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Dubai: A Morally Bankrupt Dictatorship Built by Slave Labor
Dubai is finally financially bankrupt - but it has been morally bankrupt all along. The idea that Dubai is an oasis of freedom on the Arabian peninsular is one of the great lies of our time.
Yes, it has Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts and the Gucci styles, but beneath these accoutrements, there is a dictatorship built by slaves.
If you go there with your eyes open - as I did earlier this year - the truth is hidden in plain view. The tour books and the bragging Emiratis will tell you the city was built by Sheikh Mohammed, the country's hereditary ruler.
It is untrue. The people who really built the city can be seen in long chain-gangs by the side of the road, or toiling all day at the top of the tallest buildings in the world, in heat that Westerners are told not to stay in for more than 10 minutes. They were conned into coming, and trapped into staying.
In their home country - Bangladesh or the Philippines or India - these workers are told they can earn a fortune in Dubai if they pay a large upfront fee. When they arrive, their passports are taken from them, and they are told their wages are a tenth of the rate they were promised.
They end up working in extremely dangerous conditions for years, just to pay back their initial debt. They are ringed-off in filthy tent-cities outside Dubai, where they sleep in weeping heat, next to open sewage. They have no way to go home. And if they try to strike for better conditions, they are beaten by the police.
I met so many men in this position I stopped counting, just as the embassies were told to stop counting how many workers die in these conditions every year after they figured it topped more than 1,000 among the Indians alone.
Human Rights Watch calls this system "slavery." Yet the Westerners who have flocked to Dubai brag that they "love" the city, because they don't have to pay any taxes, and they have domestic slaves to do all the hard work. They train themselves not to see the pain.
But Dubai's bankruptcy does not end there: it is ecologically bust. This is a city built in the burning desert, where everything shrivels up and blows away if it is not kept artificially cold all the time. That's why it has the highest per capita carbon emissions on earth - some 250 percent higher even than America's. The city has to ship in desalinated water - which is more costly than oil. When it runs out of cash, it will run out of water.
Today Dubai will be bailed out by the United Arab Emirates, the oil-rich country of which it is only one state. But the oil will not last forever. More importantly, there is no Bank of Morality that could provide a bailout for this sinister mirage in the desert.
63 Comments so far
Show AllThank you for posting this article. It is important that we know what is going on in the world. The light of truth needs to be told and hopefully people all over the world will speak up for these poor men who are suffering.
Dubai is also one of the countries like Iceland that was instrumental in the worldwide distribution of securitized debt and mortgages that were sold as 'investments'.
Iceland is bankrupt. Ireland almost joined them.
Now Dubai is going under.
The economic dominoes are starting to fall...
A couple of months ago, Johann Hari had a very lengthy piece about Dubai that documents in considerable detail what he is outlining above. Fascinating reading about utter corruption.
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believe it, it's true. i have firsthand knowledge of all this..........
Really?
I have not heard of this before.
They make people pay a huge fee to come and then won't allow them to leave and pay less than promised?
Is this a few instances, or is this widespread and nationally backed?
read another article by johann hari:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html
The West suffers from moral decay that allows it to be blind to human rights violations by every "friend" it has. When will we learn that the last thing we need to do is imitate these kind of societies?
I would suggest that it is actually "they" who imitate "US" -- after all, our country was built on the backs of slaves, and has been maintained ever since by the same, the only real difference being that we have learned to use the majority of our slaves "in situ" in more recent times.
You make a good point. The US is a younger society and autocracy is not as rigid in the US. That was the imitation I was talking about. Someone else makes the point about how wage slavery is working in the US. I think your point is well taken.
John Updike in one of his novels had one of his characters say that what we have now is better than slavery (for the would-be slave owners), because they got the slaves to pay for their own care; thus, the term 'wage slaves.'
For Dubai, the decline into a necrotic state has begun.
It was a fate that any perceptive human being could see coming. Remember those couple of Dubai celebrating broadcasts on NPR of some months ago? The reporter (was it Kai Risdall?) did not have a clue, it seems, that Dubai's days of hyper savage capitalist giganticism and total ecological unsustainability were severely numbered.
Dubai prospered only because of us oil gluttons. With no green jobs and no move by Washington to get us off dependence on foreign oil, Dubai's oily economy will be back online as usual. To free the slaves, there needs to be a moral model for getting people off the oil addiction:
1. Make those auto companies make fuel efficient cars affordable.
2. Find a job closer to where you live without putting yourself to a bad employer of course or try to start and maintain a local business.
