The Emirate of Dubai offers just one product, which is globally tremendously and increasingly popular, i.e. freedom from the aberrations caused by democracy:Martin Luther said that people were better off being ruled by a smart Turk than a dumb Christian. — BC
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai
Dubai has been ruled by the Al Maktoum family since 1833; the emirate is an absolute monarchy.
The city has a population of around 3.60 million (as of 2022).[19] More than 90% of the population are expatriates.
461,000 Westerners live in the United Arab Emirates, making up 5.1% of its total population.
Dubai is the second most expensive city in the region and 20th most expensive city in the world.
Leiden or Bologna — Lionino
The global poor want to move there because they can get handouts, i .e. free housing, free healthcare, free education, welfare benefits, and so on. — Tarskian
Dubai can keep expanding. — Tarskian
Leiden or Bologna? I don't think so. — Tarskian
When they land a good job in Dubai, they are "da man" back home. Everyone admires them, because"They did it!"
What you call "slave labor" is very prestigious in places like Bangladesh. — Tarskian
Because it is in the desert. — Lionino
They can... they are both surrounded by fields. — Lionino
Dubai is a bubble built on luck — Lionino
We all know what the rich Arabs of Dubai pay Instagram models to do on their bodies. Dubai is much more degenerate than it meets the eye. — Lionino
If they had found no oil, there is no universe in which Dubai would have been more than a fishing village, like it was 50 years ago. — Lionino
No, not because they are in the desert. Because they don't need to give out handouts in order to expand. — Tarskian
And where are they going to grow the food, if they keep expanding? — Tarskian
No, no, there is definitely some logic to the madness over there. People like it a lot. They really like the zero-tax strategy, especially when they have a lot of money. — Tarskian
Most people don't like that shit (pun intended). — Tarskian
We'll see. Nayib Bukele is trying the same thing in El Salvador. — Tarskian
The food that the city consumes does not come from the fields immediately next to it... — Lionino
And Dubai isn't zero tax. It has import/export taxes, property taxes, service taxes, etc. It just doesn't cut money out of your income directly. — Lionino
If it had zero tax it would collapse — Lionino
So I wonder why every Instagram/Youtube clown wants to move to Dubai, but not engineers and philosophers. — Lionino
One might well ask the residents of Dubai where they will get their food when the age of oil is over --certainly not by their own efforts, being in the desert as it is. Bananas don't grow on Burj Khalifas. — BC
The global poor want to move there because they can get handouts, i .e. free housing, free healthcare, free education, welfare benefits, and so on.
Who is supposed to pay for all of that? — Tarskian
BTW, readily available education, housing, and medical care are not a frill -- they are essential components of a successful society--both socially and economically. — BC
Bananas still don't grow on Burj Khalifas. — BC
People vote with their feet.
They reject rule by the mob.
Millions more would want to live in Dubai and be governed by its emir instead of the mob back home, but they cannot afford it financially: — Tarskian
Even if that's true about the Dubai, it does not contradict what I have said: the rulers of UAE can't allow themselves to become despots, because otherwise they will get a revolt. — Linkey
For instance, ancient Macedonia was more civilized than ancient Persia, even though both were monarchies. This difference can be attributed to Macedonia’s proximity to Greece and the democratic traditions of the latter. — Linkey
What we call “democracy” nowadays is dressed-up oligarchy, modelled on the Roman republic. There is a ruling class, not a body of free and sovereign people. — NOS4A2
If democracy is discredited worldwide, the world risks regressing into a new Middle Ages, which is a deeply concerning prospect. This scenario becomes more likely if Russia defeats Ukraine in the current conflict. — Linkey
How do you justify that statement? Or where is the evidence? I have a book about Persia that I haven't read and no book about Macedonia. So I have no idea how Macedonia was more civilized. The Persians had impressive architecture and crafted items and art. They had religious freedom. How does that add up to being less civilized? — Athena
I suppose, the Persians had a larger oppression of the lower classes by the rulers. The Persia was an Oriental Despotism, and the Greeks considered all Persians as the slaves of their king. — Linkey
In all these empires, the monarchs and his feudals took a lot of women from the lower classes into their harems, and I heard that rather often the men from the lower classes remained without women because of this. — Linkey
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