomania with money laundring, petrodollars ( fat luck, nothing to say on that ), to the price of a dramatic life for the ones building up the dream there…
Dubai
i wrote the above sheet, sorry i forgot, my name’s Nour ))))
Re: Dubai
[quote]right to free education, right to free health care) [/quote]
Nothing is free. Teachers and doctors need to be paid, even if out of your taxes.
Re: Dubai
[quote]communism and everything that goes with it, (equality, workers rights, right to free education, right to free health care) [/quote]
.. and 200 million murdered people.
Re(1): Dubai
Man, I worked in Saudi Arabia and trevelled around in middle east. All middle east = salvery. Overwhelming foregners from asian countries are manipulated, abused and paid peanuts. Thats been the way of these lands for centuries. You wonder why God sent his messengers to these lands ?? Think about it.
Zak1977 (UK)
Dubai
I’ve lived and worked in Dubai for six years, and for the most part agree with Davis. But there are some inaccuracies or omissions that stem most likely from his reliance on expatriates for his data. I can say from experience that the favored passtime of privileged expats here is complaining, even as they enjoy a lifestyle unthinkable in their home USA and UK. As for inaccuracies or omissions, one could start with the underclasses among UAE nationals. Davis implies that all Emiratis are wealthy, part of the leisure class. This is not so. There are many impoverished families living in substandard slum-like dwellings, and there are underclasses (such as the Shiite community) that are often oppressed and dispossesed, though rarely studied by academics. Divorced women with children form another underclass, and racism is rife among Emiratis, some of whom are classed as “ayam” meaning foreigner, as opposed to those who are “pure” Arabs. Davis also downplays the role of Americans in the Dubai dream/nightmare, not just corporate executives, but a host of consultants and other technocrats who gleefully ride the Dubai gravy train. So, while Davis has made a good start on analyzing the politics and economics of Dubai, his work needs to be further expanded to include other social realities.