3. Go local on foods and try to grow your own. I feel healthy and secure growing food in my own backyard in addition to relieving myself of the guilt associated with buying food transported thousands of miles away. A local farmer's market would also help.
4. Try utilizing alternative sources of fuel such as solar, wind, geothermal energy, and biofuels that use little to no oil.
5. Get your community and county to utilize public transportation and don't give up trying to get people to meet together on improving public transportation when your area's population is growing. The last thing you want is sprawl and believe me, it's not pretty.
That is a great set of long term plans to keep the oily dictatorships from prospering but the issue of slave labor needs to be brought up and seriously addressed in foreign policy discussions in general. If it's not oil, then there is always something or other to make a slave labor economy out of and that needs to stop.
Dubai did NOT prosper because of oil. Dubai has little oil.
Dubai prospered by being a trading entrepot in the middle East, with ports, airports, roads, storage facilities. They then shot themselves in the foot by engaging in the usual speculative land / property bubble that it seems every economy cannot resist.
Well, look at the bright side. Maybe global warming and a rising sea level will flood out all those luxury islands they've built.
Without a doubt Global Warming will do just that. Serves these OIL rich denialist Sheiks right. They should have built these island at least 10 ft. higher or more. To bad..fuck em if they can't take a joke. As for them using slaves were doing the same to a lesser degree with many of the 11 mil. undocumented workers in this country. The Reich wing loves slavery always has. They miss havin their plantations.
Are clothes still being manufactured in Saipan sweatshops by indentured slaves? "Made in USA"
We do need an organized grassroots truth movement, with our own reporters and elected reps.
Maybe we ought to have allowed Dubai to manage our ports, as clearly they needed some more money.
Might I remind you that the U.S. was built on slave labor also and continues to be in the form of minimum wage-earners
and the underpaid all over the country while the "royalty" lounges and floats on their tax loopholes and government welfare.
If this were a country of Democratic Socialism, "equality" would be the key and "fairness" the norm.
http://www.dsausa.org/pdf/widemsoc.pdf
kw
Must sound like a paradise for America's wealthy.
The west idea of freedom, is the access to Starbuck's, Dunking Donut, Walmart, etc. Anything that prevents these access is considered anti-freedom.
A Middle East version of the USA
Lost my first try at this response...
I was responding the the slave theme also. but since then Kucinich 2012 brought up too.
We are still buying tomotoes from the supermarket-in winter no less. They get picked by slave labor and shipped by fossil fuel. That of course is just one example. The overall answer would be to just drop out of the trap of wasteful, obnoxious, oblivious,society. Every day we use a piece of plastic, or drive to work, or turn on an electrical applicance, we are feeding the beast- the fossil fuel economy. I only became aware in say 2003 or so... It's only a big trap. One dirty hand feeds the other. The article here about the deformed babies being born now in Iraq, is proof positive that we have already lost it. So... what to hell are we hanging on to. I have thought that we should try to make the changes the way one of the above responders stated. Elect new, grassroots types, working class people, into government. But the system is corrupt so thoroughly, that it would eventually either corrupt the innocent or put them in a box, (sound familiar). The only way to win by election is for a massive wave of new hopefully true canidates to infiltrate that system in order to change it. But which method of change will happen first, this constructive one or a true rebellion, a revolt, such as that of the French, freeing themselves from the royal king... and we know how that ended.
Here's my new theory:
Mother Nature has unleashed her Ultimate Secret Weapon upon us, which turns humans into twisted f**king morons.
I mean, what else can explain this ongoing madness?
I'd point out that Tiger Woods is building a 580 acre golf course in Dubai. It will be one of the most exclusive courses and golf teaching facilities on earth. It's a virtual certainty that most of the labor to build the place will be the same slave labor Hari writes about here.
So perhaps the best golfer in history (it's still uncertain) moves to a gangster capitalist paradise that is built and sustained by slave labor. And this guy is half-black, just like Obama. And of course, Obama admires Woods as much as he's admired back. They really understand and appreciate each other.
Speaking of Tiger Woods, I wonder if all that slave labor to help build his golf course in Dubai made him so lazy and sloppy that he had the nerve to drive his gas guzzling SUV at 2:25 in the morning and get into a serious accident at a fire hydrant of all places.
He hit a fire hydrant and a tree on the way out of his driveway. Probably on his way out to the liquor store for another couple cases of booze.
Maybe he sleep-driving while on Ambien?
That could very well be.
