The dark side of Dubai

[Mechanic]

Slaves, prisoners, conscripts, poorly treated and compensated immigrant workers, etc. have provided much or all of the labor involved in building many of the most impressive and enduring structures in the history of mankind:

 

The Great Pyramids, The Great Wall of China, The Parthenon, The White House, countless railroads... The list goes on and on for about as long as you'd care to continue looking into it. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying it's the way it is.

 

If you want to enjoy eating sausage, don't watch it being made.

[Théo the little french]

I didn't read the article (it's too much long and my english level is not good enough to understand everything I think) but by what I know about Dubai, all the things I've seen on TV or magazines, I've understood one thing: we have to be really naive to believe Dubai is a perfect place without any negative side!

 

Just seeing their incredible buildings, their future plans, when you know how much they spend money in pointless things, when you see how they transform their desert......... You can guess how their mentality is not as great as we like to think. These people have a horrible ego and it obvious that people who are not from their social level are considered as slaves, are disregarded......

 

To my view, there's only one wonderful thing there: their buildings, the modern architecture.

I hate all the rest: their bloody way of thinking, their ego, their culture of the luxury, the way they believe they are the kings of the world.....

[BeemerBoy]

dubaidave - thanks for posting but I am shocked that this is a surprise to so many since I thought a lot of this was common knowledge. At least I remember reading about a lot of this before.

Same here, Larry. I think I even remember seeing an investigative report on 60 Minutes/ NightLine, or whatever news show it was, quite a while ago. Still, shocking to know so many people don't realize what's going on.

[AllenA07]

I'm going to join the club that I am shocked that this article is so shocking. It is a sad subject and Dubai does look like a very cool place to visit, however the fact that they're basically using slavery (though this would be similar to serfdom I guess) is something I've known for a while. Why doesn't it get much press? Well with all the numerous other problems in the region this one ranks pretty low on that list. I'm glad this got posted on here, good to bring awareness to people.