Tiger hardly drinks at all. There was no alcohol involved in this weird accident. Who knows how it happened? Maybe his wife had found out about all the slave labor used to build Dubai and insisted Tiger divest himself from the wretched place, he got pissed and stormed out, slamming into the hydrant and tree. More likely, nothing at all like this happened. Stay tuned, though the MSM will cover it all up if it does put Tiger in a bad light. We'll get the real skinny from National Inquirer. :)
Actually their color has nothing to do with it. they are both
sub human due to their privilege due to their unusual skill
setswhich allows them to think they are of the same class
a their benefactors the moneyed elite who truly are slave owners!
don't feed their sponsors pockets or vote for them! malcom x
would have slapped these bitches from coast to coast!
"...So perhaps the best golfer in history (it's still uncertain) ..."
the sports world is still in denial about the knee injury...
to steal a famous quip ... "you're no jack nicklaus"
after my round of golf... i'll head over to the indoor ski slope...
The sports world isn't in "denial" about the knee injury. The sports world understands that a knee injury in the year 2009 is HUGELY different from a knee injury in the year 1975, due to the huge advances in medical techniques, in training techniques.
The huge advantage that modern athletes have over those from the past is technological advancement.
It is the people who don't understand this that are in denial.
The wealthy know no color except green.
Tiger (and Michael Jordan) sold out years ago to Nike - one of the least human and most exploitative companies in Indonesia.
Read John Perkin's "Confessions of an Economic Hitman". It will turn your stomach and raise serious questions about our sports icons who have sold out to companies who have horrendous records of human rights abuse in the third world.
This is quite telling, isn't it? Here is a man--a star--who has everything, but inner peace. It has been said that once you reach the top that the emptiness becomes unbearable because you achieved what society told you would bring happiness. Seems like one comes to an important crossroad at this juncture, and he either uses the crises to further destroy the world or save himself.
It is apparently easy to learn not to see the pain of others. Most white people in apartheid South Africa simply saw nothing wrong with the way things were.
I remember a reporter stopping people on the street and asking whites if the new government under Mandela was an improvement. Most of them whined as if they had been deprived of something; actually they had been deprived of the luxuries that slave labor made possible.
They had come to see their way of life as an entitlement, never mind where it came from, and anyone who is deprived of what she feels entitled to believes an injustice has occurred. They would have found it difficult to follow the argument that slave labor was an injustice.
Liberals have been trying to tell conservatives that people are people regardless of skin color. Obama and Woods pretty much prove it.
You're exactly right, up until the part about "liberals" trying to point out how people are people regardless, etc. Actually it's liberals who are in denial about this, most of Obama's defenders being squarely in that camp BECAUSE he's (half) black. His hangers-on, no matter how much he proves he's no liberal and never was (and certainly not any version of a progressive except the watered down one that now passes for progressive), are die-hard liberals/progressives. In an earlier era, most of today's liberals and progressives would have been mainstream conservatives.
*Leftists* have been trying to point out that half-blacks or even all-black African Americans can be just as right-wing as any cracker from the deep South. Not usually, to be sure, but even though it's fairly rare, rightwing black folks can in fact be found across the American landscape. Obama's one of them, no matter how effective his disguise. Tiger Woods is another, by default. Anyone who rakes in the millions he does is surrounded always strictly by wealthy elites, who are reactionary to the core. Most liberals simply cannot face this.
I'm not sure that most liberals cannot face the fact that a black man can be a member of the super rich, and therefore by definition, believe that anybody earning less than a hundred million a year is not human. I think you and I would do it. People are people.
Many liberals are stuck in so-called "identity politics" So are most African-Americans and some white women. I guess you could also add gays. There have been good historical reasons for this and it is not totally illegitimate. It needs to be recognized, however, that any person who gets sifted out and promoted by finance capital to be one of the finalists or semifinalists in the completely corrupt political process cannot be any good.
Look at all the women for Hillary. Black folks flocked to Obama. And Kucinich, who Blackagendareport.com correctly claimed as the best candidate for Black people and easily had the best agenda and track record? He polled about 2% because the talking heads claimed he "couldn't win" and progressives ate that up. Obama can win, we were told, and we will have "change we can believe in" Some change.
So progressive organizations, labor et al, sat on their hands during the primaries and the rest, as they say, is history. What if Labor and thuthout and all the others would have given Kucinich about 20 mil during the primaries? Oh, but that would have upset the DLC types, and they would remember that affront when their guy got elected.
So. No more identity politics. No more cultural politics for us. Just program. Hard program. "If I am elected, I will..." Period. Not "change", "justice", "progress" or any of these weasel words.
Many liberals are stuck in so-called "identity politics" Exactly, and if someone steps outside the script, the knee-jerk reaction kicks in, and they begin to blast away. There's very little room for nuance in identity politics.
Many the so called liberals still insisting in seeing in Obama what they were projecting and not the real Obama.
They still insist that Obama is just great and all he needs is more time and if you finally convince them with dire facts they will say: well would have have prefered McCain and Palin!
Maybe it's because the vast majority of us live from identification of one kind or another.
At the time of Independence, South Africans gained political control and lost all economic control of their country. (Naomi Klein - Shock Doctrine)
"Black" South Africa would not have achieved any independence without concessions to the "White" controlling interests.
The main change in South Africa... There is a black president
It's no wonder that Halliburton moved it's headquarters to Dubai. They have Richard B. Cheney's values.
The super-rich will reign as long as the rest of us permit it. They are only 5% of Americans, and yet they rule this country. We could have a real democracy, with universal healthcare, free education, a clean environment, jobs for everyone, and justice for all. There's only one catch: We have to stop fighting with each other and organize. There's a lot more of us than there are of them.
Elites know no ethnic/cultural bounds. In fact, they build cross-cultural clubs, exclusive clubs to share their enjoyment of greed-slavery. Yes, these greed-slaves create another tier of slavery, to reinforce their own. Like a prisoner hires a mason to reinforce the prison walls.
It's very easy for the people to deal with the elites. Simply make it your personal policy to avoid all exchange/association with them. Don't become their prison masons. Avoid all production for global markets, i.e. anonymous marketplaces. Trade only with those you know for sure are not out to exploit you.
Until the people learn this lesson they will be exploited and oppressed by this international club of greed. The left has to change its priorities and start working toward universal enlightenment. Universal equity/justice follows from that.
wow, a city built in the desert by serfs and sustained by ecological denialism. sorta like LA and Vegas, no?
t_g
I don't know much about Dubai, but a couple of years ago we have stopped on our way to Europe from Australia for a couple of days, then instead of Singapore or Bangkok (the traditional stop-overs on above route), we kept stopping in Dubai.
We marvelled at the shopping malls, at the abundance of virtually everything you can imagine. And those buildings!! And the cars!
On a very special wedding anniversary we stayed for 5 nights at the Burj al Arab hotel, which was beyond our wildest imagination. We even had our own butler! Coming from a very egalitarian society, we felt very uncomfortable by being waited on by a personal servant. Who was this young man? You'd never guess: a Russian! He spoke many languages - very well and he behaved cringingly subservient. He told us, that he is a law-graduate and he also has a business management degree.
We didn't really see these Bangladeshi and Phillippino slaves, but we did see plenty of debauched westerners. The way they live and behave is just awful. As if they owned the place.
I think a day will come when the reckoning comes to these societies and that day is not far away. How long can people take these inequalities?
As for pollution: there is an indoor ski-field in Dubai. We love to ski and out of curiosity we visited this place. Of course one wonders how much energy it consumes to keep it so cold? Also, there are golf courses and they look greener than the ones in Australia. Is that normal??
p.s. Please everyone, spare me the comments about us contributing to the sheikh's profit...
here is para from Wiki about Bruj Al Arab
"The hotel is managed by the Jumeirah Group. Despite its size, the Burj Al Arab holds only 28 double-storey floors which accommodate 202 bedroom suites. The smallest suite occupies an area of 169 m2 (1,820 sq ft), the largest covers 780 m2 (8,400 sq ft). It is one of the most expensive hotels in the world. The cost of staying in a suite begins at US$1,000 per night; the Royal Suite is the most expensive, starting at US$28,000 per night."
I doubt that those "Bangladeshi and Phillippino slaves" would even get chance to work "high paying jobs" at Burj,indoor ski-field, at Mall or to wait a table at restaurant. One need to go at some construction site in order to spot them and be lucky !! or visit Sonapur - as per writer's other article in Independent at http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html.
thanks to HUMANO and coco for link, "The dark side of Dubai" really contains quite detail information, especially for those who only know the "Bright" or "success" side of it. Though it would have different impact had it focused on Western Corporations who are their doing business in Dubai. Mr. Hari's primary focus seems to be on Emiraties which are only 5%, Western expats again probably 5% enjoying all luxury and rest majority labor force from Asian countries doing "Hard Work" (wage slaving !!)
Its good for Mr. Hari to write that article in Independent, though it seems that he kept wall to those Corporations who helped build Dubai that what it is now !!